Bottled Up: Help for families of alcoholics and those struggling with alcoholism

Are you considering staging an intervention? Then it is important to plan the intervention properly. There is a lot to consider and if done correctly there is a good chance that the intervention will be successful. But, if you are not able to follow through on what is required you may find that you are disappointed with the results of your efforts.

We don't want you to go through the pain and trauma of your heartfelt efforts not being effective, and so in this episode Lou and John outline the process of staging an intervention, planning the intervention properly, what you will need to know, what you will need to do, and who you may need to call upon to give your intervention the best chance of succeeding.

You can find more on the Intervention course at www.bottled-up.com

NOTE: Please be very clear that, at Bottled Up we strongly advise people not to remain in violent or abusive relationships. We understand fully that in many cases circumstances can become untenable. We discuss this fully in our Podcast "Should I Stay or Should I Go".

For more information on the service Bottled Up provides, visit: www.bottled-up.com

Dr John McMahon is a professor and was the senior lecturer for addiction counsellors at the University of the West of Scotland. He has led prominent studies into alcohol addiction for more than 15 years. Before this, for many years, John had an addiction to alcohol. He has been sober for over 40 years.

Lou Lewis is a professional counsellor and the co-founder of Bottled Up with John. Lou's first husband had an addiction to alcohol for many years, from that experience and her counselling Lou has a deep understanding of the difficulties of living with problem drinkers.

John and Lou are married and live in England. They founded Bottled Up in the hope that it would help change your life.

The Bottled Up program is innovative and advocates that the partners of alcoholics can introduce changes to their lives, which will empower them and influence their drinkers to change. If you live with an alcoholic partner, or are looking for help to quit drinking, then Bottled Up is for you.

For more help and advice visit www.bottled-up.com

For advertising and sponsorship opportunities email [email protected]

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Talking to an alcoholic about your concerns and the problems they are causing is often very difficult. Using our S.H.A.R.E. tool you can create an inventory which grounds your conversation in facts, not emotions. This will give you a solid foundation from which to talk to the alcoholic and try to encourage them to make changes .

Creating change when living with an alcoholic can be very difficult. With the S.H.A.R.E. tool you can make a plan by assessing your Safety, Health, Ambition, Relationships and Environment. Once you have a secure assessment of where you find yourself, you will find it easier to identify and focus on what needs to change and how. In this episode Lou and John discuss how assessing your Safety, Health, Ambitions, Relationships and Environment will make you better understand where you find yourself and give you encouragement and solid ground going forward.

Please be very clear that, at Bottled Up we strongly advise people not to remain in violent or abusive relationships. We understand fully that in many cases circumstances can become untenable. We discuss this fully in our Podcast "Should I Stay or Should I Go".

For more information on the service Bottled Up provides, visit: www.bottled-up.com

Dr John McMahon is a professor and was the senior lecturer for addiction counsellors at the University of the West of Scotland. He has led prominent studies into alcohol addiction for more than 15 years. Before this, for many years, John had an addiction to alcohol. He has been sober for over 40 years.

Lou Lewis is a professional counsellor and the co-founder of Bottled Up with John. Lou's first husband had an addiction to alcohol for many years, from that experience and her counselling Lou has a deep understanding of the difficulties of living with problem drinkers.

John and Lou are married and live in England. They founded Bottled Up in the hope that it would help change your life.

The Bottled Up program is innovative and advocates that the partners of alcoholics can introduce changes to their lives, which will empower them and influence their drinkers to change. If you live with an alcoholic partner, or are looking for help to quit drinking, then Bottled Up is for you.

For more help and advice visit www.bottled-up.com

For advertising and sponsorship opportunities email [email protected]

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Creating change when living with an alcoholic can be very difficult. With the S.H.A.R.E. tool you can make a plan by assessing your Safety, Health, Ambition, Relationships and Environment. Once you have a secure assessment of where you find yourself, you will find it easier to identify and focus on what needs to change and how. In this episode Lou and John discuss how assessing your Safety, Health, Ambitions, Relationships and Environment will make you better understand where you find yourself and give you encouragement and solid ground going forward.

Please be very clear that, at Bottled Up we strongly advise people not to remain in violent or abusive relationships. We understand fully that in many cases circumstances can become untenable. We discuss this fully in our Podcast "Should I Stay or Should I Go".

For more information on the service Bottled Up provides, visit: www.bottled-up.com

Dr John McMahon is a professor and was the senior lecturer for addiction counsellors at the University of the West of Scotland. He has led prominent studies into alcohol addiction for more than 15 years. Before this, for many years, John had an addiction to alcohol. He has been sober for over 40 years.

Lou Lewis is a professional counsellor and the co-founder of Bottled Up with John. Lou's first husband had an addiction to alcohol for many years, from that experience and her counselling Lou has a deep understanding of the difficulties of living with problem drinkers.

John and Lou are married and live in England. They founded Bottled Up in the hope that it would help change your life.

