BEYOND SURVIVING LIFE WITH AN ALCOHOLIC Part 2 – Voice

Reclaiming Your Voice – Rebuilding Confidence in Decision-Making

After years of living in a gaslit, emotionally unstable environment, many people find that such experiences severely undermine their ability to make decisions and trust themselves. Others may have silenced your voice, questioned or overridden your choices, and chipped away at your self-confidence until it feels like a distant memory.

But here’s the truth: your voice still exists. You haven’t lost it. People may have suppressed it, but it’s been waiting for you to give it permission to re-emerge.

Why Decision-Making Feels So Hard

When you’ve been criticised, doubted, or punished for your choices, you internalise a dangerous belief: I can’t trust myself. This belief leads to:

• Overthinking every choice
• Fear of making the wrong decision
• Paralysis in the face of options
• Looking to others for validation or approval

You may even avoid decisions entirely, out of fear that they’ll lead to conflict, judgment, or shame.

How to Reclaim Your Voice

1. Start With Low-Stakes Decisions
   Practice choosing simple things: what to wear, eat, read, or listen to. These aren’t trivial—they’re micro-rehearsals for agency.
2. Speak Up in Safe Spaces
   In our Rebuild Your Life community, practice sharing your views, needs, and preferences. You can recalibrate by being in a supportive space where you are seen and heard
3. Use a Reflective Process
   Before asking for advice, ask yourself: What do I really want here? This primes your inner voice to speak first, rather than being overridden.
4. Make Peace With Mistakes
   You’re allowed to make choices that don’t work out. This is how confidence is built—by learning you can handle the outcomes.
5. Celebrate Every Act of Self-Expression
   Whenever you state an opinion, express a preference, or decide and honour it. Say, “That was me using my voice.”

What Can Hinder This Process?

• If you remain in environments where your voice is still dismissed or punished
• Deep-seated fear of judgment or rejection
• Perfectionism or the belief that “wrong” choices are dangerous
• Conditioning from childhood or past abuse

Your voice is your compass. When you trust it, you walk your path, not someone else’s. As you rebuild this connection to yourself, you’ll find that clarity comes more easily, confidence grows naturally and decisions become acts of self-trust rather than anxiety.

In our next post, we’ll look at creating boundaries that protect your new voice and identity.

Closing Thought

It’s time for your new chapter—where you’re in charge, living fully, and embracing your future with optimism and strength. Let’s begin this journey together.

Welcome to Beyond Surviving Life With An Alcoholic.

Read the entire series;

1.BEYOND SURVIVING LIFE WITH AN ALCOHOLIC PARTNER – Part 1

2.BEYOND SURVIVING LIFE WITH AN ALCOHOLIC PARTNER – Part 2

3.BEYOND SURVIVING LIFE WITH AN ALCOHOLIC PARTNER – Part 3

4.BEYOND SURVIVING LIFE WITH AN ALCOHOLIC PARTNER – Part 4

5.BEYOND SURVIVING LIFE WITH AN ALCOHOLIC PARTNER – Part 5