Book Talk: Not Drinking Tonight by Amanda E. White

“Not Drinking Tonight” is the perfect guidebook for females looking to explore their drinking behaviors, as well as other behaviors they may be using to cope with the stresses they encounter. This book includes a great amount of helpful information about how alcohol affects our body, how our experiences shape our alcohol usages, and what changes can be made that will last and encourage us in strengthening our day to day happiness.

Amanda White is a Licensed Professional Counselor and uses her personal and professional experiences to incorporate therapy concepts and directly tie them to substance use concerns. She discusses boundaries, trauma, self-care and compassion, and the science behind how our body reacts to alcohol to give you a full roadmap to move forward. “Not Drinking Tonight” is great for-Women are curious about their relationship with alcohol -Anyone with a desire to quit drinking-Clinicians, therapists, counselors, and psychiatrists

*Note: This book does focus on the female experience, though anyone can use this book as a tool

Megan’s favorite takeaways:

“Shame is the glue that holds self-sabotage in place.” 

If we struggle to manage our alcohol use, we may feel shame about our behaviors or the inability we feel to stop drinking. This shame puts us in a destructive cycle and can lead us to self-sabotage in so many areas of our life.

“Drinking doesn’t alleviate your anxiety. It sedates you to its impact, and then the next day you are left with the same worries plus additional anxiety from the hormones your body produces in order to detox from the alcohol you consumed.”

“REM sleep is crucial for learning, as during this part of the sleep cycle, your brain transfers short-term memories into your long-term memory.”

This type of sleep cannot be reached when drinking alcohol and leaves you feeling not only tired the next day, but days after.

Some of the concepts in this book can be difficult for readers and may elicit emotions that need to be processed with a professional, so let your counselor or therapist know you are reading or get connected with us today.

Megan Barfield, MS, LMFT