You think he told his therapist that he was drinking 9-12 beers? I think the odds on that are pretty low. Anyway, I am guessing a maintenance drinker tops up as they go along i.e. maintaining a certain level of alcohol in the old bloodstream. Doesn't seem like a good thing to me somehow.
I always remember my ex coming home from a counselling session and telling me that she said he wasn't an alcoholic. And other time that "she didn't understand why I had such a problem with him". And another that "She couldn't figure out why I was sleeping in the spare room". Heck, she sure had a lot of opinions about me given that she's never met me. 'Cept, I bet she didn't say any of that stuff.