Re: Sam A/Louis D
If he's drinking to deal with whoever is in his head, then yes, that's something that needs dealing with. But not telling anyone who it is isn't going to help anyone.
He wants to change. That's wonderful. But when he does things like this repeatedly, reacts defensively, and pulls away when confronted, I find his interest in changing harder to believe. If he really was want to reverse his apathy, stop behaving with casual cruelty because he fears conflict, and cut the drinking, he needs to actually make strides toward those things.