Online
By telephone
In person
Flexible sessions
Understand your habits
Look at your choices versus your habits, and the thinking that fuels drinking.
Work through triggers
Build self-awareness and real solutions around triggers and relapses.
Stay accountable
Strategies and coping tools made for you, with support to keep your progress going.
Feel confident socially
Support for your changing mindset and identity, free from drinking rituals.
Personalised support when you need it.
“It's not about my story, but if it helps you to know I understand:”
Like many others, my drinking began ‘socially’, developing over many years to become my so-called coping mechanism. Unwittingly I was self-medicating when overwhelmed and anxious, to numb or escape stressful situations and painful emotions. Progressively, I no longer needed an excuse or an occasion to drink. My psychological crutch had re-wired and hijacked my brain chemistry, making my behaviour compulsive and biased towards drinking. My social boost had beguiled me and become an addiction. I lost my autonomy, my dignity, my self-respect and finally my closest connections of love and meaning. Without professional interaction and sharing my experience with others in the same boat, I was unable alone to fully recognise and accept how alcohol was changing my thought processes and ultimately my behaviour. Originally, I chose to train as an addiction counsellor. However, combined with my own lived experience and volunteering as a peer mentor in my local Drug and Alcohol centre, it felt too restrictive and inflexible to really meet clients where they are. I transitioned to coaching, gaining a Diploma at The Association for Coaching and CCAR Recovery Coaching, along with relevant modules at the Human Givens Institute.
A poem I still read, reminding me of the negative power and hold alcohol can have.
MEMORIES OF ALCOHOL
“I drank for happiness and became unhappy” I drank for joy and became miserable I drank for sociability and became argumentative I drank for sophistication and became obnoxious I drank for friendship and made enemies I drank for sleep and awakened without rest I drank for strength and became weak I drank “medicinally” and acquired health problems I drank for relaxation and got the shakes I drank for bravery and became afraid I drank for confidence and became doubtful I drank to make conversation and slurred my words I drank to feel heavenly and ended up feeling like hell I drank to forget and was forever haunted I drank for freedom and became a slave I drank to erase problems and saw them multiply I drank to cope with life and invited death Sobriety delivers everything alcohol promised. Author anonymous
