With Saturday’s Valentine’s Day approaching, the Consolidated Substance Abuse Counseling Center aboard Marine Corps Base Quantico wants to remind people that healthy relationships are important year-round.

Jacqueline Williams, CSACC program director, said that many of their clients have unhealthy relationships. Though the center’s overarching purpose is to help its clients work through substance abuse problems, “Addiction impacts every area of a person’s life,” Williams said, and “CSACC provides a holistic, health and wellness approach to the treatment of addiction.”

Unhealthy or addictive  relationships, Williams said, mimic that of an addiction to a drug or alcohol in that they are characterized by obsession or pre-occupation with what the partner is doing and a feeling of loss of control. One partner may have strong feelings of inadequacy and become reliant on the other person to feel good about him or herself. There is also a tendency toward controlling behavior and domestic violence, including both physical and emotional abuse.

According to Williams, there is a negative feedback loop between unhealthy relationships and drug and alcohol use. Drug and alcohol use may cause a relationship breakdown, which in turn can increase drinking and drug problems. Unhealthy behaviors an individual may have witnessed at home as a child can leave the person without a model for a healthy relationship as an adult, and relationship problems can lead one or both people in a relationship to begin drinking heavily or abusing drugs.

Healthy relationships, on the other hand, are characterized by open communication, compromise, commitment, trust, safety and a sense of individuality for both partners. Williams said the counselors at CSACC can help people work toward healthy relationships through regular counseling sessions and workshops such as “Loving a Warrior Through PTSD and Addiction.”

The Family Advocacy Program offers such relationship-building programs as “Married and Loving It;” an off-base couples workshop called “Cozy by the Fire;” and “Sex, Sensibility, and the Single Marine.” FAP also offers a program for teens called “Safe Date” that is presented in school and teaches teenagers about healthy relationships and safe dating practices. The community Counseling Centers Marine Corps wide also offer counseling to couples and families who want to improve their relationships.

In terms of privacy, Williams said that while there are records kept of all official counseling sessions, “it is not entered in the Marine’s permanent medical record,” so clients do not have to be concerned about their commands learning about their personal business. All specific topics discussed are protected under privacy laws controlling medical information, and counseling session details cannot be released without the clients’ permission.

— Writer: ebaker@quanticosentryonline.com