Friend, you are the one and only person who can decide that. We certainly have clinical criteria delineating what qualifies as Alcohol Use Disorder, but the truth is, many people who meet those criteria do not identify as an alcoholic. In fact, the clinical field has largely updated language re: habitual, maladaptive alcohol use because of how much stigma there is associated with older language. Our work is label agnostic, meaning you are not required or expected to take on any sort of label in order to change your relationship with alcohol and find a more aligned way to live with it (or without it). Labels can be a non-starter, a barrier to entry. Looking into your relationship with alcohol with curiosity and a willingness to change is incredibly powerful — we know you are not powerLESS for doing so. 

The short answer: no. 
The longer answer: what we aim to do inside The Booze Breakup is to practice abstinence from alcohol in order to understand our baseline — what our physical, emotional, and mental bodies feel like without it. As we're doing that, we're addressing all of the other components of *human-ing* that are making it really hard to NOT numb out, building a vast toolkit of coping mechanisms, uncovering AF joy, and so much more. What you do with that information, next, is up to you, but we aim for you to have informed consent around any future alcohol use; a full understanding (and mental clarity) around its place in your life. 

The Booze Breakup is built on the Relational Cultural Theory, which essentially says that we heal better when we heal together. There's something immensely transformative about sharing our story — one that feels incredibly isolating — and being met with empathy or even "me too, I thought I was the only one." Because of this, community is a central tenant of the program. When you enroll in The Booze Breakup, you get 2 months access to our private, off-social media community, The Heartspace. Within The Heartspace, there is community-led conversation, weekly Sober Circle support meetings (via Zoom), monthly group coaching calls, member-only events like virtual yoga and mocktail classes, and a resource library of archived trainings. These spaces are frequented and moderated by Beth and the admin team.

When you join The Booze Breakup, you have lifetime access to materials (and any updates). Take as long as you want! Watch it 7 times! Do a lesson a day! The world is your proverbial oyster. Know that this information requires integration, not simply consumption, and as such, you may want to consume the materials a few times. But it's yours, as long as the interwebs (and this company) exist. 

Sister, we don't give grades in The Booze Breakup. The truth is, there is no failure — if you watch one lesson, or answer one journal prompt, or attend one meeting, or connect with one person, you have already succeeded. The thing about changing our relationship with alcohol is that it takes practice, skill building, and resilience building. We call returning to alcohol use a "slip" or a "fall forward" (or whatever the hell you want to call it) because we have not moved backwards — you are always in forward motion. 

So here's the thing: the alcohol is really only the beginning. It's usually the thing that is masking all the *other* things, and when we start to tackle each of them, bit by bit, we begin to build a mental, emotional, and physical resilience that finally allows us to do something sustainable with the booze part. As such, you can expect to learn tons about how alcohol impacts your entire physiology, what we mean when we say "toolbox," how to navigate relationships when you're changing your relationship with alcohol, what the fuck the "habit loop" is and why it's relevant to alcohol, how our body battery impacts our ability to stay alcohol-free, and so much more. This curriculum is rooted in both clinical, evidence-based theory, and practical, everyday tools. 

The Booze Breakup is the only program and community out there created by someone who is both alcohol-free AND experienced in the field of mental health and substance use. Beth holds a BA in psychology and an MA in social work, with years of experience in the field. Through her therapy training, experience in Emergency Room medicine, and her own lived experience removing alcohol from her life, Beth has created the most comprehensive, person-first quit-drinking program out there. Plus, we're fun.