You can take control of your drinking habit! What’s the alternative?
Please be aware that sudden withdrawal from a high alcohol consumption can be risky. Should you drinking more than a bottle of wine per day, please consult your GP first!
I’m using hypnotherapy for alcohol abuse a good deal in recent months. Research shows that the covid lockdowns have seen the abuse of alcohol rise alarmingly. Deprived of their usual pleasures, people turned to alcohol. Too often they couldn’t then put it down, once the lockdowns ended. If you live in Reading, London, Oxford, Wallingford or Thame and have had enough of being a slave to alcohol then read on. Hypnotherapy could help you to stop drinking, just as it has helped many others in my time as a hypnotherapist.
I was recently talking with a young woman whose parents had both drunk themselves to death at an early age. Tears flowed down her cheeks as she described her wedding day and how keenly she had felt their absence. If only they could have seen her tears. If only they could have predicted them and used this knowledge to make different choices.
I haven’t met a single parent who wanted to be dead before their children had reached these milestones. Too many of them, however, live in denial and hide themselves from the truth. Have you been doing the same thing?
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If so then perhaps it’s time that you tried something new in order to find the strength with which to stop. Hypnotherapy can be a powerful means of getting rid of an unwanted habit. It has helped plenty of people before you. Perhaps you could be the next person who uses it in order to make a fresh start, free of the need to drink.
It certainly beats the alternatives, doesn’t it!?
There are a great many people out there who made the decision that they’d had enough of alcohol dependence. They succeeded in stopping drinking, whether or not with the help of hypnotherapy, because they found a reason to change which was bigger than the factors which had kept them drinking before. If you have a reason to change you have the key to success. I could help you to take that motive and to make a reality of it.
Do you want to change the way you relate to alcohol?
Would you like to stop drinking or reduce the amount you consume? Would you like to be there for your children and their children too? If so then we need to ditch the ‘I can’t’ or ‘I tried so hard’ excuses. There is absolutely no reason why you’re any different to the others who have gone before you. You have the same capacity for change. All you need is the right motivation.
Motivation is going to be the key to your being able to stop drinking. When we don’t truly wish to stop a habit then our mind is divided and our unconscious works to sabotages our motivation. We know we should stop but there’s that little part of our brain telling how nice a drink would be. It’ll only be the one, just tonight. You can start again tomorrow…
You know how it works, don’t you?! Tomorrow never comes and the weeks, months and years drift by.
When, however, you have a mind which is united in its desire to let go of a behaviour then all of your strength is pulling in the same direction.
Giving up alcohol can feel a little bit scary, particularly if you have an anxiety or depression which only alcohol seems to hold at bay.
Hypnotherapy can help you to resolve the issues underlying your drinking habit. Hypnotherapy which focuses on that anxiety or depression as well as upon the drinking habit itself will have a far greater chance of success. Hypnotherapy can help to build, buttress and maintain your motivation and it can help to build a happier, more confident self. If you’d like to stop drinking but doubt your ability to do so, hypnotherapy could help you.
If you truly want to change your habits then read on.
I’ve just seen a client who stopped drinking two weeks ago and who hasn’t had a single craving since.
Is he some kind of superman? No, he’s determined, driven and hypnotherapy has helped him use these qualities to end alcohol abuse.
When we first met he very much doubted that he could stop drinking but hoped that I could help him to do so.
Did I utter some magic words which stopped his habit in its tracks?
Nope. he was simply ready to stop and just needed somebody else to have faith in him. I had that faith in him and if you’re willing to give me a call and book in, I’ll demonstrate that same faith in you, too.
If you want to change your drinking habits then you can!
My client simply decided that he really, really wanted to stop. He began to visualise his future without alcohol, he learned new ways of relaxing, he learned some self control and he began to let go of those psychological forces which had led him into abusing alcohol to begin with.
His determination, combined with hypnotherapy, helped him to give up drinking and to rebuild a happier life. His relationships began to recover, his sleep improved after an initially difficult time, his skin felt healthier, his teeth and eyes whitened and we both laughed as he explained the ‘joy’ of solid bowel movements. He was a happier, healthier and more fulfilled man.
Alcohol is merely one possible choice for those who need to find a way of burying emotions, There is any number of possible vices which can have the same result. It’s an excellent choice until the solution, in time, becomes the problem.
For this client the solution was no longer any kind of solution. The sorrow from his past had long since floated to the surface of his drinking habit. His drinking habit made them worse and it had destroyed much of his self-esteem and life.
