Alcohol was my comfort blanket. It killed the stress around my job. It quickly ended boredom. It numbed me to sadness, anxiety, and fear. It covered me from what was uncomfortable: the insecurities, situations, thoughts, and emotions that are just part of being a human.

Another way to understand all of this advice is to remember how we began this chapter, by appreciating that your infant/body’s earliest and still most basic need is to be held and protected from overstimulation. On that strong basis, you can go out and explore, feeling secure about that safe harbor of the good caretaker’s arms. If you think about i