We are here to support you.
Do you drink too much alcohol or are you uncertain if you do? Do you want to explore this with a psychologist? Do you and those closest to you have differing opinions concerning alcohol?
Psykologvirke offers a high level of competence in the treatment of alcohol problems ranging in degrees of severity.
From alcohol abuse and the dependence associated with alcoholism, to drinking a little too much on a daily basis or in social settings.
If you are struggling with any of these things, you have come to the right place. We are experienced psychologists located in downtown Oslo. You can learn more about how we approach and work with alcohol problems in this article.
If you have already decided to contact a psychologist to discuss your relationship with alcohol, you can schedule an appointment here. Family members and friends who are impacted by a loved one’s drinking are also welcome to contact us.
Psychology and alcohol - from alcoholism to drinking too much in social situations
Sometimes you have an obvious problem and need help to acknowledge this and overcome it. Some people have developed a serious alcohol addiction and have to stop completely, at least for a period.
For most people, their issues with alcohol are much more nuanced. Maybe there are just a few unfortunate incidents that only occur once in a while.
Or perhaps you have developed a bad habit of a little daily drinking that ends up limiting your life and/or creating friction in relationships.
Maybe it isn’t the dependency on alcohol itself that is so problematic but rather that you use alcohol to regulate various emotional states or that you simply have developed a bad habit.
Maybe your life situation has changed, and the drinking patterns you have that were not problematic before need to be reevaluated?
Therapy with a Psychologist - abstinence, alcoholism and everything in between
In therapy that focuses on alcohol use, whether we are dealing with true alcoholism involving dependency and abuse, or a little too much daily drinking or social drinking, we begin with addressing how you are experiencing problems here and now.
Our psychology staff work with concrete examples from everyday life where your relationship to alcohol has proved problematic.
We will actively work with you to understand the triggering and sustaining mechanisms in your relationship with alcohol - including the ones you might not be able to see yourself.
Treatment for alcohol dependency - psychological approaches
Therapeutic work with alcohol issues involves addressing both the inner dynamics of the drinking patterns as well as the function drinking has in the regulation of emotional states.
We work with strategies and tools for change on the behavioral level - to “resist” and reduce or stop alcohol consumption altogether - and find new ways to attain some of what consuming alcohol gives you.
We always try to look for, and possibly heal, core problems in the psyche and/or everyday life that may lead to increased alcohol consumption.
Addressing alcoholism/alcohol issues with a psychologist in Oslo
Is it possible that you are regularly repressing some feelings and needs? Feelings and needs that can manifest themselves suddenly once you start drinking?
Can repression of these feelings and needs in and of itself create a basic tension in the body that alcohol can relax?
Or can repression contribute to unhappiness so you need a pick-me-up?
Do you only drink too much in certain situations or around people that seem to trigger something within yourself? Is social anxiety a variable that we can take the edges off of?
Is your life simply too stressful? Is your drinking part of generally avoidant attempts to cope with various life issues?
These and similar factors play out to varying degrees and we are not always equally aware of all of them.
Alcohol – how can treatment with a psychologist help?
During our work of examining, mobilizing around and addressing these issues, relevant links to your past can often come up. These are then included in our work - even though our main focus is your everyday, current life situation.
We actively work to mobilize and build up your tolerance for conscious as well as unconscious emotional difficulties that sometimes are at the root of alcohol issues.
Becoming aware of the various unconscious conflict points in the psyche can make processing possible - rather than leaving internal situations unbalanced and unresolved.
Thus, you can resolve eventual remnants from your past that have gotten “stuck”, become aware of your patterns and achieve lasting change going forward.
We strive to combine an in-depth psychological perspective with a distinctly active way of working, where we neither dig up the past just for the sake of it nor superficially scratch the surface of things.
You can read more concerning our conceptualization of how most emotional issues develop and how therapy can help.
Psychologists and alcohol - what is the expected treatment length?
The degree to which therapy can help you depends a lot on the cooperation we manage to establish. A natural goal early on is for us to gain a shared understanding of the mechanisms that drive your difficulties and agree on constructive ways to approach these.
You will quickly find out if therapy to address alcohol issues is something for you.
Working with alcohol issues is seldom a “quick-fix”. How much time is needed is very dependent on how deep the problems go, the structure of your psyche and the level of cooperation we manage to establish.
Sometimes just a handful of sessions can help. We will be able to give an evaluation of the expected treatment length within the first few sessions and will attempt to outline what is needed to help with your particular issues with alcohol.
If you are still uncertain if your challenges with alcohol require psychological assistance, taking this reputable online test may help point you in the right direction.
We wish you the best with the important project you are embarking upon. We would be more than happy to contribute to the work you want to do. .
