30 year marriage in jeopardy! need family counseling advice?

my father is a recovering alcoholic but may be back to his old habits again. who should i contact for possible rehab treatment along with family counseling / therapy? both my parents have health insurance. should i call them first? or the family doctor? my father is a reasonable man except when he drinks. our family has tried helping him throughout the years but we need Professioan Help. thanks in advance.30 year marriage in jeopardy! need family counseling advice?
Their health insurance may only cover certain kinds of counseling and if you need help in paying for counseling, I'd contact insurance first.30 year marriage in jeopardy! need family counseling advice?
The problem is he can only be helped if he accepts help. My father was an alcoholic for decades and never even acknowledged such an addiction/disease existed. It took a terrible toll on our family and shortened his life considerably. But the worst thing was there was nothing any of us could do or say to make him get help.





That's the hardest part. The other hardest part is getting them to want or be determined stay on a programme of help. Denial and lack of willpower are problems here.





The fatal one though, with all addicts, is the willingness to pay the price, to lose everything valuable in their lives. If that's happening, you have no bargaining power. They simply won't listen and will have to lose everything, slide deeper and perhaps never climb out.





If you dont have these three problems, then he has a good chance of managing the addiction on a good programme.
Contact your local AA group, they should be able to point you towards resources in your area.
Since your dad isn't asking the question, hon, little that would be said here would mean much.
He is the only one that can fix him. Ask him if he wants help? If not, have your mom boot his butt out and move on.





Tough love may be your only choice if you love him.
go to your local advice center or go through your doctor. or phone the AA they will help. if in UK look in the Thomson's directory and in the front it list helplines. good luck
Doctors won't talk to you because you are not the patient. They may or may not talk to the wife depending on how the privacy issue is interpreted.





But it sounds like your father's age should be getting up there so it is more than just drinking and the family issues. His liver will be in trouble soon and liver diseases are nasty.





You and your family members should look at whether it is about mental or physical abuse because of his alcoholism (a behavior) or a health threat and then decide on your next move. And kind of depends on how your father value his own life --- some people can be scared to change if their life is at stake.
Definitely go through your health insurance and seek advice as to the proper counseling program to enter. I wish you the best in trying to connect and keep your family together. You're taking the right steps in the right direction.