Published: Nov. 18, 2025 at 1:41 PM PST
Watch the video on the KKTV 11 News Website.
Porch Light Health’s Chief Clinical Officer, Steve Carleton, joined KKTV 11 News to discuss recognizing problematic alcohol use during the holidays, the four signs of alcohol use disorder, how to have meaningful conversations with loved ones about drinking concerns, and Porch Light Health’s Drinking Less program that helps individuals reduce alcohol consumption through therapy and medication support.
Welcome to the 11 Alert Desk. I’m digital content producer Aspen Andrews, and I’m here with Steve Carleton, Chief Clinical Officer at Porch Light Health. And with the holidays coming up, let’s talk a little bit about alcohol in the holidays. So I know it’s traditionally a time to celebrate, but some people might also start noticing that a loved one or a friend might be overindulging a little bit. Could you talk a little bit about what that looks like?
Yeah, absolutely. It’s a common time during the holidays for people to be eating and drinking more. It’s a lot of travel, getting outside of your routine, time off of work. So it is common for people to, when they’re out of those routines, start drinking a little bit earlier in the day, obviously consuming more drinks than they do normally over a longer period of time. And so it’s an important thing for people out there to keep their eye on, especially during the holidays.
Yes, and at that note, I know that there can be different levels to this. So at what point do you think it needs to be addressed?
So when we think about alcohol use disorder, there’s four things that you’re really looking for, right? You’re looking for, are you experiencing a loss of control, right? Are you setting limits for yourself that you’re not sticking to? Are you waking up in the morning saying, today, I’m not going to drink, and finding yourself indulging? Are you having a hard time cutting back or reducing, right? Are you experiencing consequences, right? You’re spending a lot of time with family during the holidays. So have there been more conflicts? Have there been more fights around the dinner table? And is that fight and that conflict due in part or in a hole to drinking more than you normally would? Performing poorly at work and not fulfilling basic obligations as well. And then just risky use. We know that alcohol is a toxic chemical that people are putting in their body. And so when you’re consuming consuming that much volume of a liquid, it’s going through lots of different organs, and it can really impact your health in significant ways. And lead to the last one, which is dependents, physiological dependents. So you’re needing more alcohol to get the same effect.
And when you wake up in the morning, you’re experiencing what people often call a hangover or alcohol withdrawals, right? And so that loss of control, those consequences, risk of use, physiological dependence, that’s how people people out there can know whether or not they’re having a problem.
And if you may notice this with, say, a friend or a family member, how do you say you should go about talking to them about their alcohol use?
Yeah, that’s a great question. So if you are concerned about a friend or family member or whoever it is you’re concerned about, it’s important that you get organized in how you approach them. The tendency for loved ones is either to never say anything because you’re scared of how they’re going to react, or or bring it up every day, every time you see them, and get down that more nagging train with it. Neither of those are very effective. If you don’t talk about it all, and if you talk about it all the time, it falls in the same boat of You’re not really moving the needle for that person. What you should do is get organized. You can say it once. I would advise people, you can have a serious conversation if you’re concerned about somebody’s drinking or use one time a year. Anything So it’s something beyond that, unless the person is bringing it back to you and saying, Hey, Steve, you mentioned that you were worried about my drinking. Can you help me find some help? Just making sure you’re really intentional about how you express those concerns to people And how can someone that say might be drinking too much, but not have an issue, per se, cut back a little bit?
Absolutely. Just setting limits. People often don’t think in terms of what would be a healthy limit for myself? What am I comfortable with? What we know from certain general and loads of research is when you surpass 12 drinks as measured by one ounce of hard liquor, a 12 ounce beer, four ounce glass of wine. If you’re consuming more than 12 in a week, that is having a significant negative impact on not only your physical health, but also your brain your mental health, your cognitive ability to think and problem-solve, decision-make, your mood. It’s having an impact. Anything beyond 12 in a week.
Yeah, that makes sense. And if someone needs help, there is the option to completely stop, and there is help with that. Can you talk a little bit about it?
Yeah. And so there are options, right? There’s a lot of people out there that fall into this mild, moderate alcohol use disorder, meaning they’re checking a few of those boxes off, right? And if you can start when it’s mild to moderate, then maybe you don’t have to go to that drastic measure of quitting completely. That involves finding a therapist, coming to Porch light, talking to us, talking to a medical provider about your drinking patterns. If you need to quit, if it’s gotten to a severe point, you’re checking all of those boxes. I mean, now we’re talking about risk of detox, risk of withdrawals that can be life-threatening for about 5% of people with a severe alcohol use disorder. That’s a little bit of how I would think about it, but seeking professional help when you’re at a severe point is pretty needed. When you’re at that mild to moderate level, it’s a good idea to go talk to somebody.
And on that note, if someone wants help cutting back, I know there is a program for something like that. Could you tell us a little bit about it?
Yeah, Porch Light, we have what’s called the Drinking Less program. So you can come in and talk to a therapist and talk to a medical provider about your drinking. We do something called Motivational Enhancement Therapy, which is designed to help people just think about their relationship with alcohol. There’s no strings attached. We’re really approaching it objectively of how severe is your problem and what can you do to reduce your drinking? And with a medical provider, there’s lots of different medications. There’s naltrexone, there’s a campersate, and others that can help people with those significant cravings. These medications are designed to reduce cravings and help people drink less.
Great. And just in general, when it comes to alcohol use, where can people go to get help?
Yeah, I think psychology today is a good place to turn if you’re looking for a therapist. And I think, yeah, Porch site Health, we’re there in Colorado Springs and all throughout Colorado. And so if you’re looking for a place to turn, we’re a good place to start.
Great. Well, alcohol use is such an important topic, so I really appreciate you coming to spend some time to talk to me about this before the holidays. Thank you, Steve.
Yeah, my pleasure. Thanks, Aspen.
