IN the lead-up to Christmas and New Year, many of us will be socialising and relaxing with a drink in our hands. But do you ever have the niggling worry that you’re drinking too much?

Therapist Georgia Foster, who has created a method to help people cut back on their alcohol consumption, says: “This is a peak time for people coming to me concerned because they just can’t seem to cut back on their drinking.

“They’re normally aged between 30 and 60, have perfectly normal, successful lives, and certainly aren’t alcoholics and don’t want to abstain. What they have in common is that they feel they need more boundaries for their drinking.

“Many will be drinking daily and their doctors may have told them, ‘Just cut back a little bit’, but for most people that’s a bit meaningless because if it was that easy, they would have done it.”

Georgia believes that it’s essential to recognise why and when we drink, so that our patterns can be changed.

“A typical client will say to me, ‘I wake up in the morning with a bit of a hangover knowing the day ahead of me is going to be challenging.

“Then I get angry with myself for not having more self-control. I promise myself that I won’t drink that night and yet by 6pm I am already on my second glass of wine, and I know I will finish the bottle and maybe another glass after that’.”

She believes that for many people drinking is an emotional habit. Alcohol can be viewed as a reward at the end of a day, a fast way to de-stress, an antidote to inhibition and low social confidence, or even a nightcap to aid sleep (which it doesn’t).

“Awareness and persistence can result in alcohol being relegated to its proper place – enjoyed as a pleasurable experience, and consumed when we are in control, rather than at risk of losing it,” she says.

A lot of people drink alcohol when they are actually thirsty. Before you start drinking, drink one large glass of water to quench your thirst and try to alternate a glass of water with a glass of alcohol.

Check out your drinking type:

THE INNER CRITIC – will use alcohol to drown out a negative inner voice. Believes alcohol allows him or her to relax, have fun and feel better about life.

Advice: Negative thinking is a state of mind, not the truth. Every time you hear the inner critic, breathe out and then repeat to yourself, ‘It is safe to drink less alcohol, irrespective of my past’. Remind yourself your imagined bad outcomes are triggered by your anxiety and fears, heightened by alcohol.

THE PERFECTIONIST – good at looking after health, but when they drink, can do so to excess.

Advice: A state of perfection in all things is almost always unattainable. Find relaxing activities that you can enjoy without alcohol.

Each time you have a glass of alcohol in your hand, put the glass down between sips. If you are standing, swap hands so you are holding the glass in the less comfortable hand.

THE PLEASER – finds it hard to say no to drinking during socialising.

Advice: Practise saying no in your mind. Remind yourself that others refuse and are still accepted. Decide how much you are going to drink before you go out, and pace yourself.

Avoid friends who try to coerce you – they may be trying to make themselves feel more comfortable about their own excessive drinking.

THE INNER CHILD – drinks to have fun, to be spontaneous, sexual or sensual. Believes their inner creative side cannot be expressed without alcohol and sometimes ends up having tears and tantrums.

Advice: Start finding ways to have fun without booze. Investigate ways of improving communication skills and boosting self-esteem, and talk to a GP or counsellor if your problems are severe.

• The Georgia Foster Drink Less Mind 21 Day programme is £129 and book £17.99. For more information, visit georgiafoster.com For advice on drinking, visit NHS Choices at nhs.uk/livewell/alcohol