Workplace webinars

Why do we drink, and why do we drink too much?

Many of us drink without really thinking about it. Accepting a glass of wine because everyone else is having one, or pouring yourself a drink at home every night, purely out of habit.

Mindful drinking is exactly what it sounds like. It’s the opposite of drinking without thinking!

Using tried and techniques developed in over 20 years of helping drinkers to re-evaluate their relationship with booze, Lauren will guide you through tips and tricks to help you to drink more mindfully. There’s no lecturing you on the evils of drink, just an opportunity to reflect on your current drinking habits and find out more about this fascinating topic from one of the founders of Dry January.

With lots of opportunities for questions and discussion, this workshop helps you to achieve a much healthier relationship with alcohol and enjoy in moderation.

Your facilitator will cover:

• What is mindful drinking and what are the benefits?
• What type of drinker are you?
• How do you know when you’re drinking ‘too much’?
• Units, limits and all that jazz.
• How to drink less and enjoy more.

This interactive webinar is an essential element of your wellbeing programme and is designed for all who want to learn more about alcohol. We’ll also provide some great tips for anyone wanting to change their relationship with alcohol.

This is a lighter way to introduce alcohol awareness to staff. Plenty of time is allowed for questions and discussion.

Alcohol plays a role in many of our lives. We use it for celebration, for comfort, to socialise, to wind down and sometimes just to cope. We treat it differently to other drugs; it’s legal, socially acceptable, even encouraged.

Most adults in the UK drink alcohol, and around 1 in 5 of us say that we regularly drink above the low-risk guidelines of no more than 14 units per week. It’s been described as ‘the UK’s favourite coping mechanism’, and many of us drink to try and help manage stress, anxiety, depression or other mental health problems. But there’s a downside.

Can alcohol affect mental health?

This is sometimes called ‘self-medicating’ with alcohol. Unfortunately, although alcohol can help us feel relaxed initially and give us a brief feeling of euphoria, the effects are short-lived and the long-term negative consequences of drinking a lot over a long period of time can be quite harmful:

• Overuse of alcohol can contribute to the worsening of symptoms of many mental health problems. In particular, it can lead to low mood and anxiety.
• Post-drinking hangovers can be particularly difficult, with the usual headache and nausea being accompanied by feelings of depression and/or anxiety.

If you come to rely on alcohol to manage your mental health problems, that reliance can itself become a problem. You may well find that your drinking starts to get in the way of other activities and puts a strain on your relationships – both things that can undermine your mental wellbeing. Managing your drinking and getting the right support are crucial to good mental health.

This webinar looks at how drinking might be negatively impacting on our mental health and what we can do about it. Using her experience from over 20 years of working with clients who drink, Lauren will share information and ideas on how to reduce risk and still enjoy a drink. Exploring some of the myths around alcohol and using real life examples, this workshop will give you the tools you need to make sure that drinking isn’t undermining your wellbeing.

Your facilitator will cover:

• Why we drink and how we drink.
• How alcohol impacts on your mental health.
• Headaches, hangovers and anxiety.
• Drinking and relationships.
• Making and maintaining changes.

It comes as a shock to many to learn that a third of employees admit to having been to work with a hangover, and 15% have been drunk at work.

The pandemic, working from home and lockdowns have had a further negative impact on our relationship with alcohol. This can impact the workplace - in fact a quarter of drinkers increased their alcohol intake because of lockdown resulting in a doubling of ‘high risk’ drinkers since February 2020.

In this workshop we look at why people drink and how easy it is to drink too much, and how one of the most common reasons for drinking too much is doing so without really thinking about it: Accepting a glass of wine because everyone else is having one, or pouring yourself a drink at home every night, purely out of habit. Drinking without thinking.

This workshop is for those who want to learn more about alcohol and re-evaluate their relationship with alcohol. Susan Laurie uses her own lived experience not only to highlight how easy it is to drink more than is good for us, but also to help employees understand:

• Safe limits.
• Why people might drink more than is good for them.
• How the pandemic and working from home has impacted on drinking habits.
• How easy it is for drinking more to creep up on us (tolerance and mental health).
• The negative impact that drinking has on our physical and mental health.
• How we can develop a healthy relationship with alcohol by being more mindful.

The workshop has a very positive and empowering message and is in no way ‘anti-alcohol’. We look at the very real benefits of cutting down and how, through mindful drinking’, we can achieve a much healthier relationship with alcohol and enjoy it without it becoming a problem.

Working from home is now a way of life for many which presents employers with new challenges regarding alcohol use. Alarmingly, in a recent survey of people who are working from home, 90% admitted to drinking at some point during working hours and, whilst most workplaces will have a robust alcohol and substance misuse policy this can be difficult to enforce when people are working from home.

Alcohol Change UK’s ‘Working from Home, Alcohol and You’ session equips staff with the information they need to be mindful of their drinking and not allow their alcohol intake to interfere with their wellbeing and productivity.

Susan Laurie uses her own lived experience to highlight how easy it is to drink more than is good for us, but also to help employees understand –

• Safe limits and recommended guidelines.
• Why people might be drinking more.
• How working from home makes it easier to drink more than we should.
• The negative impact that drinking too much has on both our physical and mental health.
• How occasional drinkers impact on the organisation – the hidden cost of hangovers.
• Spotting the signs and symptoms of alcohol harm at work – what to look out for.
• How we can enjoy a healthy relationship with alcohol by being more mindful.

