A concerned person is any individual who lives with or is affected by someone's drinking. A concerned person may be a partner, spouse, parent, sibling, adult child or close friend. They may be living with either problematic drinking or sobriety. They can come to the service through self-referral and are typically interested in exploring how alcohol misuse has affected or still is affecting their lives.
The drinker in their life may or may not be a client of the service.
The centre acknowledges that it is vitally important to provide support, education and counselling to concerned persons of problem drinkers and we believe that concerned persons deserve a recovery as much as the drinker.
Programmes and services available for the Concerned Person:
The Information Programme offers the opportunity for anyone concerned about their own or another person's drinking to inform themselves about the physical, psychological and emotional effects of alcohol. It focuses on the development of alcohol as a significant problem and it effects on relationships. It includes information about the process of recovery and the potential benefits for all concerned, both the drinker and the concerned person.
The Concerned Person's Educational Programme is a six week programme, designed to help the concerned person become more aware of the effects of alcohol mis-use on them as well as to begin to make some new choices about their own behaviour in relation to the problem drinker. The programme includes information on enabling and unmanageability. The format is a lecture with time afterwards for discussion in relation to the lecture's information. An Al-Anon speaker is invited during the course of the programme to share their experience and encourage attendance at Al-Anon.
The Concerned Person's Group is a programme of group therapy offered at night to facilitate those who are unavailable during the day. It is a confidential group which increases self awareness and where clients' ongoing issues are explored. It offers mutual support and help in making positive changes. The programme encourages Al Anon attendance. It also includes a written recovery exercise that helps clients to understand how they have been affected by the problem drinker's behaviour and to begin to make the changes necessary for their own recovery.
Continuing Care Programme: When the concerned person has completed the Concerned Person's Group, there is a monthly support group for six sessions. This provides clients with further support and enables them to strengthen their recovery.
Individual Counselling is available to the concerned person throughout the whole programme.
Additionally, the centre offers Family Therapy and Couples Therapy to any individuals who are interested in discussing alcohol related issues in these broader areas. These sessions are negotiated on an individual family- or couples basis and may be facilitated while the individuals are attending programmes or after their completion.