Prairie Girl, you might want to take a look at the "Stages of Change"model that is commonly used by addiction counselors and others. This link gives a very brief overview of this model, there are scads of Google hits if you want to look into it more:

http://www.uri.edu/research/cprc/TTM/StagesOfChange.htm

The idea is that, for example, a counselor who keeps pushing change on a person who is in the precontemplation stage is not likely to make progress. The counselor's actions depend on where the patient is in the "Stages of Change" model.

I like this link below because, for each stage of change, it suggests how a counselor can be most helpful.

http://stepupprogram.org/docs/handou..._of_Change.pdf

Do keep in mind that a person who drinks heavily is suffering. They have pain in their lives that is difficult to deal with. The fact that he was drinking heavily around the time of his MRI underscores this concept.