Do YOU have a problem with drink? Take our 質問（する） by an alcohol 専門家 to find out...??
同僚s in the solicitors' 会社／堅い where she worked regarded my （弁護士の）依頼人, Georgina ― in her Hobbs 控訴s, her hair swept 支援する in a neat chignon ― as a woman very much in 支配（する）／統制する of her life.
But though she took 苦痛s to be professional and efficient in the office, Georgina's make-up and cheery smile hid a painful secret.
Each night, she went home alone and drank two 瓶／封じ込めるs of pinot noir by herself. An empty-nester in her 50s, she would then call her three children to viciously criticise them and their father, whom she had 離婚d some years earlier. By the time Georgina reached out to me two years ago, her alcohol 消費 had wreaked such 荒廃 on her 関係s with her family that she had not been 招待するd to her youngest daughter's wedding and her older children were 辞退するing to let her see her grandchildren.
Almost all of the women I help are professionals like Georgina (doctors, dentists, teachers, City 労働者s) who drink between seven and ten 瓶／封じ込めるs of ワイン a week, on 普通の／平均（する）.
As a former drinker, Sandra Parker understands the 恐れる her （弁護士の）依頼人s feel about life without alcohol, 加える the 犯罪, shame and waves of 苦悩 that comes after a night out
Most are in their 40s and 50s, and though some have drunk all their adult lives, others 結局最後にはーなる relying on alcohol later in life, to 対処する with the struggles that often come with middle age.
What I see as a sober coach 一致するs with NHS 統計（学）: women 老年の between 45 and 64 are most likely to drink in 超過 of recommended 安全な 限界s ― 60 per cent of 女性（の） deaths 原因（となる）d by alcohol in 2021 were の中で women in this age group ―while a ４半期/4分の1 of these are in the 世帯s with the highest incomes.
This week, new 人物／姿／数字s from the Office for 国家の 統計（学） 明らかにする／漏らすd death by ?drinking の中で women ロケット／急騰するd by 37 per cent between 2019 and 2022 in the wake of pandemic lockdowns, with middle-老年の women 特に 影響する／感情d.
The challenges 直面するing women during middle age are, of course, 非常に／多数の: menopause, raising 十代の少年少女s, caring for 年輩の parents, 離婚, 存在 overlooked at work and empty nests, to 指名する but a few.
With my help, they 受託する problem drinking doesn't always mean 消費するing litres of vodka every day. And, while you might think a glass of white ワイン seems like the perfect way to unwind at the end of a 需要・要求するing day, perhaps you, too, could be slipping into problematic drinking habits that could have a detrimental 衝撃 on your 関係s, your work and your health.
The downward slope to losing 支配（する）／統制する and relying on alcohol as a crutch can be subtle. So much so, that many women don't realise they are already in a 消極的な pattern when it comes to drink.
The women I work with don't consider themselves アル中患者s ― and are a long way from the image of someone sleeping on a park （法廷の）裁判, brown paper 捕らえる、獲得する in 手渡す. They're still, mostly, keeping all the balls in the 空気／公表する, both at work and at home.
However, they all have one thing in ありふれた: they have come to depend on alcohol to 'relax'; give them the courage ― or 動機づけ ― to …に出席する social events; and enjoy family time, 含むing Christmases and holidays.
They have often spent years 納得させるing themselves that, as they've managed to 持つ／拘留する on to their 職業, home, family and friends, their drinking is not a problem. One （弁護士の）依頼人, Alicia, an engineer, told me how she'd polish off a 瓶／封じ込める of ワイン within half an hour of coming home, while cooking the family dinner ― and then, because her husband and children hadn't 証言，証人／目撃するd it, she'd hope no one would notice she was drunk.
She had さまざまな hiding places for the empty 瓶／封じ込めるs, which she would put out with the 再生利用するing in the dead of night, while her family and 隣人s slept.