The Bottled Up program is innovative and advocates that the partners of alcoholics can introduce changes to their lives, which will empower them and influence their drinkers to change. If you live with an alcoholic partner, or are looking for help to quit drinking, then Bottled Up is for you.

For more help and advice visit www.bottled-up.com

For advertising and sponsorship opportunities email [email protected]

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Living with an alcoholic can often seem impossible. There can be expectations we, or others, put upon us, which can do you harm because you feel you have to follow them. But, there are no rules, you are living in exceptional circumstances, whatever the decisions you take will be difficult and entirely understandable. You need to make decisions which you believe to be in your interest, which look after you and your children and family.

Please be very clear that, at Bottled Up we strongly advise people not to remain in violent or abusive relationships. We understand fully that in many cases circumstances can become untenable. We discuss this fully in our Podcast "Should I Stay or Should I Go".

For more information on the service Bottled Up provides, visit: www.bottled-up.com

Dr John McMahon is a professor and was the senior lecturer for addiction counsellors at the University of the West of Scotland. He has led prominent studies into alcohol addiction for more than 15 years. Before this, for many years, John had an addiction to alcohol. He has been sober for over 40 years.

Lou Lewis is a professional counsellor and the co-founder of Bottled Up with John. Lou's first husband had an addiction to alcohol for many years, from that experience and her counselling Lou has a deep understanding of the difficulties of living with problem drinkers. 

John and Lou are married and live in England. They founded Bottled Up in the hope that it would help change your life.

The Bottled Up program is innovative and advocates that the partners of alcoholics can introduce changes to their lives, which will empower them and influence their drinkers to change. If you live with an alcoholic partner, or are looking for help to quit drinking, then Bottled Up is for you.

For more help and advice visit www.bottled-up.com

For advertising and sponsorship opportunities email [email protected]

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As a parent, living with an alcoholic is extremely difficult. You're constantly on edge, protecting your children and trying to hold a family together, as you and your children live through trauma and make sense of what is going on. Relationships with the alcoholic will suffer and the reactions of you and your children are entirely understandable. In this podcast Lou talks about her experience as a parent, living with her first husband who was an alcoholic. As Lou says, this is not a guide as to what to do - far from it - this is her experience, her reflections, and what she has learnt.

Please be very clear that, at Bottled Up we strongly advise people not to remain in violent or abusive relationships. We understand fully that in many cases circumstances can become untenable. We discuss this fully in our Podcast "Should I Stay or Should I Go".

For more information on the service Bottled Up provides, visit: www.bottled-up.com

Dr John McMahon is a professor and was the senior lecturer for addiction counsellors at the University of the West of Scotland. He has led prominent studies into alcohol addiction for more than 15 years. Before this, for many years, John had an addiction to alcohol. He has been sober for over 40 years.

Lou Lewis is a professional counsellor and the co-founder of Bottled Up with John. Lou's first husband had an addiction to alcohol for many years, from that experience and her counselling Lou has a deep understanding of the difficulties of living with problem drinkers. 

John and Lou are married and live in England. They founded Bottled Up in the hope that it would help change your life.

The Bottled Up program is innovative and advocates that the partners of alcoholics can introduce changes to their lives, which will empower them and influence their drinkers to change. If you live with an alcoholic partner, or are looking for help to quit drinking, then Bottled Up is for you.

For more help and advice visit www.bottled-up.com

For advertising and sponsorship opportunities email [email protected]

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You might not actually decide to throw dinner in the bin! But it's indicative of setting boundaries to create changes in behaviour. Change in an alcoholic can happen, but there has to be both carrot and stick. By estabishing boundaries and expectations you can create change. What start as small ripples can become waves.

For more information on the service Bottled Up provides, visit: www.bottled-up.com

Dr John McMahon is a professor and was the senior lecturer for addiction counsellors at the University of the West of Scotland. He has led prominent studies into alcohol addiction for more than 15 years. Before this, for many years, John had an addiction to alcohol. He has been sober for over 40 years.

Lou Lewis is a professional counsellor and the co-founder of Bottled Up with John. Lou's first husband had an addiction to alcohol for many years, from that experience and her counselling Lou has a deep understanding of the difficulties of living with problem drinkers. 

John and Lou are married and live in England. They founded Bottled Up in the hope that it would help change your life.

The Bottled Up program is innovative and advocates that the partners of alcoholics can introduce changes to their lives, which will empower them and influence their drinkers to change. If you live with an alcoholic partner, or are looking for help to quit drinking, then Bottled Up is for you.

For more help and advice visit www.bottled-up.com

For advertising and sponsorship opportunities email [email protected]

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If there is no reason or incentive to change, alcoholics will continue to drink. In this essential episode Lou and John talk through four strategies based on scientific evidence of how people change, and provide you with practical ways that you can influence change in an alcoholic. Under the acronym L.O.V.E. they're innovative and bold, and might take a little getting used to!

