The story of my relationship with alcohol starts long before I took my first drink. Growing up, alcohol was a constant presence in my life. I grew up on a very small farm, the oldest of three...

In this blog post, I want to explore one of the most deeply ingrained beliefs in our culture: the idea that alcohol helps us unwind and de-stress. While this notion is widespread, the reality of...

The Burden of Shame

Shame is a hugely toxic emotion, perhaps the most toxic and harmful of all. It involves self-loathing, where we hate ourselves for who we are, rather than for something we have...

Drinking cultures make people feel excluded in all walks of life, not just in cricket

“A heavy drinking culture excludes a significant number of people”

This is how the...

Weddings and champagne are inextricably linked in our culture

My daughter got married last month. It was a wonderful, happy day. Actually, a wonderful, happy weekend, as we kicked it off on the...

Have you ever noticed the advice on booze bottles to ‘enjoy alcohol in moderation’ or ‘enjoy responsibly’? Enjoy? Well, that is an unhelpful choice of verb! In what universe...

Which came first, the chicken or the egg? It’s an age-old conundrum, a question to which there is no clear answer. But it is more clear cut when it comes to anxiety / depression and drinking...

I recently came across the most glorious typo. Glorious because it really made me think. The writer meant to type cognitive dissonance but what appeared on the page was cognitive...

Summary dismissal is often the result when employees go to employers about alcohol dependence

Imagine you were in a serious relationship, both of you saying that you were there for each other and...

Bonding over a beer – alcohol in the workplace

Booze has been centre-stage in the shenanigans in Downing St in the last couple of years. Bottle-laden tables at ‘work...

Why can’t I drink alcohol ‘normally’?

When I am coaching people, they will often tell me that their objective is to be able to drink ‘normally’.

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 “My drinking increased during the pandemic, and I am struggling to get it back under control”

In the two years since Covid turned our world upside down, I have coached so...