Alcoholic Spouse

1 parent question ▼
Archived Q&A and reviews ▼

Parent Q&A

Select any title to view the full question and replies. [View all]

Archived Q&A and Reviews

Questions

Husband doesn't want to go to AA, wants a therapist

Jan 2006

I am looking for a recommendation for a female therapist who can help my husband work through emotions resulting from attempting to quit drinking. He doesn't want to go to Alcoholics Anonymous, but is willing to go to a therapist. When he tries to quit drinking he feels bored and like life is kind of pointless - he's very uncomfortable talking about this stuff. It's like pulling teeth to get him to talk to me about it at all, so I need someone who he'll feel safe enough to open up with - we want a female who is also committed to him making progress and not just going to automatically look to prescription drugs to alter the emotions. It would also be nice to have someone who will support our marriage working well also (so possibly someone who might be willing to eventually include me in some sessions to help with the way this stuff impacts our marriage.) anon I'm sorry to hear that you are married to an alcoholic. The good news is that there is help out there for YOU ... Because you did not cause it, you can't cure it and you will not be able to control it for him .. all you can do is help yourself and your children by going to Alanon meetings.

Here's the link to find a meeting: http://www.al-anon.alateen.org/meetings/california.html

There's also a great online support group, called stepchat.com. Room 3 is where families and friends of alcoholics meet.

It's not easy, but you can learn to have hope and happiness. Good luck to you.

By the way, we all start out looking for help for the alcoholic. We end up realizing that the only person we have control over is ourselves... My heart goes out to you.
alanon-er

Couples therapist experienced with alcoholism

Feb 2004

I'm looking for a couples therapist with expertise around alcohol issues (agreements/contracts, boundaries, ACA pieces). I've checked the archives and haven't seen anything specific to this. Thank you. anon

I highly recommend Kirsten Beuthin, MFT. She specializes in working with alcohol and substance abuse problems, as well as ACA issues. Her number is 652-0990. anon