How can you tell when your partner drinks too much? When does drinking become a problem?
Imagine meeting someone new. You start going out on romantic dates- dates that maybe include a bottle of wine, candles, roses, the whole nine yards. Initially, the alcohol acts as an intimacy and romance enhancer. It helps you both loosen up, relax, and enjoy yourselves. But what happens when down the road the alcohol becomes toxic? Sometimes stress and tension build up and eventually it’s one partner who drinks too much, too frequently.
When one partner begins to develop a drinking problem, the other might start to feel like the alcohol has taken top priority in the relationship. Any little bit of consumption could start to be a bid deal, and the partners could begin to withdraw from each other, creating an even bigger issue. With communication mishaps and increased fighting, oftentimes married partners don’t know how to go back and fix the issue.
Today, Dr. Julia Messer is talking with us about how to handle this issue if and when it arises. As a licensed psychologist with Orenstein Solutions in Cary, NC, she helps couples and individuals develop practical coping solutions for many different challenging situations.
To find out more about Julia and her practice, visit their website or call (919) 428-2766 to make an appointment.
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Is your marriage built on an unhealthy foundation of substance abuse and false feelings?
Maybe you met your partner at a bar. Things went well, the alcohol helped to take off the nervous edge and before you knew it you were both head over heels in love.
Throughout dating and even into marriage substances were always around to take off the edge and increase your confidence. It wasn’t long before the euphoric feelings of the substance were so closely mixed with your feeling towards your spouse that it was nearly impossible to separate the two.
“If you think about the social gatherings of our society most of them have some sort of drinking component to them. Dancing, going to dinner, bowling or going to a baseball game or sporting event…even movie theaters are selling micro brews…it seems like everything you do has a drinking component to it,” says Dr. Metz.
What does this say about the strength and resiliency of these marriages? Is it possible to take the substances away and have the relationship survive? Diving head first into this controversial topic is Dr. Kevin Metz.
Dr. Metz earned his Doctorate in Clinical Psychology from California School of Professional Psychology and his undergraduate degree is from UNC Chapel Hill. Dr. Metz is in private practice, working with Lepage Associates in Durham, NC.
To find out more about Dr. Kevin Metz and Lepage Associates, you can visit them online or call 919.572.0000 for an appointment.
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