How to Stop Drinking
Maybe you’ve tried to stop drinking. Maybe with the help of some expensive and disruptive treatment programs that haven’t quite hit their mark with you. Maybe you’ve tried to go it “cold” and tough it out all alone. But each time something foils your plan, and either all at once, or a little at a time, you’re running again.

See a Doctor
Before you try anything, including going “cold turkey”, see a doctor who can evaluate your condition and guide you in the steps you’ll take. Especially if you’ve been consuming a quart of vodka a day, you’ll want to have some help from an expert physician skilled with addiction on your team. All withdrawal should be medically supervised.

Addiction is Curable
It is possible, with enough determination, to regain control of one’s life from alcohol (or any other addiction, for that matter). In spite of some myths about “life long addiction”, there are strategies available using a therapist like myself to rid ourselves of addiction, and eventually walk down the street without feeling sick, broken, or not-good-enough or scared that one next wrong move’s going to kill you. I do not subscribe to the notion that “once you’re a pickle, you can’t be a cucumber”. Sound impossible? Not so. Some of my patients are proof. Here’s how:

Will Power Sucks
First, forget about will power. Thinking you’ll be stronger than the call of old habits just by force of will is a fantasy. You cannot continue to live the same ways, frequent the same places, hang out with the same people and structure your time the same. If you show up in a bar around happy hour, you’re going to drink. If the only friends you keep aren’t sober, you’ll drink. If you travel and work 12 hours per day without letting up, you’ll probably drink. If you continue to make your default social setting “cool, sexy loner” or “happy mom’s club wino” then you’re gonna need to drink to keep up the facade. If you’ve had enough of sickness and self-doubt and living a life that is less than sturdy, grounded and authentic, keep reading.

Doing Whatever it Takes
Making and keeping commitments is the key to regaining self-management. Under the direction of an expert addictions therapist and supportive groups like AA, it is possible to gradually remove the power from urges and triggers that have tipped the scales toward self-destruction. You may experience these impulses for the rest of your life, but you’ll grow wise enough to move past them without danger and without acting on them.

Get Your Body Straight
The following steps have been followed by many of my successful clients:
1. Remove alcohol and any other mood altering substances from your diet immediately. Remove any remaining supplies from your home and office and automobile. Warn your spouse or roommate that these supplies are no longer welcome.
2. Get up before 6AM (or earlier) daily and make physical aerobic exercise your first priority. Brisk walking, running, biking, swimming, etc will bathe your brain in healing chemistry and supply motivation you’ll need all day.
3. Sharpen your diet. Eat small meals 6 times daily. Drop the carbs and sugar. Use a professional nutritionist.
Roots of Addiction and the Real Costs
4. Commit to honest self-inquiry with a therapist. Familiarize yourself with thinking distortions and destructive behavioral patterns that have allowed your emotions to control you. Determine why you’ve lost your way.
5. Attend a 12 Step meeting every day, even while traveling for not less than 180 days. Speak up. Let yourself be known in the room. Make the coffee and hand it out when it’s your turn. Introduce yourself. Often.
6. Get a 12 Step sponsor who has the time, motivation and inclination to hold you accountable for meetings and step work.

Practice Seeing the World As it Is
7. Make “structural changes” where necessary such as travel schedule alterations and blocking out time commitments to work on your recovery as your most important project. Avoiding family? Are you a workaholic? Is your job killing you? Does your marriage suck?
8. Meditate or pray mindfully at dawn, after working out, to raise your awareness of urges and triggers that invite you to drink, and build an awareness of your spiritual potential. Block time to “just sit” quietly for 10 minutes per day, every day. A chair is fine.
9. Read. I recommend Charles Duhig’s excellent book “The Power of Habit” which discusses “keystone” habits and the power of awareness to use them for reclaiming your clear and sober life.

You Could Fail and Die
There can be points in our lives beyond which we cannot, without more restrictive care, return from a dangerous addiction. Our bodies grow accustomed and may refuse to cooperate with the most robust plan. People die of alcoholism and it’s related illnesses daily. If you feel you might need a higher level of care, including hospitalization, don’t hesitate to consult me.

Take Action Now
You may be stronger than you think. With encouragement and good coaching, you might have more than you thought you did. With support and direction, it’s possible to restore your sanity.
If you need assistance with your recovery, I’m available as an expert addiction psychotherapist and sober coach based in Delray Beach, FL. I work by phone and office visits. Contact me here. or call me at 561–213–8030.