three years, after two years working with CGL – so I’ ve had five years in the field of alcohol recovery. My background was in health promotion in the NHS. I took early retirement when my own issues with alcohol required a great deal of time and work, and I started on my recovery journey. My experience seemed like an obvious path for me to start work as a volunteer and then a paid worker at CGL. Linking lived experience with work always keeps my own recovery at the forefront of my mind – and it’ s helped a lot of clients too. I’ ve just turned eight years sober.

So what’ s it like? Well, no two days are the same. I work part-time and might have just one client a week, or four or five.

I prepare by reading their notes, thinking about what they may need from a session and trying to make sure they’ re ready too. Sessions vary a lot depending on the needs of clients, some of whom want to give up entirely, whilst others just want to cut down. We work with drink diaries from the DrinkCoach website, as concentrating on just how much a person is drinking is often a surprise to them. I help them set goals for achievable reduction and give them tips on how to achieve their target. We usually meet once a fortnight for six sessions. Some leave early when they’ ve achieved their goals – others do the whole six and sometimes ask for more!

It’ s really rewarding when clients reach their goals.

Sometimes people who I think are having trouble understanding take to a programme readily and are stars! Some start by wanting to reduce, but go on to stop entirely. This feels like a real achievement as people often have visible improvement quite quickly and take up new interests and hobbies. Of course, this is a brief intervention, so we can’ t expect miracles – but it feels like an achievement to give people information on the effects of alcohol. Not many people are aware of the far-reaching negative impact on health and I would love for this to change, as it did for smoking some years back.

If someone was considering this for a career, I would say the work is rewarding, with lots of job satisfaction, but not easy. It

can be upsetting when people disclose their unhappiness with aspects of their lives, and an alcohol worker needs a good deal of resilience. It really can help to have personal experience of recovery, although it’ s not essential. Clients like to know that I’ m not suggesting they do anything I haven’ t done myself. If you need support with your drinking, sessions are free for people who live in councils across the UK. Check if you’ re eligible: drinkcoach. org. uk / book-online-appointment