Published 4/21
Tiina, 48, has been a sober living since October 2020, when she quit alcohol.
He is a successful entrepreneur whose drinking was not a concern to anyone, except for Tiina and Tiina’s 17-year-old daughter. He didn’t get drunk in public, passed out in the wrong places or cause embarrassment.
After work, Tiina would relax by cracking open a beer, or pouring wine from a tap into a glass. Then my husband and I went to the sauna and the rest of the evening we sat on the couch with a glass in hand.
Over the years, her alcohol consumption gradually increased and Tiina began to realise that it was becoming a problem.
The desire to get rid of alcohol is awakened
Awareness of the problem made Tiina want to quit alcohol, but the change didn’t happen overnight.
– I tried to cut down on my drinking and kept a tip-free January. Once I lost weight and went four weeks without alcohol, Tiina recalls.
In 2015, when Yle launched the Hundred Days programme, in which celebrities put the cap on for 100 days, Tiina took up the challenge.
– Although I missed it by 99 days because there were some parties I couldn’t miss. It was a disaster, because the tolerance was gone and I got too drunk.
The following year, Ira Koivu’s book Free from wine – how life changes when you close the cork was published, and Tiina immediately bought it for her bedside table.
– At the time, my drinking wasn’t bad enough to make me want to quit, but I soon became a fan of the Free From Wine Facebook page.
Years later, that push led to a major life change.
He did not become addicted, but Tiina did
Tiina continued to drink at home and knew herself that she was already consuming far too much alcohol: together with her husband, they consumed a couple of three-litre bottles of wine a week, plus sauna beers and tentacles. “And we take a sauna every night when the work is done,” Tiina adds.
– We were drinking from Sunday to Thursday, and on Friday and Saturday the drinking was binge-drinking. The drinking was explained by the need to reset a hard working week. On Thursday’s shopping trip, we made sure we had enough to drink over the weekend.
He did not seem to become addicted to alcohol, but Tiina found that she could not stay away from alcohol for a day without feeling that it was difficult. Alcohol was constantly on my mind. The first glass of the evening was waiting all day long.
He realised he needed help, but was not yet ready to make a final decision.
– I wanted to learn how to moderate alcohol – I even went to hypnosis, which helped me quit smoking. But it didn’t help to get rid of alcohol.
Information about Soberisti®-method and online coaching was a turning point that helped to get rid of alcohol
It soon became clear to Tiina that moderate use was not a realistic option. He had gone on numerous dry spells and always looked forward to the last day of the dry season like the moon. When it was finally time to cap, the lost time was quickly made up and the drinking continued as before.
The epiphany and the final straw to postpone the decision came when the daughter expressed concern about her parents’ drinking.
Tiina felt bad and her first reaction was to defend herself.
– I was ashamed, and I downplayed it; we don’t drink that much now. But it worked, Tiina remembers
Around the same time, Tiina received an announcement that the Free From Wine Facebook page had been transformed into Soberist, and was looking for women who had become addicted to alcohol to join a pilot group to test the Soberist method and the Free From Wine with Ease and Joy online coaching.
Tiina felt that this was her thing. But he thought about it for a day or two, and then sent me an email.
When there was no immediate response, he already went to the occupational health service to ask if it would be possible to get a voucher for the A-Clinic’s online service. No, but luckily I received an email informing me that Tiina had been selected for the Soberist pilot group.
– “I haven’t regretted joining for a day,” says Tiina.
When Tiina got off the booze, things started to happen
At the time of this interview, Tiina has been sober for 215 days. In that time, he has saved €4,300 that would have previously gone on alcohol. 538 hours have been saved from drinking. He checked this information on his mobile app, which he downloaded to his phone as soon as he started his new life.
While alcohol was out of the picture, Tiina found that she had more energy, and so she put the time she had freed up to other uses: she painted the kitchen, put laminate flooring in it, renovated the shower room and sauna, among other things.
– And now, for the first time in three years, the garden and garden plot are in order! None of this would have been possible if I had been drinking.
Tiina’s sobriety has also affected her husband’s drinking. Since then, wine has not been bought at home in the same way.
– He has only been drunk twice in the time I have been a soberist. For the daughter, the father’s drinking is apparently not such a bad thing. When the father reset the situation, my daughter and I kindly guided her to bed,” Tiina laughs.
Online coaching is an effective way for introverts to get sober
Tiina is no longer dreaming of being in moderation. He has realised that everyone – himself and the whole family – is better off when he is a soberist.
Mornings and evenings are very different nowadays. It has given me more time and energy, which is also good for the entrepreneur Tiina.
– This is Soberist’s Get rid of wine easily and happily online coaching has been a very effective way for me to get rid of alcohol. My job doesn’t allow me to go to physical peer support groups, and there would have been a mental barrier, Tiina says.
– It has also been important that online coaching has a positive approach to sobriety. It does not impose one way and one idea. And the peer support and supportive atmosphere of the virtual meetings have helped in difficult moments. Best of all, I have never felt like a bad person or ashamed to be there.
Tiina says she is an introvert, which is why it was a big hurdle for her to attend the first zoom meeting as part of Soberist’s online coaching.
– It was terribly exciting, even scary, but it was still easier than if we had had a physical meeting,” Tiina recalls with a laugh.
Family support has also been important. The daughter has said she is proud of her mother, and the husband has praised and admired her strength of mind: ‘that’s the only way she can leave alcohol’.
Even the zone therapist had noticed a change in Tiina after three weeks of soberism, even though she hadn’t told him anything.
– He asked me what happened, you look completely different. Already then, her eyes had cleared up and the swelling in her face had disappeared, Tiina recalls.
What else has changed since you quit alcohol?
– I sleep great and the joy and laughter have returned. “I don’t miss the old stuffy and bloated feeling at all,” says Tiina.
Get rid of alcohol with the Soberist method and Get free from wine with ease and joy – online coaching
The Soberist Method and the Easy and Joyful Freedom from Wine online coaching are designed for you who want to quit alcohol but don’t feel like an alcoholic or need physical peer support groups.
