The material presented
here is not Al-Anon Conference Approved Literature. It is a method
to exchange
information, ideas, feelings, problems and solutions on a personal
level.
A.)) What is "Getting Them Sober"? -------- "Getting Them Sober'', by Toby Rice Drews, is the million-selling series of books ----- endorsed by 'dear Abby', by Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, and by Melody Beattie (author of ''Codependent No More'', who wrote, '' 'Getting Them Sober' is the BEST book for the family of the still-drinking alcoholic'').
1.)) This ''recovery tip of the month'' is from the section on the GettingThemSober website called "Recovery Tips of the Month"
"September, 2008, Recovery Tip of the Month" copyright by Toby Rice Drews, author, the "Getting Them Sober" books
a. I can't count all the times over the last two decades that so many alcoholism counselors are advising their patients (who are brand-new sober in treatment), to leave their spouses for at least months ----- saying that "you can't stay sober around her' ...... that she is a "trigger for you to drink".
Of course, this is just a variation on the theme that relapse happens because of "triggers" ------ i.e., things or people or situations that 'make you drink".
What ever happened to the A.A. oldtimers' way of staying sober....... the A.A. Big Book's advice-------that NOTHING gets you drunk! That you've got to stop blaming people, places and things for "getting you drunk"!
The A.A. Big Book warned the newly-sober that one must get rid of "reservations" around drinking......i.e., the idea that "if such and such happens, then I reserve the right to drink over that".
Yes, yes------ bad things happen. "Stuff" happens in life. Spouses don't always 'act right'. Kids act out. The car gets a flat tire.
And terrible things happen. Tornado's rip through towns. Hurricanes destroy homes. And people feel bad, of course. But there is nothing that a drink doesn't make worse, when one is alcoholic.
Alcoholics often want to drink when the tornado happens. But what the drink represents is RELIEF. And that is what going to A.A. meetings is largely about------ learning other ways (other than drinking) to get through the tough stuff.
Elementary, you say? Yes-------- but apparently not to many alcoholism counselors who reinforce the drinking-way-of-life's message that "there are triggers that can make you drink".
Not the A.A. oldtimers message of "Don't drink if your a*s falls off. And if it falls off, put it in a basket and take it to a meeting."
b.) And what about the alcoholism counselor who meets the spouse of the alcoholic for 15 minutes during family day--------- and tells her that "she is too codependent, and needs to stay away from her spouse for at least 3 (or 6) months and concentrate on codependency treatment."
1. This 'advice' to the spouse after meeting her/him for 15 minutes. But the counselor would probably counter this with, "But I've met with her husband daily since he's been in treatment! He told me the details of that marriage!"
Has this counselor ever heard of the toxic brain that results from alcoholism?! Does she know that after 28 days of sobriety ------ he is just beginning the process to clear the toxicity from the left frontal lobe of his brain?! Does she know that it takes up to three years for the toxicity to leave-------that that process is called "the protracted withdrawal syndrome"?! That the first year of sobriety is known for almost-totally fuzzy thinking and that in A.A., the oldtimers tell the newly-sober alcoholic that he's not to make any major decisions to change anything in his life because he's still to sick to understand and evaluate what's real and what isn't??!!
The left frontal lobe of the brain is euphemystically called the "executive decision maker". Its job is to take in data about all that is going on around the alcoholic's life--------to perceive how it affects him-------and to make decisions about what he will do based on his perceptions. When he is actively drinking alcoholically, that left frontal lobe is toxic for years. And it does not become 'ok' during the first 28 days of sobriety!
So---------the alcoholism counselor is basing her/his 'advice' to the newly-sober and his wife-------- based on "facts" that he gleaned from the mouth of the alcoholic in treatment for the first 28 days of not-drinking! "Facts" and perceptions of the newly-sober------ leading to 'advice' to that family about how they should go about their marriage.
B.))) Now, A.A. does tell the newly-sober to stay away from bars and "old drinking 'buddies'"...... but that message is a far leap------ a QUALITATIVE leap------ from the idea that the spouse "triggers" one to drink.
First of all, 'triggers' implies strongly that one is truly "in the clutches of whatever is a 'trigger'. That if you find yourself on a desert isle surrounded for a few hours by a drinking group of people----- that you cannot get away from til the boat is sent around in little while-----that you cannot help but drink. For that is a 'trigger' situation that you must get away from and that will 'get you' even if you did nothing to bring it on yourself. A.A., on the other hand, as I posted above, says "don't drink if your a*s falls off......and if it falls off, put it in a basket and take it to a meeting."
For------- one day-----there very well happen that you will inadvertently find yourself in a situation or with people in a situation that you did not anticipate.....that you could not have known would occur------- and the alcoholic must internalize the fact that yes, it is unfortunate......but he does NOT "have to drink over it"------that it is NOT as powerful as "a trigger"------ that 'this too shall pass" and he can pray and get through it until he can get away from it.
Next-------- this trigger-talk often nowadays has deteriorated into making the "chief trigger" be the spouse of the alcoholic. Many alcoholism counselors spend more time telling the newly-sober alcoholic about how his WIFE is a 'trigger'----- which is NOT what A.A. meant when it counseled people to stay away from old drinking buddies.
The whole focus seems to have gone the path of, once again, 'blame the family'.
2.)) "Blaming the family" often appears in disguise.
a. For instance, many mental-health// marriage counselors say they 'understand' that alcoholism is a primary disease and 'understand' its dynamics in the family... but then go on to 'explore' with that couple, "what makes him drink".... even though the counselor just said that he 'understands' alcoholism.
