From the moment I turned 21, every interaction with friends, family, and co-workers seemed to involve alcohol. Celebrating a birthday? Shots! Going out to dinner? Let’s order a bottle of wine. A girls’ night out would turn into a disaster because we’d all have too much to drink. Some girls – myself included – ended up crying or making terrible decisions, and would wake up the next day with hangxiety and shame.
I don’t judge anyone who chooses to spend their weekends like this, but four years ago, I came to the decision that I needed a change. I got sober, and I now support others who are looking to cut out (or cut back on) alcohol. Monument wasn’t around when I started my journey to sobriety (I wish it was!), but with what I’ve learned on my journey, it’s a resource I wholeheartedly recommend today. Here’s why:
You’re Not Alone
Monument provides virtual support for anyone who wants to change their relationship with alcohol, including an encouraging community of people who get what you’re going through.
No, that doesn’t mean they will push an alcohol-free lifestyle on you. If you want to moderate your drinking, you can join as well. When you first sign up, you will take a quick assessment that asks you everything from how often you drink and if you’ve tried to stop before to how it’s affecting your daily life and what your behavior is like after you drink.
Once filled out, they will tell you whether you are showing signs of alcohol use disorder and where you rank between mild, moderate, and severe. For more severe alcohol use disorder, they may recommend physician care and one-on-ones with a cognitive behavioral therapist to help you reach your goals. Monument also offers free support groups on a wide range of topics.
You Have Options
Monument’s support options include methods that are considered ‘the gold standard’ by clinicians and researchers specialized in substance use. Monument offers a menu of tools, including cognitive behavioral therapy, medication-assisted treatment, and peer support. Plus, the doctors and therapists on their platform are specifically trained in helping people stop drinking. While I didn’t use medication to get sober, I’m really glad it’s more widely accessible now. Alcohol can rewire your brain and make it really hard to stop drinking with willpower alone, and medication to curb cravings can be incredibly helpful in breaking the habit, especially early on. Your physician at Monument can tell you more about medication and can write a prescription if you both agree it’s a good fit for you.
Judgment-Free Support
Monument’s multi-pronged support system will set you up for success in reducing the role alcohol plays in your life. You won’t ever feel judged by your licensed physician or your therapist as they help you build healthier habits. They understand that the road to sobriety or moderation is not always easy and that setbacks are a natural part of the journey. They are there to help you get back on track if you have a drink or multiple, and never make you feel like a failure.
Having someone to talk to, whether in weekly therapy sessions, appointments with a physician, or with 24/7 community support, would have meant the world to me while I was navigating the earlier days of sobriety.
Communities for Everyone
With Monument, there’s a support group for everyone. Whether you’re seeking a group for the BIPOC or the LGBTQIA+ community, or want one focused on specific challenges like anxiety or grief, they are accessible to you at many different times throughout the week. Trust me, you’re going to find this particularly helpful for those long nights when you might feel excluded because you didn’t want to drink with your co-workers or friends.
When you feel the urge to get off track, you can drop into a group and get support. And yes, some support groups are moderated by therapists, while others are members only.
Picking Your Plan
But let’s be honest, there’s one thing you’re still wondering: how much do I have to pay? Well, let’s start off by saying that Monument’s community is totally free, which includes those amazing support groups I just mentioned. For one-on-one care, Monument accepts health insurance because they want to make it accessible for everyone! Without insurance, the costs depend on the type of care they recommend and what plan you choose.
For $9.99/month (plus a $45 appointment fee) you can meet up with your physician who can also prescribe you any medication. If you choose to also have therapy sessions every other week, you will then pay $149/month. And if you’d rather do these sessions every week, it would be $249/month. That’s still a comparable price to a specialized co-pay and a small fraction of the cost of rehab. Plus, when you’re spending $200 on alcohol per week like I was, a platform like Monument pays for itself.
So whether you want to completely cut off alcohol or are simply looking to limit your intake, Monument is there to help. I can’t recommend it enough for those who want to change their relationship with drinking.
