What kind of 'emotions' is he not able to / prepared to talk about.
Some alcoholics get sober, but not recovered. They don't find a way of dealing with the pain; fear; anger; etc. that they used to mask with alcohol. It can be a painful place to be. I was there myself for a little while.
Talking about emotions while still in that state can be almost impossible. Especially to someone who is involved with us. I went to a counsellor and managed to talk to her for hours and hours over the months and still only touched on the edges of mine. (AND convinced myself I was 'opening up' haha.)