The phrase yes but, may seem a fairly innocuous phrase, however in the context of alcoholism and recovery it can often be a very telling phrase, as it often indicates a particular attitude or in some cases obstinacy about the acceptance of a situation or a person that the other person does not want to accept.
It is important to note that this is somewhat of a generalisation, and the phrase yes but can be a very innocent one as well. It is the sort of phrase that is likely to be picked up by a councillor in a rehab/treatment center and used as an example of an alcoholic or their families refusal to accept reality.
A rehab/treatment center has a very short period of time relatively, to try and get through to an alcoholic and or their family, the nature of their alcoholism and what they are dealing with.
An alcoholic will have developed a significant number of coping mechanisms, all of which will be on display once they had entered a rehab/treatment center.
Often a counsellor in a rehab will see part of their job responsibility as being to try and break down some of these barriers of denial and make the alcoholic or their family understand the reality of what they are dealing with.
A rehab/treatment center will focus often quite intensely on breaking down barriers, hopefully in a safe and secure way an environment.
The phrase yes but, is often a bit of a ploy to deflect the fact that you disagree with someone in terms of what they are saying.
A rehab/treatment center will offer a number of therapeutic approaches to try and put in context the emotional unmanageability that an alcoholic is likely to be swimming around in.
The approach of the majority of staff in a rehab will be a mix of good cop bad cop.
That may not be a deliberate ploy, but there will be a recognition that once in a rehab an alcoholic has a short period of time to defuse the emotional timebomb that they have become.
Once a person has left a rehab, it is entirely up to them what they decide to do about their recovery.
No one can second-guess that, but a rehab will take the view that the time spent in a rehab should be a time when the alcoholic is primed about the nature of the illness and what recovery is.
A rehab/treatment center will take varying views about what level of persuasion or coercion they should put on the alcoholic or their family, but they will inevitably try and take an approach that generates some sense of awareness and understanding once the person is in a rehab.