Psychologist's View - Depending on Knowledge of AA/Alcoholics
Originally Posted by
kelsh 
When I went to counseling back in 1970 my counselor told me that he didn't think I was an alcoholic but a person with life problems & that I drank to forget. Many years later this man was my boss and had a drinking problem.
I would quit for a year here and there but never stay quit. I went to AA about the same way and didn't get a sponsor or work the steps.
In 1988 I was at the end of another life event that I escaped from by drinking every day and all weekend. I finally came to the end of the road and asked for help again but this time I had to detox in a hospital, get help for depression/clinical and went to AA, got a sponsor, & worked the steps. :day4
That was 19 years ago and I am still sober and still being treated for my depression with a stability in both.
I wanted to be sober more than anything else in my life and I was willing to do everything suggested. I had a counselor for my depression and one for my alcoholism besides my daily AA meeting for the first year of my sobriety. It worked and it is still working today.
kelsh
Early in 1979, my daughter suggested I see a psychologist for my depression. I was separated from husband and still drinking, although he had stopped. The doc and I discussed everything under the son...but, never a word about his or my drinking. By the end of each session, I would be so emotionally drained, I would head straight to my favorite bar for a few "pick me ups"!
A few months later, I wound up in detox, and didn't make my scheduled session with the doc. I called her and said something to the effect, "I found out my problem...I'm an alcoholic, and I'm being detoxed for alcoholism." I don't think she was convinced, but that was her problem.
Two years later, having been divorced and going to AA, I became so depressed, I couldn't get out of bed to go to work...didn't feel like doing anything...not even drinking! I dragged myself back to the detox/rehab and begged for help. After a joint meeting of three of the counsellors, I was prescribed an anti-depressant and set up for lunch-time meetings with an alcoholism therapist whose Dad was an alcoholic and she was in Al-Anon. This gal could have written her own Big Book.
BTW...it was determined, during the next six months of therapy, that the depression was caused by my not having "grieved the divorce". I did a lot of in-depth soul searching, pretty much like a 4th and 5th...and came out the other side a much more serene recovering alcoholic.