I appreciate all of the posts. I have now been a week without any alcohol, and my Addiction is SCREAMING BLOODY MURDER. I have read 2 of the AVRT books, and I have a good 'head knowledge' of the concepts and most of the tools and techniques.
I am always under horrendous stress at work, and many times I get caught in the crossfire of extremely urgent and difficult circumstances. Most of my drinking is done 'to deal with the extreme stress'. I know now that is AV or Beast Talk, however, as I continue through the day, every minute of the day I am overwhelmed with the actual stress I am under, so that is not just the Beast falsely creating the circumstances, but I know it IS the Beast in me SCREAMING BLOODY MURDER for the drink.
Thanks everyone for this Forum and your posts.