“When I first started working with Victoria I was in bits - I was barely functioning, my friends didn’t have the knowledge or skills to help and I was making myself ill with guilt and worry, and was obsessively trying to get information and guidance online. My daughter had just gone into rehab after years of binge drinking - we had no idea that it had got that bad and the fact that she had ended up in rehab was a huge, huge shock. It was like suddenly we were in a different world, we had no idea how we got there and had absolutely no knowledge of how we were going to navigate it. My husband got a lot of comfort from going to Al-Anon but I didn’t and hated the hands off approach. I knew from my first free chat with Victoria that we were going to get on and that she could help. Her first piece of advice was to stop researching and Googling! That was the first of many valuable instructions! She held my hand throughout and dealt calmly and kindly with each of my issues and worries. I went from feeling guilty that it was all my fault to accepting that it wasn’t and I’d done my best as a parent. I went from feeling that everything was completely out of my control to having the knowledge that actually there were many things I could do to help my daughter stay sober and in the event of a relapse help her get back on track. I learnt so much and with that knowledge everything became a lot less scary. After my daughter came out of rehab - communication was tricky to say the least. She had put up boundaries and her attitude was a tough ‘this is my problem and you don’t really understand’. Working with Victoria completely reversed this - I now know how to communicate without conflict. What is more incredible is that, because I learnt how to do this, my daughter’s attitude has changed and she no longer is so defensive. This means that I can be there when she needs me and I’m not treading on eggshells around the issue. Because I dealt with my anxiety with Victoria it meant that I wasn’t heaping my anxiety onto my daughter, which wasn’t ever going to help the situation. My daughter has been sober now for six months and is doing really well. However, should this change I know I won’t be back in the same place that I was eight months ago. I know how to deal with any lapses or relapses - I know how to make being sober more attractive than being drunk - I know what enabling is and how not to do it. I learnt (and came to believe!) that it wasn’t my fault as a parent. Most importantly I learned how to get my life back - from spending all my waking hours (including lots in the middle of the night) fixated on my loved one’s drinking or not drinking to seeing friends again, going back to my voluntary work, to enjoying the things I used to enjoy. ‘Thank you Victoria’ doesn’t even cover it - I am so grateful for everything you have taught me and all the support you gave me. X.”