There's so much subterfuge 伴う／関わるd. （弁護士の）依頼人s hide their 消費 levels from so many people, and often even delude themselves about the extent of their alcohol intake.
So what makes me the perfect person to help?
A former drinker myself, I am all too familiar with the 恐れる my （弁護士の）依頼人s feel about life without alcohol, 加える the 犯罪, shame and waves of 苦悩 that 迎える／歓迎する you the morning after a night about which you have little recollection.
New 人物／姿／数字s from the Office for 国家の 統計（学） 明らかにする／漏らすd death by ?drinking の中で women ロケット／急騰するd by 37 per cent between 2019 and 2022 in the wake of pandemic lockdowns, with middle-老年の women 特に 影響する／感情d
Seven years ago, I was a City 労働者 on a six-人物／姿／数字 salary, yet I was binge drinking. I even 苦しむd the 時折の 灯火管制／停電. The turning point （機の）カム for me when I 黒人／ボイコットd out on a sailing trip around Asia, in late 2017.
I had spent thousands on the holiday, yet wasted a whole day in my cabin, crying and trying to remember if I'd 侮辱d anyone or made a fool of myself while drunk the night before.
I knew I needed help. But there's no way I'd have gone to アル中患者s 匿名の／不明の, as I was too 脅すd of my 同僚s finding out and looking 負かす／撃墜する on me.
I had a serious alcohol dependency ― what doctors would call alcohol use disorder ― but, like 90 per cent of the problem drinkers I now help, I wasn't 肉体的に （麻薬）常用者d.
This meant that, instead of experiencing physical 撤退, the challenges I 直面するd when I tried to give up alcohol were emotional ones.
During the first half of 2018, I worked with a life coach and tried a few 解放する／自由な online support groups.
I 記録，記録的な／記録するd every drink on an app when I was 'doing 井戸／弁護士席', then discarded it every time I drank more than I 手配中の，お尋ね者. I also read dozens of 調書をとる／予約するs on cutting 支援する.
Finally, in July, I felt able to 一時的に 削減（する） out drink altogether and, six months on, I realised I felt much happier and a lot いっそう少なく anxious when I didn't drink, so why ever start again? It has now been six years since my last drink.
I was so blown away by how much better I felt as a result of 存在 解放する／自由な from alcohol that I decided to train to help others like me やめる.
I 開始する，打ち上げるd the online coaching company Just The Tonic, and 'sober coaching' is now my 十分な-time 職業.
I have 工夫するd a 12-week online programme, consisting of both group and individual 開会／開廷／会期s, during which most （弁護士の）依頼人s 削減（する） 負かす／撃墜する before taking a 30-day break from alcohol.
The 目的（とする） is to help （弁護士の）依頼人s 達成する 支配（する）／統制する so that, instead of fighting a 願望（する） to drink, we 除去する the need. They can then decide whether to drink occasionally or not at all.
The first thing I tell （弁護士の）依頼人s is: 'It's not your fault.' Alcohol is a 高度に 中毒の 実体, and while 乱用 of it may be on a spectrum, we are all susceptible to it.
Indeed, I believe the 大多数 of 正規の／正選手 drinkers 消費する more than they ーするつもりである.
The programme 伴う／関わるs a 漸進的な 削減 in intake, while （弁護士の）依頼人s 調査する the feelings they have been trying to numb with alcohol.
I then support them so that they are able to 扱う their emotions without needing alcohol, which （弁護士の）依頼人s 述べる as their secret 超大国.
I've worked with 井戸／弁護士席 over 100 women. Some were spurred into 調印 up after the results of a 血 実験（する） showing fatty 肝臓 病気 or elevated 肝臓 enzymes .
But the 大多数 just felt 永久的に below par, and 手配中の，お尋ね者 to be 解放するd from that 手足を不自由にする／（物事を）損なうing cycle of drink and 悔いる.
And watching them finally break 解放する／自由な of that cycle makes my 職業 so worthwhile.
指名するs have been changed
As told to HELEN CARROLL
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