In the counselor's encouraging the couple to 'search for what makes his client want to drink'' .... i.e., ''what are the stressors that 'trigger' his wanting to drink''-------- the alcoholic welcomes this approach because he knows that this will lead right to blaming his spouse--- overtly and covertly.... this time, with the professional stamp of approval from the counselor.
*** Basically, a 'gang-up' between the alcoholic and the counselor to blame the non-addicted spouse.
(See the video on this website--- in it, I talk about a couple who saw the 'best marriage counselor' in their State..... who heard both of them talk...who saw that the husband was a still-drinking alcoholic... and who heard and saw the wife's frustration and anger... and who then admonished the wife with this------- "Maybe he wouldn't drink as much if you smiled more.")
b.)) If any counselor says that one must explore 'what makes him drink'----- he does NOT understand alcoholism.
He does not understand that the alcoholic drinks because the Yankees won, because the Yankees lost, and because he's bored because the Yankees didn't play.... i.e., there is no 'reason' for the alcoholism other than it's a genetic disease that will manifest at some point if the alcoholic starts drinking.
And the alcoholic will continue to drink, telling the family and himself that "he drinks because x and y and z happened."
c.)) Counseling sessions like what was just described diverts from prescribing that (as A.A. says) no one ---- no one ---- no one ---- 'makes him drink'. That he drinks because of biochemical cravings because of his genetic disease-------and that if he does not stop blaming others for his drinking, he is in grave danger of dying or going insane from his disease of alcoholism.
In one fell swoop, this type of counseling damages both the alcoholic's chances of survival--- and inhumanely continues the alcoholic's years of blaming the family.
d.)) This kind of marital//alcoholism//couples counseling these days usually goes by the name of "family systems and/or cognitive behavioral" approach, which almost always consist of sessions where "both parties" tell what they each see as "the cause of the drinking" ........ with the therapist also saying that yes, hereditary/genetic factors are ''part of'' the cause of alcoholism---but that other issues ''factor in'' (like "marital problems'').
This approach by the therapist necessitates the sessions blaming the spouse for drinking and relapses.... even though the therapist often denies this. He will often say, instead, "both parties have a role in the family dynamics"... which means that he really sees alcoholism NOT as a primary disease that has its own dynamic regardless of outside issues, people, or situations-------- as A.A. says-------- but as the result of mental-health issues.
This is just gobblygook that has been going on in the mental-health profession for decades........but this time, under the guise of promoting itself as "understanding alcoholism as a primary disease''.
They never used to agree that it was a disease..........then, because of the huge success of A.A., they started to add that it is a primary disease.......but nothing in the approach of the actual treatment sessions has changed from the decades-long approach of the mental health profession, treating alcoholism as a RESULT of mental-health issues instead of the primary disease that it is.
e.)) In the A.A. Big Book, there are stories in the back section. In many of them, they talk about their families----and repeatedly state that during the drinking, they blamed their families for the problems in the family...but that once sober and sane again, they saw that almost all the problems in the marriage were a result of their alcoholic drinking.
3.)) THIS IS NOT JUST AN 'ACADEMIC ISSUE'. This difference in 'how to treat alcoholics and their families' is a daily life-and-death issue that manifests in our mental-health counseling centers, in our courts, in our divorce hearings, in our ad-litem-led custody conferences---- with hundreds of thousands of families every year.
Let's face it--- most spouses of alcoholics do not go to Al-Anon. If they go for help, they "go see a counselor".
All of these counselors (and psychologists and social workers) are trained to treat these alcoholics and their families in the professional schools of social work, psychology, psychiatry, and counseling. The major textbooks are rife with these outdated philosophies on how to do this. Fortunately, despite all this--- there are (albeit only a minority) of therapists who do understand this, and who are not following how they've been professionally taught. But it is so important for all family members who are confronting the court system---whether it is for 'family counseling' or for divorce mediation, or for custody hearings, etc-------- to understand what they will probably come up against---- that they will probably find that they will feel verbally attacked and often walk out of sessions not understanding why their guts are telling them that the alcoholism 'won again'.
Just that knowledge alone will give many family members the courage to say 'no' to that kind of counseling ---when they have the choice.
I say 'when they have the choice' because if they find themselves (as they often do) 'sent to' an ad-litem that the court designates to determine custody outcomes....... it often means that the ad-litem is a lawyer who went to a few courses on 'mental health counseling' ..... and has the approach that was just described.
Even though this will be crazymaking for that family member.. if that spouse/parent knows that this is going on... they will be angry of course...but they will feel less crazy-made because they will have the knowledge of what really happened.
Please forward this newsletter on to others who may benefit from it.
Thank you for posting this. It is very helpful to me. I'd like to see it as a sticky at the top of the page. I have it in my favorites, in the meantime.
I think it would help to reinforce what is said to Newcomers, especially, when they come in bewildered by all the blaming that has come their way. You Didn't Cause It and you can't hear that too often!
And there it is in black and white from Toby Rice Drews--marriage counseling doesn't work with an actively drinking alcoholic. And marriage counseling with an inept counselor can be even more undermining to the spouse of an A.
I read the why do As drink part of this to my "sober" for decades, often Dry Drunk husband, and he agreed wholeheartedly with the reasons As drink. Of course he is pretty much in his right mind at the moment. Next time he goes South, I'm going to read, read, read this. I may read it to him again, too, if he doesn't watch out. I should get him to sign off on it. (Grins.)
Blessings, Temple
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It's easy to be graceful until someone steals your cornbread. --Gray Charles