It needn’t be like that. Hypnotherapy could help you to let go of the drinking habit. You could be free from alcohol dependence. Give me a call when you’re ready to begin.
You could call me on 07786 123736 / 01183 280284 / 01865 600970. You could email me at paul@resolvedhypnotherapy.co.uk. You could even just use the contact form at the bottom of the page. Whatever you do, don’t just leave it. You’ve left it long enough already.
Is completely stopping the only solution?
Therapists often tend to be clean living types and many will advise you that drinking the best part of a bottle of wine per day is a serious addiction and that complete cessation is the answer. Some believe that the use of any intoxicant is inherently unhealthy.
I agree that for some people the risks to health are so great that complete cessation is preferable. Even so, this may be too extreme for some at this point in time.
Moderation surely has to be a valid goal in these circumstances. Safer or reduced drinking is far better than insisting on complete cessation and failing to achieve any changes at all.
Reducing the harm caused by the excessive use of alcohol is the goal of therapy. Some people have simply slipped into a habit which they now recognise to be unhelpful. They’re not what the AA might call ‘alcoholics’ but their drinking is becoming a concern.
I could help you to make sure that your drinking habit doesn’t get too far our of hand. You could learn to bring it back under control once more, before it goes so far that you have to quit drinking altogether.
Act now and you could still enjoy alcohol as a social lubricant. Leave it too late and you’ll be the one sitting and watching others who are able to enjoy themselves without taking it all too far.
To stop or to reduce your drinking?! You could achieve either goal
Policy makers in the UK are increasingly worried by the middle classes and their drinking habits. They don’t loiter on park benches with bottles in paper bags, they lead thoroughly productive lives and yet more of my clients tend to be those who recognise that they are reaching a tipping point – where age and consumption threaten the balance of their lives.
Research shows that middle aged and middle class professionals are actually more likely than those in lower socio-economic brackets to drink to excess. Doctor, teachers and others in the professions now drink more harmfully than those whose jobs fall within ‘manual labour’.
‘Yummy Mummy’ types who ‘do lunch’ are another cause for concern and are a growing part of my caseload. It’s simply all too easy to share a bottle of wine, maybe more, over lunch and then going home and drinking more with a partner upon his or her return from work.
It’s all too easy to lose a sense of balance and moderation with regard to alcohol.
Hypnotherapy could help you to restore that sense of balance, dealing with any emotional causes of drinking whilst helping you to re-establish a sense of moderation.
Reduced and safer drinking would often be enough in these circumstances. The idea of complete abstinence may seem excessive, at first, and lead people to avoid seeking help. If you feel as if cutting back is the only first step you can take right now then that’s the first place to begin.
Hypnotherapy could help you, whatever your goal might be
Those with a more serious level of dependency might find that the kind of approach advocated by HAMS (a charity devoted to reducing the harm caused by alcohol) either proves to be enough or is a valuable staging post on the way to abstinence. If this is your belief and if this is supported by your GP then I’m more than happy to help you. Get in touch and we’ll discuss how you could learn to change your habits, to break them down and so restore moderation to your drinking. We’ll then go further into abstinence if this is your desired goal.
I’m here, whenever you’re ready
If you’re reading this in 2021 then perhaps we’re still in, or have been recently freed from, covid 19 related restrictions. This last year has been nothing short of a nightmare and alcohol has been a common port of call for people who feel as if their lives have been put on hold, rolled backwards or been destroyed altogether. If this describes you then now is the time to act. You can begin drinking to excess whenever you choose. It isn’t always so easy to stop when you wish. That’s why help is here, whenever you realise your need for it.
I help my clients to see that they could make different choices. I help them to gather strength
from other areas of life and to turn it towards resolving their drinking problem.
I also help my clients to overcome the problems which had come from their past and which alcohol is used to bury. If this part of the treatment doesn’t happen then drifting back into excessive consumption is almost inevitable.
If the causes of alcohol dependence aren’t resolved, people can find that once the tide of alcohol recedes the seabed is often littered with anxieties, depression and insecurities.
Anger, guilt, shame and other emotions are often tangled in the mess as well. I help my clients to resolve both symptoms and cause. Anything less is irresponsible. Alcohol abuse is a part of a whole great mess and well-executed hypnotherapy could help to restore order, purpose and fulfilment.
