Hypnosis For Alcohol Addiction

Hypnotherapy For Alcohol Addiction

Welcome to Hypnosis Today. The nation’s first web TV talk show featuring various topics on the fascinating world of hypnotherapy. Hello, my name is Lisa Machenberg and I will be your host, covering a wide variety of subjects to help you understand the power of the subconscious mind and how hypnosis is being used today to help people achieve success, happiness and prosperity.

On this show you will hear from guests about how they have used hypnosis for such areas as stop smoking, weight loss, dealing with fear and anxiety, increasing their confidence and letting go of negative habits and much, much more.

Today we are going to explore hypnosis and recovery and rehab. It is my pleasure to introduce you to Vida Caplin, who is using hypnosis to remain clean and sober after her stay in rehab. Vida, welcome and thank you so much for our show and telling us your personal story and how you are going to incorporate hypnosis into your recovery. Thank you, Lisa.

Alcohol Addiction Hypnosis Treatment

I wanted to ask you, what was the scariest thing about having a problem with alcohol at this time in your life?

I think the scariest part of realising that I was an alcoholic at this time in my life is how it affected my family, my children and my husband and what the community was saying. Sure. Because we are in a fairly small community and so is really other people knowing. Y

es. What were the factors that let you know that it was time to go into rehab? I realised it was time to go into rehab when I realised that I was obsessing on the drink that I wasn’t having.

Oh, interesting. And if I was having a drink I was consumed about the next one, if I was going to be allowed to have the next one if anyone would notice if I had the next one before someone else had it. And then you went into rehab. How was that for you? It was very scary. How come?

It was scary because it was all new and part of me was very comfortable being an alcoholic. So it was scary knowing that that was all about to change and supposed to be forever. Was your family supportive and how did they react? They were very supportive, completely supportive because it’s a big sigh of relief that this problem will be taken care of. And their reaction was… went everywhere from anger to sympathy to happiness hypnosis for alcohol addiction.

Great. And when you were in rehab, what was the most valuable thing that you learned? The most valuable thing I learned in rehab was seeing other people being successful in their sobriety and that the obsession does leave, and that I will have to deal with it forever because it doesn’t go away, it’s just managed. Wow! Are there triggers still that make you want to drink now that you are out? Tell me when.

I definitely think about drinking at 6’o’clock. Making dinner was my favourite time to have that (what I call normal) glass of wine, the acceptable one. You are cooking, you pour in some wine and you have a glass of wine. And was- that still is-

I can say my favourite time to have a glass of wine. Sure. There must be concerns about having some fear about using alcohol to cope again. How are you managing your fear around going back? The way that I manage it is to follow the road. Tell me about the road, what is the road? The road is what I know will happen if I choose to drink again. And it’s not a pretty road. Whereas if I stay sober I have everything that I have got in the time that I have been sober already. It’s just getting better and better.

Now, in addition to being in rehab are you helping with being clean and sober by going to meetings? Absolutely. Being open to hearing what everyone has to say and listening to their experience, strength and hope is what gives me the strength and the tenacity to keep going and keep going, to know that the good things will just keep coming. Are you comfortable sharing when you go to those meetings, your personal story? Sometimes. Is there still like shame around that?

There is definitely the shame but I don’t wear that every day. And when I do share, I am most comfortable when I am talking to a newcomer, to someone who is just getting there and they are miserable and still very sick. Yeah. And I am very open and happy and very comfortable in sharing my story of where I was and they are not the only one.

What are you proud of? I am proud of the fact that if I am having a bad moment or day, I know that it will be different in five minutes or in five hours but for sure by tomorrow. So staying in the present or the very near future, is that the thing that gets you through? It does because I know that it can’t stay the same forever. The feeling will pass and it’s a feeling and it doesn’t have to be an action, which will be drinking. Oh, really? Wow!

So hypnosis kind of, sort of provides a little mini vacation. How do you see hypnosis fitting into your journey of staying clean and sober? I see hypnosis as something that can help me get through what I call when I am in the thick of it.

Tell me what that means and what that feels like, being in the thick of it? It’s basically a pity party of my life and what everyone does to me and if I can take the moment that hypnosis will give me and get out of it, because I know it won’t last, but hypnosis can help me deal with the moment that is not good. So hypnosis can be a bridge between the pity party and that sounds like it has a bit of anger and resentment that goes along with the pity party.

Can you tell me a little bit about that? It does. When the pity party sinks in and I kind of sink down inside myself, I can start blaming everybody and if it wasn’t for my children I wouldn’t have to be sober and it’s my husband’s fault and it’s everybody’s fault but mine. But as the cloud lifts and I get through the end of it, and sometimes it’s two minutes and sometimes it’s a day. So you didn’t really have to hit that kind of a bottom. What was your bottom that said “Now I am going to make the call”?

My bottom came when I didn’t care about anybody. I wanted to die. I really did want to die but I wanted to have breast cancer and get run off the road by someone else so it won’t be my fault. And besides leaving my children with a legacy and hereditary of possibly becoming alcoholic themselves, did they need a mother who killed herself or who committed suicide. Sure. So can you frame that as you being an actual role model? Tell me about that. For your children.

Absolutely. I see myself as being a role model for my children and my family and just for other people who know me and that if you have a problem you identify it and fix it and you have to do work to get there. It’s not as easy as identifying and fixing. It’s continuous work, it’s continuous care and I worth it. You know, we call that executive function, Vida. And that’s when you are able to first of all, know there is a problem, identify it, set a goal; that’s not enough. From the goal you have to make a plan and from the plan you’ve got to execute it. Absolutely. Beginning, middle and end.

And we are going to be doing some hypnosis for that bridge, for that transition. Some you can sit down and remember some of the things and do it formally; some you can just remember and I am going to give you two anchors so that you will be able to make that transition almost instantly, so you don’t have to wait and knuckle it.

That will be great. And we will use hypnosis to help you to remain clean and sober and to celebrate your sobriety every single day. So we are just going to hold that thought for one moment because we are going to take a short break but please stay tuned because when we come back we are going to talk more about hypnosis and remaining clean and sober and all of the positive benefits of hypnotherapy. Stay tuned.