Hi, DejaVu.
The goal isn't to ignore it. Quite the opposite—for me the whole point was to be aware of it, to analyze it and observe it. To separate myself from the desire—after all, I'd decided I didn't want to drink anymore—and then consciously disregard it.
The AV has no more power than a dog barking in a neighbor's yard. Now I hardly hear it at all, but it takes time. There's a lot more to this than just calling the desire to drink "AV". Your husband can absolutely beat this, but he'll need to invest some time and energy in it—a great start would be reading Rational Recovery The New Cure, and checking out the multipart AVRT discussion threads here on SR.
Glad you stopped in. You have every reason to be optimistic.
