Hypnotherapy may help some people rehearse calmer responses to the moments when drinking has become automatic, such as the end of a stressful day. It is best treated as one part of a practical plan, not as a guaranteed cure or a substitute for medical alcohol treatment.
For many people the first useful step is simply to notice the pattern without judging themselves: when do you drink, what are you hoping the drink will change, and what tends to happen next?
A regular glass of wine can become tied to switching off, rewarding yourself, socialising or sleeping. Once the cue and response have been repeated often, reaching for a drink can happen before you have made a deliberate choice.
Stress may be part of the pattern, but alcohol can also affect sleep and mood. That can create an unhelpful loop: drink to relax, sleep less well, then feel more tired or tense the next day.
In a collaborative session, you might use focused attention, imagery and agreed suggestions to practise a different response to a familiar trigger. For example, you could picture finishing work, feeling settled and choosing an alcohol-free drink without a battle in your head.
The purpose is to support your own decision and make an alternative routine feel familiar. You remain aware and in control. Responses vary, so the work should include realistic goals and a way to review whether it is helping.
The NHS says there is no completely safe level of drinking. If you drink, the UK low-risk guideline is no more than 14 units a week on a regular basis, spread across three or more days. This is not a personal medical assessment; your GP can advise if health conditions, medicines or pregnancy affect what is safe for you.
If you get shaking, sweating, nausea, anxiety until your first drink, hallucinations, confusion or seizures when you reduce alcohol, seek medical help. It can be dangerous to stop suddenly when your body is dependent on alcohol. Hypnotherapy is not a detox service.
A GP or specialist alcohol service can offer assessment, talking therapies, medicines and withdrawal support. Hypnotherapy can only be considered alongside that care if the treating professionals agree it is appropriate.
The complete legacy article is preserved below for comparison.
More women are reaching for a glass of wine at the end of a long day either looking after small children or to elevate the stress of juggling a busy work life with being a Mum. Hypnotherapy is a great way to get back in control of your Alcohol intake.
It is well publicised in the press the increase in alcohol consumption in the UK. For many it is unclear what the safe levels are for women to drink but one report suggested for simplicity 1 bottle of wine per week for women ( and up to 2 bottles for men). So the question is do your drinking habits exceed this? If so hypnotherapy could be a good route to let go of alcohol cravings and habits. Women drinking 3 units (2 unit = 175ml wine) of alcohol regularly per day are increasing the risk to their health.
Many people like the taste of wine therefore they do not want to give up all together but find it hard to reduce down on their own. The subconscious mind becomes programmed with what ever we teach it and just like learning to drive a car once the mind has learnt how to do this it is almost impossible to forget how to drive. In the same way a person teaches themselves how to drink alcohol once learnt it is hard to stop or change their drinking habits; it is as if a software of ‘how to drink’ is running in the program of their mind.
Hypnotherapy is a deep fully conscious safe relaxation during which time the mind is able to take on board more positive suggestions. A common question asked is can I be hypnotised? Everyone experiences hypnosis in ordinary life when daydreaming or reading a book. The hypnotherapist will take the client in the relaxed feeling during the session and then make the changes discussed previously with the client.
Hypnotherapist Ailsa Frank who is based in Ascot says “I see more and more clients for alcohol many of them women whose drinking levels have crept up over a period of time. They gradually begin to realise they are becoming dependant on alcohol. During the sessions I teach them stress management techniques so they can feel more relaxed as a parent or with work pressures. My approach tackles the root of the drinking whether it is boredom, stress related or another cause. Many clients comment on how much calmer they feel after the treatments. My work is very rewarding as I see people let go of the obsession of drinking and restore balance to their relationship with alcohol.
Some clients are sceptical at first and can’t imagine the hypnotherapy working or life without a regular drink but soon they begin to wonder how they ever drank so much. The benefits are rewarding as clients sleep well, wake in the morning refreshed and begin to deal with work and home life easily. Many clients notice how cheap their supermarket shopping becomes as they reduce down the volume of alcohol they buy whilst others are amazed at how few empty bottles they have for recycling.
After the hypnotherapy sessions with Ailsa, Pauline a mother of two from Berkshire said “Before the Hypnotherapy I use to drink every night after returning from a stressful day at work. I really believed it was normal even quite fashionable to have half a bottle of chardonnay, some nights a whole bottle. As everyone I know drinks I just felt one of the crowd but now I realise the alcohol was controlling me. Now I am in control of the alcohol I feel so much better for it.”
To get more information or to book your first session contact me
Transform your life with expert hypnotherapy from Ailsa Frank.
