Hi freethinking,
Others may have talked about that concept here, and I know I did. I refer to it as "The Cold Duck Method" of quitting drinking. Tongue in cheek of course.
Mind you, I did not have AVRT in mind when I did this, over 20 years ago, when I had never heard of AVRT, and this was "my" method without a name.
The reasons I kept the cold duck in the fridge changed over time.
I did not buy the bottle with the intent NOT to drink it. I had bought the bottle one day, fully intending to drink it later on. I had been mulling over quitting drinking (again) for a long time, and one afternoon, bottle in fridge, I decided to quit. I knew the bottle was in the fridge, and it made me feel "safe" knowing it was there. I felt "safe" knowing it was there in an "emergency", just in case I panicked and changed my mind about drinking.
After the first day, I felt empowered, just a little. I decided to see if I could do it again. Instead of drinking, I ate, I did other stuff. I left the bottle alone.
After a few more days, I realized what I was doing. I was DESENSITIZING. The bottle didn't bother me at all, I continued to feel "safe" for a long time, because I had made no announcements (except to myself), I could change my mind at any time of the night or day, and the bottle would "be there for me". (Of course, anyone doing AVRT is free to change their mind at any time, with or without a bottle around. That, to me, is part of the power behind the AVRT approach.)
So, over time, the bottle first was my "safety net" in case I changed my mind, then later it was just a desensitization tool, after I knew I was not going to be drinking again any under circumstances.
Surrenderordie -- you see, the bottle did not have the power to make me throw it away, did it? Your suggestion I should have thrown it away because it had no power over me is just the opposite of how I looked at it. I disempowered the bottle by leaving it there, demonstrating to myself whether it had power or not. Do you see?
I don't think that is quite the essence of shifting, because that (shifting) seems more intentional to me. And I think having the bottle there or not would not have deterred me from drinking for long if I really wanted to drink. There was no "white knuckling" going on really, although at times I really needed to DO something else or I would have drunk the cold duck.
So. Eventually, the cold duck in the fridge lost its reason to be there, and I guess my husband must have given it away (I can't imagine him throwing out "perfectly good" alcohol, since he was a drinker until just a little after I quit).