Welcome to the home of CLUB SODA’S COURSES TO CHANGE YOUR DRINKING

Introduction

You might have already made some observations about how your drinking changes according to different people you are around. When we look at this again during the holiday season, there are a raft of considerations and complications.

Many of us hope for a Thanksgiving and Christmas when our friends and family all get along. And it’s true that there are some people that we love seeing at any time of year. But equally, there are others that we try to avoid. Honestly, some of those people are just terrible, and somehow we get stuck with them at Christmas. Again.

It’s best to be honest that there are some people you love, and some people you barely tolerate. Scan the day, the week and the month ahead for the people you will be meeting and any social plans that are in your diary. Ask yourself:

  • Are any of these people likely to be expecting and looking forward to drinking with you?
  • Are there some people you feel you drink to be around?
  • Will it be irritating, stressful, or even make you angry trying to explain to any of these people that you are not drinking anything or only having a couple of drinks, and the reasons why?
  • Are any of these people likely to encourage you to drink, even knowing you are planning not to?
  • Have you ever experienced a social event when you have not had a drink with this person? That is, is it highly habitual for you to have a drink when you meet this person?
  • Will you find it difficult to have soft drinks whilst the other person or people are drinking alcohol?

If you answer ‘yes’ to any of these questions, then you will need to plan and rehearse a coping strategy for dealing with this possible pitfall.