Alcohol treatment - I had occasion recently to attend a seminar in my home town. When I was in my early 20’s I moved from the east coast to the west, partly to find a job, but mostly to find myself. I left behind my family and many good friends. Upon my return, although I was put up in a very posh hotel, I chose to stay with my parents, though there were many conferences and events being held at the hotel that I would need to be at throughout the week.

Alcohol treatment - One evening after a particularly busy day, I and a few of my colleagues decided to go for a drink in the hotel lounge. A little while in to our evening, as I headed to the washroom I was greeted by a familiar face. One of my very best friends from high school was smiling at me from atop a barstool, although the smile was a little crooked.

I stopped to say hello and within seconds realized she had had quite a bit to drink already. She too was with some people so we agreed to meet up the following evening to catch up.

Lea and I partied a lot when we were younger. We grew up in the days before designer drugs and all night raves and spent many weekends at house parties or in each other’s basements with some friends. There was always alcohol around and while we both drank I never thought either of us had a drinking problem.

When I met up with Lea for dinner by the time I arrived at the restaurant she already had a half empty drink sitting in front of her and she looked settled in. We began reminiscing about old times and filling each other in on what we had been up to since we last spoke.

As the evening went on Lea ordered several more drinks, never going without a drink for more than ten minutes. By 9:00 she was slurring her speech and I knew it was time to call it a night. I was beginning to realize that Lea had a drinking problem. I had my parent’s car so I convinced her to leave hers and drove her home.
 
Lea invited me up for coffee and I reluctantly went, mostly because I wanted to be sure she was alright. Since I was only going to be in town a few more days I grabbed the bull by the horns and confronted Lea. I told her that it looked like she was engaging in abusive drinking, that she may be a problem drinker, and that I was worried for her.

She admitted that she had a drinking problem and broke down right there on the sofa. I reassured her that even though I would be leaving in a few days, I would help her address her drinking problem in a positive way before I left.

I spoke with Lea again in the morning and we agreed that she needed to enter an alcohol treatment program. Lea’s abusive drinking was taking over her life and she wanted help. The good news is that Lea realized she was a problem drinker and honestly wanted to do something meaningful about it.

It’s been 8 months now and I’ve just gotten off the phone with Lea. She has been receiving help in the alcohol treatment program and her abusive drinking is under control for now. She knows it’s one day at a time, and I hope she is able to stay on the right track.