DrinkCoach
If you feel like you would like to drink less but don’t know where to start, that’s where DrinkCoach comes in.
The service offers free Online Coaching via Zoom or Teams with weekend and evening appointments available.
Pick your perfect DrinkCoach challenge
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Pint cutback
This is the simplest one: Halve your units (and your calories and your spend). You can still indulge in your favourite drinks without overdoing it — balancing enjoyment with healthier habits. Just make every other drink non-alcoholic.
Benefits:
- Goodbye restless nights/better sleep
- Farewell brain fog
- Hello increased energy
-
Midweek Reset
Break a daily habit: Cut out midweek drinking for a minimum of two days in a row to maximise the benefits. Taking a deliberate pause from alcohol can help you break the cycle of daily drinking, making it easier to develop a more controlled relationship with alcohol.
Benefits:
- Save money!!
- Weight loss
- Say goodbye to hangxiety
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Social only
Drink for an occasion, not out of habit: Choose to enjoy alcohol in social settings, rather than drinking alone. Drinking socially allows you to connect with others, share experiences, and make memories. On the other hand, drinking alone might increase the risk of developing unhealthy habits or relying on alcohol as a coping mechanism for stress or loneliness. So save the alcohol for your social time.
Benefits:
- Reduce stress
- Better mood
- Break habits
Is DrinkCoach right for you?
If you find yourself..
- Using alcohol to cope with stress, anxiety or low mood
- Drinking a glass of wine most nights to unwind
- Regretting how much you drank the night before
- Failing to stick to any of your drinking goals
- Wanting to have more control over how much you drink
- Drinking every day (no matter how much)
We can help you.
2-minute alcohol test
Want to know how risky your drinking may be? Take the 2-minute alcohol test to find out
In 10 easy steps, you can find out if you are a low, increasing, high risk or dependent drinker. The alcohol test is ideal for anyone who is worried about their drinking, or curious to see if they could make better choices for their health. No strings attached.
Why take the test?
Knowing what your risk level is will give you a good starting point to consider whether you feel you need to make a change. It will provide an indication of how far away you are from safe drinking levels so you have the information needed in order to decide what to do next.
About the test
You will be asked 10 questions related to your drinking. Your overall score and risk level are based on all your answers.
The test is a digital version of the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) developed by the World Health Organisation. It is the best alcohol screening tool available. You cannot be identified by the answers you provide and we do not collect or store personally identifiable information.
Book FREE 1-2-1 Online Coaching sessions with an alcohol specialist
If you’ve taken the DrinkCoach test and you score as being at increasing or higher risk*, then you can talk to an alcohol professional who will provide you with tailored advice and tips. Whether you’re just curious about making a change, or have tried and feel you could benefit from additional support, DrinkCoach specialists can help.
*This means you’re a man drinking between 15 and 34 units of alcohol a week, or a woman drinking 15 to 39 units a week.
Why use DrinkCoach?
- Choose your own coach
- Get tailored advice based on your needs
- Weekend and evening appointments for a time that suits you
- All sessions are completely confidential
- Book up to 6 sessions
- All sessions are paid in full by Oxfordshire County Council, for Oxfordshire residents. You will not be charged for any of your DrinkCoach sessions.
What can I expect from my sessions?
A coach will carry out with you an assessment to determine your current alcohol consumption and help you identify your reduction goals. You will then work with the coach to monitor and review progress at the same time as developing strategies for dealing with triggers and situations which may take you off track.
Coaches are like personal trainers, but instead of supporting you with your fitness goals, they will help you set goals for reducing and/or controlling alcohol consumption. Many people find that having a coach to hold them accountable along the way helps them achieve a lasting impact.