If you’re ready to do a thorough job of working on your need for alcohol, the habits which surround it and any emotional difficulties which lie beneath it then please do give me a call. I’ll be more than glad to help you, one step at a time.
Let’s do a thorough job in helping you to leave alcohol dependency behind you
Life is a process of change, development and growth. If you’ve made it this far then you have already demonstrated the capacity for change. My job, through hypnotherapy and other means, is to see that you overcome any lapses, continue to build a growing sense of purpose and strength and begin to rebuild your life.
I am proud of my clients and their achievements, my mother drank herself into an early grave and I’m glad to be in the position where I can help others avoid that same fate. I believe that my having lived with such a problem has given me an insight which proves helpful to many clients.
How do you want your children to remember you?
I work with lots of people who find themselves to be the adult children of alcoholics. As you’ve read, I’m one of them too. It might be useful for you to watch this video. It might help you to understand the effects your habits will have upon your children if you continue down the same path.
It doesn’t have to be that way for your children. You could still reverse the damage and make amends. I’ll be more than glad to help you. When you’re ready, simply give me a call and we’ll begin.
Top tips to begin reducing your alcohol consumption
These tips are designed to help you to begin cutting back your consumption of alcohol. They will not be the solution since the cause lies in something emotional.
Nonetheless, follow these tips and I’d be surprised if you didn’t find yourself drinking less alcohol. This, by itself, will be evidence that you’re able to change. Perhaps reducing your consumption will prove to be enough!
- Since you’re more interested in the feeling you get (or the feeling you lose) when drinking, the actual vehicle matters less. So, drink as much as you like – of your least favoured tipple. Seriously, if you won’t do this prior to giving me a call then you’re not at at the ‘wanting to’ stage of being ready and this is essential to change. I personally dislike whisky. If I wanted to drink less I’d only drink whisky. I’d still drink it – if I needed it – but I’d hate every sip and I’d probably drink less as a result.
- Much of a habit is unconscious. Tip #1 will help but the second step is to change everything else too. So, drink whichever booze you’ve switched to from a mug. It robs the drink of any vestige of glamour. It makes it feel different, somehow. This is a good step towards change.
- Drink in a different place. Only drink in the kitchen, in the bathroom, the loo or in any
combination of these and other bizarre places. At the very least you could have a drinking chair or sofa which is different to the norm. Again, it begins to change those unconscious links between a bad habit and a comfortable routine. - Many people deceive themselves as to how much they really drink. Get a five litre bottle of cooking oil (empty) and pour into it the same amount of water as you drink in alcohol – before you take that next drink of alcohol. You may be shocked at how quickly it fills up and you may just decide not to take that next drink as you see so.
- Keep the bottle in a different place to your place of drinking. Having to get up to refil your mug will give you those extra few seconds during which you could decide to do something different instead.
Remember, your drinking habit fulfills an emotional need. I could help you to deal with that. These tips, if followed, will enable you to come to our first session with the proof that you can make changes to your life. We’ll build on those and complete the work you began before our first meeting.
I look forward to helping you to moderate or finish with your alcohol habit, once and for all. You can do it!
Paul Hughes
I have used hypnotherapy in Reading, Wallingford, Didcot, London, Oxford and Thame to help people stop or moderate their drinking. They could do it and you really can too.
Addictions can be difficult because we sometimes try to ‘give up’ our substance of choice when we’re really not ready to, when we feel as if we ‘should’, rather than want to. We then fail and so the next time, when we really do want to ‘stop’, seems all the more impossible given our previous failures.
It’s not impossible. There are a great many people in Oxfordshire and Berkshire who have stopped, who don’t look back and who often found it far easier than they imagined.
There are others who weren’t a bottle of whisky a day types but whose use was becoming a problem and who managed to cut back to healthy and comfortable levels.
Hypnotherapy can help you to manage any urges to relapse.
Hypnotherapy can buttress motivation, deal with those negative cognitive structures which support excessive drinking patterns whilst dealing with the emotional gremlins which lie behind practically every habit.
Hypnotherapy could help you too. I have helped a good number of people to stop abusing alcohol. If you’d like to be the next such person then give me a call and we can discuss how I could help you too.
You could call me on 01183 280284 / 01865 600970 / 07786 123736 / 020 7193 9331 or email me at paul@resolvedhypnotherapy.co.uk. Alternatively, simply complete the contact form, in the footer of this page, and I’ll be in touch as soon as I can.
I look forward to helping you, as best I can, to leave alcohol behind you. You can do it!