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Writer's pictureMissy Fogarty, LCAT

Listen to a tune and put the booze down.

Updated: Oct 13

Have you been wondering lately if you’ve been drinking too much? And by lately I mean, during the Covid-19 pandemic. Because before, you may have been telling yourself, I only have a couple of drinks a night, and now that you’re bored off your ass and have nothing else to do, you’re up to a few more drinks a night, and happy hour comes around a little bit earlier each day as this thing drags on. But there’s nothing happy about it anymore, although you’ve known that for a while. It’s just worse, and now you’re wondering: maybe I do have a drinking problem. Or at least right now, drinking is the only way you know how to cope, to feel better. Except it’s not really helping.


If you’re looking to explore your drinking and need support to help you reduce or stop, working with a music therapist can help. Research on music therapy over the past several decades has shown that music therapy treatment for substance and alcohol abuse can also increase motivation and engagement. Why not make staying motivated a bit easier? Of the many ways one can work with music in addiction treatment is listening to music.

In this blog post, I want to focus listening to music.

One Way Music Therapy Helps With Problem Drinking

woman with headphones
Music therapy treats drinking problems

Listening to songs together can be an effective way to explore issues, develop insight, and deal with emotions without resorting to drinking. Music listening can also access emotions in a non-threatening way, with the therapist there to provide comfort and understanding if the emotions are difficult to deal with. Some of the most healing experiences I’ve witnessed as a therapist have come from catharsis after listening to music.

But I want to be happy – I’m not interested in a serious cry, you say!

Alright. If that seems like too much for now, a lot of joy can be had with music listening, and having that experience - without drinking – can be quite a surprise, especially if listening to music might seem risky, because you like to listen to music while you’re drinking, or when your drunk. That risk is real. Work with a therapist can help you work through that risk. You can reclaim your love of music and work towards getting sober, too. Finding the right music choices can also be motivating! And right now, since therapy needs to be held remotely, adding music listening to the mix is easy to do using teletherapy. All you need is some interest in some honest exploring of what might have gotten or what is getting out of hand – your drinking; not wanting to look at this stuff alone, and a chance to share some music together. Whatever your jam is, is cool with me. I’m here to help you.

Music Therapy Can Help!


There’s a lot of suffering going on right now, and I get that alcohol helps a lot of people to cope. But if you think you’ve stepped over the line, there’s no need to suffer alone. If you are looking for a therapist to help you with your drinking, I can help, with music listening and a reassuring ear, for the music and for whatever’s on your mind.




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