If a spouse calls because the lawyer he or she is married to is coming home every night in a drunken rage, that spouse needs to know that PALS's approach is to empower the spouse with options for dealing with the situation. PALS will keep the call confidential. At the spouse's request, PALS can recommend a private interventionist to provide assistance. If the spouse decides not to take any immediate action, PALS will offer counseling on how best to deal with the situation in the status quo. When PALS first began in 1979, most of the lawyers it assisted were in the late stage of addiction and often in dire straits.
PALS still gets calls of last resort.
And we welcome them. But even more we welcome calls of concern that get us involved at an earlier stage in helping a lawyer who is struggling with alcohol or other chemical addiction. And the good news is that I see this happening more and more. The number of self-referrals to PALS is up. One of the central educational aspects of treatment is to provide an opportunity for the chemically addicted lawyer to see that his or her life is being run by alcohol or other drugs.