DataDog

Counseling, hasn't seemed to ever work for me. I would often come out of the counseling wanting to drink even more. Does anyone else have this problem?

Having a constant stream of a 1-on-1 conversation with someone about alcohol only etched the idea of drinking even further into my brain.

I also don't know if this is something I consciously or unconsciously do, but when other people place me into a persona I can't help but fit into that persona.
One conscious decision I've made was, "Why be accused of something I'm not doing, when I can get accused of something and do it" ie: sneaking booze...

Is this a common problem where counseling doesn't work?
Have any of you found that you've been more successful on your own? All the medical professionals I've talked to have pretty much told me it's impossible.

Still sober, and feeling great!

Sapling

I never tried counseling....I tried AA and that worked.

ACT10Npack

that's a side that your not ready to quit drinking yet. I'm in that part of my life now too. If I talk about drinking then I would drink more. Try to find out why you want to drink more after counsling. Most likely you will want to drink more after AA meetings too. Do you have trust issues? If so then can't move forward with help without some treat with the people to ask help for. Good luck

2granddaughters

DataDog, my alcoholism is a physical, mental, emotional, spiritual disease.
I need treatment that addresses all of those facets. I find it, like Sapling, in Alcoholics Anonymous.

You're right ACTIONpack, I recently came to the conclusion that is why GOD put billions of people on this earth. I should be able to find 1 or 2 out of the bunch that I can trust and befriend. I'm Bob and I'm an alcoholic.

Wishing you the best.

Bob R

johnny2times

yep, i'd often go get plastered after a counseling session , didnt work for me, just made me worse, i think alot of counselers are a joke to be honest, i'm same as sapling , AA worked for me too...try it, its way more powerful...i think if everyone did AA and worked the steps then there would be no need for counselers fullstop! lol

2granddaughters

A lot of Armies could retire as well !! How's your day, Johnny??

ACT10Npack

Sorry Johnny2times but I don't believe counselors are a joke. Recovery is a hard thing to get over it because it's all in your mind and addiction. Just because you do something about it does not mean your ready to change. I know people who stop drinking after counseling and AA but life time recovery is very low. There is no pill to take to stay sober for the rest of our life. It's all will power and it's hard on us to do that.

flutter

Find a better/different counselor. For me, it was critical to my recovery success. Other than our first session answering the "Why are you here?" question, we never talked about my actual drinking again, I had way bigger stuff to work on which took care of the drinking part on it's own really.

Or, if you don't want to have counseling, don't.. there are lots of recovery programs/methods out there.

Anna

I agree with Flutter's point. There should be no need to talk endlessly about drinking with a therapist. Stopping drinking is the first step and I believe that it takes lots of inside work, lots of dealing with the issues in life that you've been avoiding. That's how counselling could help you, if you find the right therapist.

midgetcop

I've been very happy with my addiction counsellor. We actually don't talk much about drinking, and rather we talk about readjusting to my life sober and breaking up old mental habits. She's really more of a life coach to me, and I find the talks extremely important to my sobriety.

One-on-one counselling may not be for everyone, and God knows that there are many lousy therapists, but to blow off the entire idea is kinda silly. With all due respect, I see this thread spiralling into "my method is the best and every other method sucks"..

Terminally Unique

Did your counselor ever suggest that you simply do the obvious and quit drinking forever? Or did they tell you that you have 'issues' that you can't deal with so you 'cope' with them by drinking?

Yes, I have.

They lie.

sugarbear1

alcoholics are great actors, always playing a part in the play called "Life"

DataDog

I've been refused help in an outpatient facility because my problem is too big to deal with outside of inpatient, apparently. But I can't afford to go to an inpatient facility cus of lost wages... and if I don't want to go to an inpatient facility and uproot my life, I don't foresee me kicking booze after an inpatient visit.

So to answer your question, I've had several counselors and have heard those things multiple times.

I find that If I can quit on my own terms, no forced group therapy, or improbable hoops to jump through, I'll be more successful.

"But you're an alcoholic, alcoholics can't just quit drinking."
That really burnt my ass when it came out of my physician at the time.

Terminally Unique

This is nonsense.

You don't need to go to rehab to kick the booze to the curb, nor do you need to uproot your life.

If you want do-it-yourself recovery without groups, meetings, or therapy, Rational Recovery is probably your best bet.

DataDog

What is Rational Recovery? is it easier if I just google it?

Terminally Unique

They teach an aggressive method of self-recovery, called AVRT, that doesn't require therapy or groups. I'll send you some links. Check your private messages. There's also an active discussion thread on AVRT in the secular connections forum.

DataDog

I just skimmed over a little bit of it, I'm actually working at the moment so I don't have a whole lot of free time to look at it, but it sounds like Neuro Linguistic Programming, which I've worked with in the past as just a self help technique.

Is NLP involved in it?

Terminally Unique

No, it is a far more direct approach, and doesn't waste any time getting to the problem at hand. Since it was drawn together from the experiences of thousands of self-recovered people over 15 years or so, it is essentially street-wise recovery. If you prefer proper terminology, it could be called a phenomenological method.

leenliz

Sounds like you need to work on your inner feelings. you may have pent up anger deep down that needs bringing to the surface.

DataDog

I have many pent up feelings, but I wouldn't say any more than the normal person. How did you get that information from what I've been posting?