Just what are the benefits of drinking?
We’ve all heard and/or lived the horror stories about drinking, but if you are going to fix an alcohol abuse problem then you’d better spend some time figuring out what benefits you’re getting out of it.
Why?
Because you drink for the benefits – just as people do for any bad habit whether it’s drinking, smoking, over-eating or any of a number of other self-destructive behaviors we choose.
So what are they?
Mostly it’s fast, effective, legal, short term relief from anxiety, boredom and/or loneliness, and sometimes a passive or passive aggressive means of punishing others or driving them away. In all of these situations, we drink because it “works”.
Trouble is, it only works in the short term – with the short term being measured in hours.
It’s also a problem because it prevents us from ever fixing the underlying conditions we’re medicating our way through.
And it also exacerbates depression which in and of itself is as debilitating as the drinking.
Time to look for long term solutions instead of short term fixes?
That’s what we’re here for – to help you create your own, personal, “perfect storm” of motivation, CBT, medical support, assertiveness, nutrition, fitness, and whatever else will create the life long solutions to whatever problems you’re now avoiding by self-medicating.
So! Please! Give us a call and let’s get this show on the road!
“How can I possibly find the time to come to California for 5 days?”
How about the same way you will find the time for a vacation (which this can be, too), for surgery if you need it; to do the jail time when you collect a DUI; to appear in court when your spouse divorces you over your alcohol abuse; and ….
Then there are the variations:
“How can I afford $8,750 for treatment…?”
As if alcohol, divorce, DUIs, bankruptcy, a liver transplant, and a host of other likely results of alcohol abuse are free? At least with us the $$$$ costis 75% to 95% less and the success rate at least 5 to 10or more times better then Passages, Promises, Betty Ford, Cirque Lodge, Hazelden, or….
“How can I give up alcohol and not be able to toast my daughter at her wedding reception?”
Never mind that her daughter is 5, may never marry, and if mom keeps on drinking she will either be dead or off the guest list by the time any wedding rolls around. Besides, who says that just because she gives up wine now it means she can’t have a glass 20 or more years from now. We certainly don’t.
“But we have 200 bottles of wine in our wine cellar and….”
This one is a favorite – I can’t get treatment until the wine is gone, and I can’t sell it to pay for treatment because, at $200/bottle, it’s an investment and, of course, as an investment we do have to replace it as soon as we drink it and…..
“I’d call but I can’t find a private time and place…”
Though finding just such a time and space to drink in secret doesn’t seem to be a problem?
What do all of these, and a dozen more objections have in common?
They’re all the lies we tell ourselves to stay stuck – but they are also the sorts of lies that respond well to CBT and the rest of the customized treatment we provide to individuals, couples, and families.
Want to explore you own personal mythology and how it keeps you drinking your life away? Good! Give us a call and let’s unravel reality from fantasy.
Remember, it’s easier to get a life than you think – and far more rewarding than another bottle of chardonnay….
Frankly, rather than the above cited objections, your might want to be more concerned about “How Can You Possibly Cure My Years of Alcohol Abuse in Just 5 Days?” A question we answered a few weeks ago and which we invite you to revisit.
Next Week: “What is your success rate?”
Other popular links:
The Real “Steps” to Overcoming Alcohol Abuse
Ten Things I Wish I’d Known Before I Sent My Brother Off To Rehab
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