Soberpotamus

It's bizarre. The therapist must not have the big picture yet. Makes little sense.

Carlotta

Then do yourself a favor and dump that quack presto!
Personally, I d report him/her to the board but if you are in early sobriety you might not be up to it and the issuing entanglement.

Aellyce

I find it very weird why a therapist would ever recommend a patient going to a bar and having drinks. Even if it was a patient with no sign of problem with alcohol. Something seems off here...

If you really did share your drinking problem and got this suggestion.... Did you ask why the drinks recommendation? What kind of relationship do you have with him/her?

I would most likely look for someone else. Paying a mental health professional to provide triggers for a problem drinker sounds like no good to anyone.

lunar

Reminds me of a time, many years ago, when an
uncle of mine told my depressed cousin to
"go have a high ball".

ubntubnt

IF you fully shared the extent of your problem and IF the therapist fully understood it then you need to change therapist IMMEDIATELY
Best case he/she is totally unqualified to treat you and worst case you are dealing with someone really evil. Personally I feel this therapist needs to be reported.
Imagine if you went to that bar following that advice and one drink led to a three month bender that led to something awful happening? Doesn't take much to stretch the imagination that far does it?

ANewDayNYC

There is a different between talking about binges and telling your therapist that you have a drinking problem. It is likely you are seeing your therapist for a non-addiction reason. In my experience, it is pretty common for people to say “drink one or two” and socialize – they mean well but just don’t understand. Your recovery is your responsibility.

tgreen

Your therapist is giving you a strategy that can stop from alcohol addiction (if you were addicted to it) one or two drinks every day? Or every other day?

MIRecovery

I only drank 2. 18 ounces of vodka per drink. No problem that I can see.

Your therapist must have been dropped on her head when she was young

Aellyce

Or is he/she into harm reduction / moderation management kind of stuff for addiction? That's my last guess... and that I would understand because it's an approach some of them do use. But if so, perhaps it's not the best method for you?

ArtFriend

Does your therapist have the initials A.V.?

EndGameNYC

Pro-drinking personality disorder.

EndGameNYC

I'm reluctant to comment on what goes on in anyone's therapy session at any time and under most circumstances. It would certainly be extremely unethical on my part to do so without even a splinter of context whatsoever.

Does your therapist know that you posted his or her suggestion here?

FreeOwl

Depends how it was presented I suppose.

I know a couple therapists who will suggest the 'one glass of wine a night for three weeks' experiment.

If a person is legitimately questioning whether they have a problem, this is typically one way to learn first hand if honest with themselves. Going to happy hour for one or two? I found that totally doable. Three weeks of just one a night? Invariably nope.

soberbrah

My therapy is non alcohol related primarily, I did make it clear that I am an alcoholic. Binging was my method of drinking.

Dee74

I figured as much - then your therapist probably has no more knowledge of the condition than any other layman in the steet.

I'm glad you knew what was best for you.

D

soberbrah

My AV could get on board with that regimen if there's a light at the end of the tunnel we could definitely buckle down and have a single beer every night for a few weeks

mfanch

Going to the bar and trying to have 2 or 3 confirmed and cemented the undeniable fact that I drank alcoholically.

"We do not like to pronounce any individual as alcoholic, but you can quickly diagnose yourself. Step over to the nearest barroom and try some controlled drinking. Try to drink and stop abruptly. Try it more than once. It will not take long for you to decide, if you are honest with yourself about it. It may be worth a bad case of jitters if you get a full knowledge of your condition." (emphasis mine)

For me, this was the darkest hour before the dawn. But then I made a decision and the rest is history.