Let the negatives happen

Optimise time together

Value your drinker

Encourage change

If you live with a problem drinker, then you have almost certainly tried many different ways to get your drinker to change, and again almost certainly, none of them have worked the way you hoped they would!

Please be very clear that, at Bottled Up we strongly advise people not to remain in violent or abusive relationships. We understand fully that in many cases circumstances can become untenable. We discuss this fully in our Podcast "Should I Stay or Should I Go".

For more information on the service Bottled Up provides, visit: www.bottled-up.com

Dr John McMahon is a professor and was the senior lecturer for addiction counsellors at the University of the West of Scotland. He has led prominent studies into alcohol addiction for more than 15 years. Before this, for many years, John had an addiction to alcohol. He has been sober for over 40 years.

Lou Lewis is a professional counsellor and the co-founder of Bottled Up with John. Lou's first husband had an addiction to alcohol for many years, from that experience and her counselling Lou has a deep understanding of the difficulties of living with problem drinkers. 

John and Lou are married and live in England. They founded Bottled Up in the hope that it would help change your life.

The Bottled Up program is innovative and advocates that the partners of alcoholics can introduce changes to their lives, which will empower them and influence their drinkers to change. If you live with an alcoholic partner, or are looking for help to quit drinking, then Bottled Up is for you.

For more help and advice visit www.bottled-up.com

For advertising and sponsorship opportunities email [email protected]

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Don't let alcohol make the decisions. You can make decisions which bring back who you really are, in doing so, you will create positive change for you.

For more information on the service Bottled Up provides, visit: www.bottled-up.com

Dr John McMahon is a professor and was the senior lecturer for addiction counsellors at the University of the West of Scotland. He has led prominent studies into alcohol addiction for more than 15 years. Before this, for many years, John had an addiction to alcohol. He has been sober for over 40 years.

Lou Lewis is a professional counsellor and the co-founder of Bottled Up with John. Lou's first husband had an addiction to alcohol for many years, from that experience and her counselling Lou has a deep understanding of the difficulties of living with problem drinkers. 

John and Lou are married and live in England. They founded Bottled Up in the hope that it would help change your life.

The Bottled Up program is innovative and advocates that the partners of alcoholics can introduce changes to their lives, which will empower them and influence their drinkers to change. If you live with an alcoholic partner, or are looking for help to quit drinking, then Bottled Up is for you.

For more help and advice visit www.bottled-up.com

For advertising and sponsorship opportunities email [email protected]

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this moving episode, you may well recognise much of Lou's story in your own life – the pain, heartache, disappointment, frustration, anger and anxiety – but also the hope and the love. Through these incredibly difficult times Lou navigated family life for 27 years, bringing up two children, whilst living with a binge drinker. Lou talks with John of first realising her husband had an alcohol problem, the difficulties in coping, the strategies she developed, and reflects on what she learned and where she finds herself today. Her resilience, grace, insight and compassion is inspiring.

For more information on the service Bottled Up provides, visit: www.bottled-up.com

Dr John McMahon is a professor and was the senior lecturer for addiction counsellors at the University of the West of Scotland. He has led prominent studies into alcohol addiction for more than 15 years. Before this, for many years, John had an addiction to alcohol. He has been sober for over 40 years.

Lou Lewis is a professional counsellor and the co-founder of Bottled Up with John. Lou's first husband had an addiction to alcohol for many years, from that experience and her counselling Lou has a deep understanding of the difficulties of living with problem drinkers. 

John and Lou are married and live in England. They founded Bottled Up in the hope that it would help change your life.

The Bottled Up program is innovative and advocates that the partners of alcoholics can introduce changes to their lives, which will empower them and influence their drinkers to change. If you live with an alcoholic partner, or are looking for help to quit drinking, then Bottled Up is for you.

For more help and advice visit www.bottled-up.com

For advertising and sponsorship opportunities email [email protected]

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Empower yourself. Know that you are not powerless. You are not helpless. Whilst you can't make a person change, you can take control of the circumstances which bring about change in an alcoholic.

For more information on the service Bottled Up provides, visit: www.bottled-up.com

Dr John McMahon is a professor and was the senior lecturer for addiction counsellors at the University of the West of Scotland. He has led prominent studies into alcohol addiction for more than 15 years. Before this, for many years, John had an addiction to alcohol. He has been sober for over 40 years.

Lou Lewis is a professional counsellor and the co-founder of Bottled Up with John. Lou's first husband had an addiction to alcohol for many years, from that experience and her counselling Lou has a deep understanding of the difficulties of living with problem drinkers. 

John and Lou are married and live in England. They founded Bottled Up in the hope that it would help change your life.

The Bottled Up program is innovative and advocates that the partners of alcoholics can introduce changes to their lives, which will empower them and influence their drinkers to change. If you live with an alcoholic partner, or are looking for help to quit drinking, then Bottled Up is for you.

For more help and advice visit www.bottled-up.com

For advertising and sponsorship opportunities email [email protected]

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.