Many people feel that their alcohol consumption is excessive and find it difficult to cut down using just traditional methods of will power and determination. If you have a reason to reduce your alcohol consumption then hypnotherapy may be helpful.
What is excessive alcohol consumption?
There is no strict definition of excessive alcohol consumption. However, anyone who feels they drink more than they are comfortable with can say they engage in excessive alcohol consumption.
From a practical stance, as a hypnotherapist with many years’ experience of working with excessive alcohol consumption, I can say that there is a level of consumption where hypnotherapy is most helpful. This level can be described as someone who either;
- Occasionally binge drinks but has periods or sobriety for several days between.
- Has drunk substantially but is currently dry or mostly dry and is looking to maintain this state of things.
Hypnotherapy can help the person who is drinking daily to excess. However, the memory processes involved in hypnotic learning (neuroconsolidation) appear to be disrupted by alcohol, so it is far less reliable than normal.
How can hypnotherapy help?
As a therapist I recognise that rebalancing your relationship with alcohol is a lifelong challenge. As such, I combine traditional hypnotherapy with acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) for alcohol related work.
Hypnotherapy works in a number of different ways;
Deconditioning triggers for consumption.
All addictions and dependencies are associated with diverse triggers for usage, these can be;
- Biological – The body may produce cravings; these are particularly common in the evenings.
- Situational – Certain times and places may have associations with alcohol; times of the year, celebrations, anniversaries, times of day, especially evenings when the day’s work is done.
- Social – Birthdays, Christmas, certain people, peer expectation.
- Psychological – Mental health challenges, life setbacks and specific conditions such as PTSD, depression and anxiety.
A hypnotherapist will help you to identify many of your triggers and help reduce their power through various techniques like systematic desensitisation and EMDR.
Enhance motivation
A hypnotherapist will take your reasons for making this change and help translate them into something your mind will start acting upon. Taking your logical understanding and helping to turn them into emotional truths.
Reduce underlying stressors
Most addictions develop, at least in part, to fulfil a need. This need may be;
- Lifestyle; In order to achieve the change you want, some lifestyle changes may be necessary. These include changing the way you socialise, the people you hang out with, when and where you hang out. You may have to approach life in many different ways.
- Psychological; Underlying life traumas, stressors and unhelpful learnings can contribute to adopting cocaine use as a coping strategy.
A hypnotherapists will help you to identify any underlying stressors and help to address these so their impact upon you is reduced.
Setting appropriate goals
Goals for change may vary substantially and a hypnotherapists will not insist on a particular goal. It is for you and your hypnotherapist to negotiate an appropriate goal for you. However, most goals are around not drinking, either for specified periods or not at all. This is because stopping drinking on the second or third drink is much harder than not drinking at all that day
Excessive alcohol consumption – Getting help, what I need to know
If you want to change your drinking behaviour this starts with making contact with a therapists.
What to expect;
- Therapy will require multiple sessions, some create foundations for change, some create change and some to sustain change.
- Therapy can be online or in-person.
- You will need to arrive at sessions sober and commit to remaining alcohol free for the rest of the day regardless of what goals you have set around consumption as this will enable neuroconsolidation of learning.
- You will need to work. Hypnotherapy is rarely as easy as stage shows and TV make it look, the therapist can help you to achieve your sincere life changes but you will have to engage full and be open minded to lifestyle changes.
I hope this helps and good luck!
The author
Dr Matt Krouwel PhD is a hypnotherapist with over 25 years experience. He is a member of both the BSCH and NCH and has worked extensively with addictions such as alcohol, cocaine, obsessions with pornography and sex.
