I love counseling. It's really helping me to become a better person, which in turn makes me a better mother and probably a better spouse, friend, daughter, yada, yada, yada.
I found mine through google. She has a nice website, I emailed her then she called me and we talked about what I was looking for and then I scheduled my first appt with her where I was basically talking non stop. I was like that probably the first few sessions (I have seen her weekly since January.) I think it's really healing to just talk to someone entirely unbiased to your situation and to receive feedback from someone who REALLY knows what they're taking about and isn't biased by their own personal experience like you might encounter with alanon or SR friends and family. It's good to share but it's really beneficial to receive advice, feedback and suggestions from a licensed professional.
I highly recommend counseling or therapy to ANYONE in a close relationship with an alcoholic. But what you have to keep in mind is that "results" are gradual not immediate. What do you hope to get out of therapy? Keep your goals realistic and discuss them upfront with your counselor and have realistic expectations of what your transformation could look like and on what timeline. I initially expected to see mine once a week for a month and then maybe once a month for a few months and then be done. Lol Sooooo wrong. A woman from alanon recently told me that the only reason her marriage to her addict husband has survived their 40 years (and mostly enjoyable) is because they're both dedicated to going to therapy regularly. If my husband and I stay together I think we'll both be lifelong therapy/counseling participants.
Our insurance only pays $40/session for up to 20 sessions per person. Each of our sessions are in the $150 range for 45-50 minutes.