Loving an alcoholic can be crazy-making because so little is really understood or acknowledged about the impacts on the family member or friend who loves someone who drinks too much. Yet it is the family member or friend who is on the receiving end of the drinking behaviors, in other words, on the receiving end… Continue Reading
Tag Archives: codependent
Enabler. Codependent. What Do These Terms Really Mean?
Enabler, Codependent, Enabling. What are you talking about? When I was first “assigned” these labels in 2003 while attending family therapy group sessions at the residential treatment center my loved one had entered for alcoholism, I more than flinched. I downright declared, “Are you kidding? Not me! I’m just trying to help and keep it… Continue Reading
The Ripple Effect of Loving Someone Who Drinks Too Much
Loving someone who drinks … Much of the focus on alcoholism and alcohol abuse – with regards to treatment, education, prevention, public policy – is on the alcoholic or alcohol abuser. I’d like to draw our attention to those who are deeply effected by a loved one’s drinking (which I’m labeling “codependents” for simplicity’s sake)… Continue Reading