Knowing but not doing
But it had slyly gained on her and now , at 43 , she was drinking so much of the stuff she was gaining weight and standing by seemingly helplessly as it trashed her life and tore away at her mental health and physical wellbeing . She found it hard to even get up in the morning .
" It ' s taking over my life ." Caroline believed she had become the typical middle-class alcoholic who appeared to have it all under control , who didn ' t usually drink during the day . " I don ' t even drink much when we go out !" she said .
But she drank so much in the evening ( and on into the night , long after her husband had slumped into bed ) that she was barely functional in the day .
I set about helping her . But there was one thing I didn ' t need to do to help Caroline regain the reins of her own mind .
Knowing but not doing
I didn ' t need to convince Caroline of the dangers of excessive wine drinking . " I used to be a health visitor . I know exactly what drinking so much is doing to me . But facts and information don ' t seem to have any bearing on what I actually do !"
Other than the horrible feeling that you ' ve surrendered your volition , there are myriad health dangers worth remembering . Excessive wine drinking prematurely ages us , often piles on the fat , and damages every organ of the body .[ 1 ]
We hear about units and safe amounts , but if your client feels they are drinking too much we need to know one critical piece of information : do they want to cut down , or do they want to stop completely ?
Some people can moderate their drinking to safer amounts , while others feel that it ' s best to cut it out altogether . Caroline wanted to break off her relationship with the vine juice completely – at least until such time as she could renegotiate that relationship and let it in just now and then .
So what are some of the practical ways we can help our clients control their wine consumption ?