It comes as a shock to many to learn that a third of employees admit to having been to work with a hangover, and 15% have been drunk at work.

Not only does this lead to reduced productivity, tiredness and mistakes, but up to 17 million working days are lost each year because of alcohol-related sickness at an estimated cost of £1.7 billion a year. The pandemic, working from home and lockdowns have had a further negative impact on our relationship with alcohol which can impact the workplace.

In this webinar we will look at why people drink, and how this affects their physical and mental health and their work. We also discuss the benefits of simply cutting down and explore how employers can play a key role in encouraging staff to develop a healthier relationship with alcohol.

We'll also cover how investing in education, training and resources and promoting a shift in the workplace culture around alcohol, will not only benefit the workforce, but can also deliver a positive return on investment.

Menopause is also a key workplace health topic, relevant to all employees and a natural process that all women will experience. Consuming more than two drinks a day and taking HRT can double the risk of breast cancer in women over 50 and menopause is a particular risk factor for increased drinking.

This webinar will help you to understand the impact of alcohol on menopause symptoms and the associated risks (and benefits) and to explore ways in which women in mid-life can moderate their drinking.

Your facilitator, Lauren Booker will cover:

• Why does alcohol affect us differently as we reach menopause?
• How does it impact on our brains and bodies?
• How does drinking affect men as they age?
• Alcohol and breast cancer risk.
• Can you mix alcohol and HRT?
• Changing your drinking during menopause.

1 in 3 adults are affected by a loved one’s drinking and it can impact on their wellbeing, finances and job performance. But what can a loved one do to tackle alcohol harm in someone they care about?

This webinar is an essential resource to support employees affected by a loved one’s drinking. It is aimed at anyone who may be affected by another’s drinking plus HR teams and wellbeing champions.

Your facilitator, Lauren Booker will cover:

• What does a drinking problem look like?
• How do I start a conversation about someone’s drinking?
• What if they don’t want to change or don’t see the problem?
• How can I help?
• What other help is available?
• What are: liver function tests, detox and medications?
• Supporting yourself while you’re helping them.
• Your role in their recovery.

There are over 40,000 drink-drive convictions each year in the UK.

Statistics show that around one in five of us increased our alcohol consumption during lockdown. So as the UK returns to workplaces, it’s important that drivers are aware of their consumption, how long last night’s alcohol is going to affect them for, and how to ensure they’re alcohol free when they set out in a vehicle.

This webinar increases risk awareness around drink driving. It educates drivers to be able to calculate their breath alcohol levels, and ensure that they are alcohol-free when driving.

Who should attend? Anyone who drives a company vehicle: managers, reps, delivery drivers, engineers etc.

Your facilitator will cover:

• Understanding units and limits.
• Working out when you’re safe to drive.
• Drink driving risks.
• The drink drive laws - prosecution and penalties.
• Resources for assessing your own drinking.

There are measurable benefits for employers too:

• Reductions in uninsured losses and damage to vehicles.
• Enhanced safety reputation.
• Reduced risk of collisions, prosecutions etc.
• Provision of important health and safety information to employees.

Whilst most adults in the UK drink alcohol, and around 1 in 5 of us say that we regularly drink above the low-risk guidelines of no more than 14 units per week, it comes as a shock to many to learn that a third of employees admit to having been to work with a hangover, and 15% have been drunk at work.

The pandemic, working from home and lockdowns have had a further negative impact on our relationship with alcohol which, can impact the workplace - in fact a quarter of drinkers increased their alcohol intake because of lockdown resulting in a doubling of ‘high risk’ drinkers since February 2020.

In this workshop Susan Laurie uses her own experience of alcohol dependence to help people enjoy alcohol safely. She covers everything from how alcohol can get a grip on us, to helping those we care about who may be drinking too much.

This is an essential, non-judgemental exploration of our relationship with alcohol and the reality of the progression of alcohol dependence.

This workshop is for those who want to learn more about alcohol and re-evaluate their relationship with alcohol. Susan Laurie uses her own lived experience not only to highlight how easy it is to drink more than is good for us, but also to deliver the learning outcomes below.

The workshop has a very positive and empowering message and is in no way ‘anti-alcohol’. We look at the very real benefits of cutting down and how, through mindful drinking’, we can achieve a much healthier relationship with alcohol and enjoy it without it becoming a problem.

Susan also uses her unique insight as someone who has experienced alcohol dependence to provide essential advice for those concerned about someone they care about, including spotting the signs of problem drinking and how to have difficult conversations.

Attendees will gain an understanding of:

• Safe limits
• Why people might drink more than is good for them
• How the pandemic has impacted on drinking habits
• How easy it is for drinking to creep up on us (tolerance and mental health)
• The negative impact that drinking has on our physical and mental health
• The reality of the progression of alcohol dependence
• How we can develop a healthy relationship with alcohol by being more mindful
• Spotting the signs of alcohol misuse
• Having difficult conversations / helping people who may have an unhealthy relationship with alcohol

The relatively new term “grey-area drinking” describes people who consume more than a moderate amount of alcohol but don’t meet the criteria for dependence. They are likely to be preoccupied with alcohol and have difficulty giving up. Many of these people don’t view themselves as in need of help.

David Wilson is a Grey Area Drinking coach and has helped thousands of people from all over the world to address their relationship with alcohol.

In this workshop he will help you to identify the signs of grey area drinking, and he will offer you solutions to help you if you feel like this represents your current pattern of drinking.