Who we are
The Isle of Man Alcohol Advisory Service is a non-profit making registered charity and has been serving the Manx community since 1979. During this time the service has offered high quality, free, accessible, confidential counselling advice and support for problem drinkers and their families and significant others.
Our aims and objectives
Our promise and commitment to you is to ensure a continuing high quality free service, using well trained and experienced staff. Confidentiality is guaranteed, we understand that in a small community there is a lot of stigma and embarrassment therefore you will not be asked your surname or where you live. We offer accessibility to our service with an appointment offered within 48 Hours. We also offer email contact if you prefer and a new mobile texting service.
Help for problem drinking
You don’t have to be dependent on alcohol to have an alcohol problem and episodes of binge drinking can be equally as damaging and cause problems in your life. If your drinking is causing you to have either social, psychological or physical problems, then maybe you might like to get in touch with us to see if we can help. Our confidential counselling and support service will help you understand how alcohol is impacting on your life and think about, plan and carry out any changes you might need to make. You can attend on your own or be supported by a friend or family member. If you are not able to attend our premises due to mobility problems a home visit or more convenient venue can be arranged.
Help for the family
Living with, or caring about a person who drinks too much can feel like a rollercoaster with many ups and downs. It can very distressing for family members who, try as they might to get the drinker to stop drinking, find they're unable to. The person you are concerned about may welcome help if offered, but if it is refused you can still seek support for yourself in your own right. We can talk your concerns through with you in a safe confidential environment
AAS 12-21
Is our new dedicated service for young people (funded by Comic Relief).Young people on the IOM have some of highest levels of problems through alcohol use in Europe. (ESPAD) It is also estimated that up to 1800 young people on the IOM (under 19’s) live with parental substance misuse. AAS 12-21 employs a dedicated outreach worker who offers support to young people who have alcohol issues of their own or live with parental problem drinking. Since launch in September 2007 over 350 young people have been referred to this service.
Our counselling service
Here at the Alcohol Advisory Service, we use a client or 'person-centered' approach to counselling (whereby the client is the centre of the process), but also with a heavy emphasis on Motivational Interviewing Skills (essential to promoting change.)
The service's premises are well hidden and there are no outward signs as to who we are. Inside, there is no waiting room or reception - clients are met and brought straight in to a counselling room - thereby maintaining confidentiality. We also try to keep the environment quiet, relaxed and informal.
Usually we see clients once a week for about an hour each time (although this is changeable as to the individual's needs - and can be less or more accordingly). We will always try to accommodate appointment times and dates as best we can.
Education, training and research
The service also has a constitutional directive to conduct community education, training and research on alcohol and its associated issues. We conduct sessions on alcohol awareness in the Schools, IOM College, IOM prison and many other settings. Our training programmes on alcohol cover a vast range of subjects from fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, impact of parental drinking on children and young people, alcohol and the elderly, alcohol and the workplace and so on. We also conducted the fieldwork for GENACIS research project which provided the first study if its kind into adult drinking patterns on the IOM. See our website for findings of this study.
How you can help us
We receive limited funding from the DHSS to provide free and confidential counselling and support services for problem drinkers and their families. In recent years funding has frozen in spite of an increased demand and the service has lost staffing hours.
Many of our services, such as AAS 12-21, are provided through our dedicated charitable fund-raising initiatives and non–government grants. AAS 12-21 funding will run out in 2009/10 and the campaign has begun to get government take over the funding responsibility for this service. Competing with many other worthy causes in our Island community, fund-raising is increasingly challenging for alcohol services.
If you would like to help us with fund-raising, corporate sponsorship or with a donation, we would love to hear from you.