the 6pm drink. the bottle that empties itself. the promise you make every monday.
Stop drinking hypnotherapy. For the drink you keep saying you'll cut back on.
You run a business, a team or a household, and you're good at it. The drink is how you switch off, and it's started to run the evening instead of the other way round. You've tried dry months, rules and apps. They work until they don't. I use hypnotherapy, and EMDR where it's needed, to change what the drink is doing for you, so you stop needing it to do it.
If this is you, you're in the right place.
"I don't drink in the morning, so it can't be a problem. Can it?"
"One glass to take the edge off. Then it's the bottle."
"Dry January goes fine. February is worse than before."
"I tell myself tomorrow is a night off. Tomorrow never comes."
The drink isn't the problem. It's the solution to one.
For most of the people I see, alcohol is doing a job. It turns the volume down on a mind that won't stop. It marks the end of a day that never really ends. It numbs something old that hasn't been dealt with. Take the drink away and the job is still there, which is why willpower runs out by Thursday.
The pattern is automatic. The trigger fires, the craving follows and the glass is poured before the thinking part of you has caught up. That's why understanding it hasn't fixed it. The work has to happen at the level the habit runs, below conscious thought.
Change what the drink is doing for you
Hypnotherapy works directly on the automatic part: the 6pm trigger, the craving, the story that says you deserve it. We rebuild the response so the evening doesn't start with a pour. Where the drinking sits on top of something heavier, an old loss, a trauma, years of pressure, I use EMDR to clear what it's been numbing.
The first session is two hours. We map when, why and how you drink, what it's protecting you from and what you want instead, whether that's cutting down or stopping. Most people notice the pull change within the first few sessions.
Five questions. No score.
Answer these honestly, to yourself. There's no total and no label at the end.
- Do you drink to change how you feel, rather than because you fancy one?
- Have you set rules about drinking and broken them more than once?
- Do you find yourself thinking about the first drink before the working day is over?
- Does the first glass usually lead to more than you planned?
- Would you feel uneasy going a full week without a drink?
If two or more landed, the drinking is running a pattern, not the other way round. That's exactly what this work changes. Book a free 15-minute call and we'll talk it through.
What people ask first.
Do I have to stop completely?
No. Some people want to stop, some want to drink like a normal person again. We agree the goal together in the first session, and the work is built around it.
Will I just swap drinking for something else?
Not if the work is done properly. Swapping happens when the need underneath is left untouched. Finding and changing that need is the point of the first sessions.
Is this confidential?
Completely. Sessions are private 1:1, near Maidstone or by video, and nothing is shared with your employer or anyone else. No groups, no meetings.
What if I drink heavily every day?
Then please don't stop suddenly on your own. Stopping abruptly after heavy daily drinking can cause dangerous withdrawal and needs medical support. Tell me where you are on the call and we'll work out the safe way to start. This work runs alongside that.
Got a question that isn't here? Ask me on WhatsApp. I reply personally.
More on this: Hypnotherapy in Maidstone
Jon Billingsley DHP CHyp MCMA. MSc Psychology. MSc Communication, Behaviour and Credibility Analysis. Master Certified Hypnotherapist, EMDR practitioner, Master NLP Practitioner, member of the MCMA and BAThH, published author. 25 years in business and personal development before this work, and I did it on myself first.
More about meStart the conversation
A free 15-minute call. No pressure and no pitch. Tell me what's going on and I'll tell you honestly whether I can help, and how.