By Katie Walker

September is National Alcohol Awareness and Treatment Month: Friends and Family Recover Together. If you or someone you love is suffering in silence the harrowing effects of alcoholism, please get some help. There’s no shame in asking for a little assistance. Below are some local agencies and services that provide counseling, assessments, and meetings for alcoholics, as well as those around them.

If you’re a UofL student or faculty/staff member (or even if you’re not!), and you think you (or someone in your life) may have a problem with drinking, the easiest way to get help would be to contact the UofL Counseling Center located right here on campus (in the Health Services building across from the post office).

“We only assess,” informs Doris Meadows, program assistant at the Counseling Center. “We’re not a treatment center. We’re a starting point. We’ll refer people to other agencies and services. We can council friends or family members, but usually we refer them as well.”

If you want to eliminate the middleman, you’re free to check out any of these agencies yourself. Most will do evaluations, as well as offer meetings/discussions to share your feelings.

Two groups that go hand in hand are Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and Al-Anon/Alateen. While AA focuses entirely on those with a drinking problem, Al-Anon helps people who have friends or family members suffering from alcoholism. Nearly everyone has heard of AA and its infamous meetings, but did you know they have over 350 meetings per week here in the Kentuckiana area alone? Both are non-affiliated, volunteer services, focused on helping people choose sobriety.

An anonymous source from AA comments, “If someone wants to try to get some help about their drinking, they can call 502-582-1849. It’s a 24-hour [service]. Someone from AA will call them back, take them to a meeting.”

If there’s someone in your life whose drinking bothers you, you should check out Al-Anon. “We’re the other side. We’re an organization [for people] who are affected by someone else’s drinking,” says an anonymous party from Al-Anon. “I grew up in an alcoholic home. My role model was an alcoholic. I had a lot of crazy thinking because of it.” The main goal of Al-Anon is to gain “some peace of mind. We have over eighty meetings per week here in Louisville and Indiana. Most are discussion meetings, but some are speaker-someone will share their story. [Afterward], we’ll call or email each other and talk about how we’re working or dealing with our friend or family member.”

In addition to meetings, Al-Anon also offers a twelve-step program. Baptist Hospital East has created the Center for Behavioral Health, which offers services for individuals suffering from emotional problems and addictions. Tom Cox from the CBH says they offer a “Family Education Program from 6-8:30 every Thursday for three weeks. It’s a general information/education class.” The center also has counseling, therapy, inpatient detoxification, and an intensive outpatient program for those diagnosed with alcoholism.

Another wonderful group here in Louisville is the Jefferson Alcohol and Drug Abuse Center (JADAC). Diane Hague, director of JADAC (a division of Seven Counties Services), says that the center offers two main programs: one for friends and family members of alcoholics and another for basic education on addictions (both alcohol and drug).

“Our Concerned Persons Education Program meets every Thursday night at 5:45. It’s geared toward the friends or family members [of someone suffering from alcoholism]. It lasts for three weeks, and anyone can come.”

Their other specific program focuses on general education of alcoholism and drug addictions. This program also meets on Thursday nights, from 5:30 to 8:00.

“The cost is $90, and it lasts for four weeks. Call ahead!”

JADAC also offers services for those eighteen and over who believe they might be struggling with alcoholism. In that event, your best bet is to “make an appointment,” says Hague. “We can bring you in for evaluation.”