What To Do When Your Loved One is in Treatment

Your loved one has finally decided (or was left with no other option than) to seek treatment for their alcohol or other drug use disorder. You’ve long wanted and fought hard for this. But instead of feeling confident that all will be well, you feel a tumult of emotions. And perhaps the voice screaming loudest…

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Alcoholism is a Family Disease – Really

Lisa Frederiksen on the Family Disease of Alcoholism

Alcoholism is a family disease I was told by the staff at the residential treatment center my loved one entered for his alcoholism. “Oh brother, you can’t be serious!” I countered. “And what do you mean, I’m a codependent, an enabler, and that I should get help.  I don’t need help — he’s the one…

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Choosing to Forgive an Alcoholic

Choosing to forgive an alcoholic… Depending on how long you’ve been living and/or coping with a loved one’s alcoholism, this can be one of the most difficult concepts to grasp, let alone embrace – choosing to forgive your alcoholic. I’d repeatedly been told that alcoholism was like any other disease, and I wanted to (and…

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Screening for a Drinking Problem

Screening for a drinking problem boils down to one simple question, “Do their behaviors change when they drink?”  If you’re reading this post, you have likely been hurt, frustrated, concerned, angered, and/or scared by a loved one’s drinking. You’ve likely tried talking, yelling, cajoling, negotiating, looking the other way, believing their promise(s) to stop or…

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Protecting Yourself From Secondhand Drinking

Secondhand Drinking – what is it, and how does a person protect themselves from it? What is secondhand drinking? It is being on the receiving end of a person’s (family member, friend or stranger-on-the-street’s) drinking behaviors. What are those drinking behaviors? Fighting with friends or family about the drinking; saying or doing things you don’t…

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