Did you know that the current Australian guidelines for the safe consumption of alcohol advise that healthy adults should limit their alcohol intake to no more than 10 standard drinks per week, and no more than 4 standard drinks on any single day?
In Australia, 1 in 3 people over the age of 14 drank at risky levels in 2022-23, and that number is not decreasing. In the same period, alcohol was the most common drug for which people received treatment.
Furthermore, studies show that nearly 1 in 5 Australians have experienced harm due to someone else's drinking, highlighting its widespread impact on individuals and communities.
These are some sobering statistics. Understand the nature of alcohol addiction and the underlying patterns that keep it going, and how hypnotherapy can play a key role in helping you break free from its grip.
Recognise the drinking cycle
At the core of alcohol dependency is a repetitive cycle of thoughts and behaviours that often feels automatic, like running on autopilot. You may recognise these patterns in your own habits—coming home from work and immediately pouring a glass of wine, buying a couple of six-packs and finishing them, or heading to the pub only to wake up the next day wishing you had gone straight home instead.
When caught in this cycle, it can feel like you're losing control. You might promise yourself you’ll stop, yet still find yourself reaching for that next drink from the fridge or ordering another round at the bar. The anticipation of relaxation that comes with the first sip often masks the reality of what follows, even though deep down, you know it’s unlikely to stop at just one drink.
What is alcohol doing for you that you can’t do for yourself?
When it comes to alcohol addiction or dependency, I often ask clients to reflect on what their drinking habit is doing for them that they can’t seem to do for themselves. After some thought, many reveal that alcohol helps them manage stress, ease anxiety, combat boredom, or fend off loneliness. For some, it’s a way to fit in socially or cope with unresolved emotional pain, perhaps following trauma or influenced by the drinking habits of friends.
At Miracle Minds, we don’t just focus on breaking the drinking habit—we aim to uncover and address the root cause of your dependency. That’s why we recommend four to five therapy sessions to help you put your drinking habit behind you for good.
The role of subconscious thoughts in our habits: Why hypnotherapy for alcohol dependency leads to lasting change
If you’ve been using alcohol to soothe underlying emotions, your unconscious mind now believes it needs alcohol for you to function. This is where the challenge lies—your willpower alone isn’t enough to override the power of your unconscious mind. So, when the craving hits, you instinctively reach for a drink.
Unfortunately, each time you choose to drink to ease emotional discomfort, you reinforce the belief that alcohol is necessary for feeling good. Over time, this repetition creates a deeply ingrained habit. Hypnotherapy works by addressing these subconscious patterns, helping you retrain your mind to break free from the dependency on alcohol.
How hypnotherapy for alcohol dependency works
Your unconscious mind doesn’t rely on logic or reasoning, and it cannot distinguish between what is real or imagined. Instead, it just believes what it has learned. Because of this, hypnotherapy uses guided imagery, visualisation, and positive suggestions to shift your current thoughts, feelings, and behaviours.
One of my favourite hypnotherapy techniques involves using metaphors and stories to introduce these changes. During hypnosis, I guide you through two possible paths: one is the downhill path where you continue the current drinking habit, and the other is the success path, where you’ve chosen to quit or minimise drinking, and we visualise a healthier, more fulfilling life long-term.
Under hypnosis, your unconscious mind has now learned a new way of living, helping you leave behind the desire to drink, set limits on your consumption, develop better drinking habits and have alcohol-free days.
Self-regulating practices to complement your hypnotherapy
At Miracle Minds, we feel it’s important to leave you with your own toolkit to handle life’s challenges. One of my favourites for handling residual cravings or desires is called the 4Ps:
Postpone your response and put as much time as possible between your craving or desire arriving and your ability to meet it. For example, removing alcohol from the house.
Pause and focus on breathing. Breathe in for four seconds, hold for four, breathe out for four and hold again for four, then repeat.
Preoccupy to distract yourself from your craving or desire, in this case, the desire to drink.
Pick your path by choosing to stay in control, and congratulate yourself for making healthier choices.
In the same way that hypnotherapy reduces your unconscious desire, the 4Ps is a simple tool to help with any conscious thoughts you may have to drink for example if you feel influenced by others if they are drinking around you. You can read more about the 4Ps here.
If you would like to understand more about how hypnotherapy can help with drinking and alcohol use disorders, please book a free 15-minute consult using the link below.