It's Not About the Alcohol

Colleen gets really personal in this episode. She shares the hard winter that (at one point) sent her back to nightly drinking, financial stress, the loss of her dog, feeling stuck in a house that no longer feels like home, and walks through exactly how she got out.  In this episode: Why going back to an old drinking pattern is not evidence you failed. It's data. The rat study that proves hope cre...

In this episode, Colleen pulls on a thread most women don't question: that moment where you're a drink or two in and thinking, "I'm not even feeling this." And instead of solving for it… she slows it down. Colleen walks through how easy it is to miss the actual experience of drinking when you're in your head, distracted, or slightly disconnected from your body—and how quickly that turns into pouri...

You made the promise this morning,"I'm not going to drink tonight." You meant it. Then the day happened. And by 6pm, the drink was in your hand like that was the plan all along. This isn't a willpower problem. It's a capacity problem. And once you understand what's actually happening in your nervous system between 6am and 6pm, this stops feeling like a weakness or a character flaw. In this episode...

In this episode, Colleen names something most women have never been taught to do: have a relationship with themselves. Not self-improvement. Not fixing. Not managing behavior. Actual relationship. Because when you don't know who you are, what you want, or how to meet your own needs, alcohol steps in and fills that space. Colleen walks through why so many women reach midlife feeling disconnected, u...

What if the habit you're most proud of — your drive, your work ethic, your ability to get things done — is quietly running on the same fuel as the habit you're trying to change? In this episode, Colleen gets personal. She walks through the exact moment she diagnosed herself with workaholism — not because she objectively works too much, but because of WHY she's been working so much. And the reason...

In this episode, Colleen revisits the biochemistry of change through the lens of dopamine — not as a science lesson, but as a practical explanation for why so many women stay stuck in cycles they genuinely want to change. She breaks down the difference between motivation and overwhelm, and why most attempts to change drinking fail before they ever really begin: the goal is too big, the thinking is...

If you've ever reached for a glass of wine at the end of a hard day without really deciding to, this episode is going to explain exactly why that happens — and why it has nothing to do with willpower or self-control. Your brain isn't misbehaving. It's being efficient. Over hundreds of repetitions, it has learned that alcohol is the fastest available route to nervous system relief — and it has buil...

In this minisode, Colleen explores one of the most powerful lies we tell ourselves when we feel overwhelmed or stuck: "I don't have a choice." It sounds practical, even responsible. But the moment you believe it, your nervous system shifts into survival mode. You feel trapped, resentful, and powerless, and that's often when the drink starts looking like relief. Through a breakthrough coaching sess...

You've been told your drinking is the problem. That if you could just control the behavior — stay sober long enough, count your days, follow the rules — the shame would go away. But what if it's the other way around? In this episode, Colleen gets personal about her three years of sobriety and what she discovered underneath all that "perfect behavior" — a lifetime of shame that started long before...

In this episode, Colleen shares a coaching moment that started with a simple scheduling mistake and turned into a powerful lesson about belief systems. When a client didn't get her breakthrough session as planned, she chose to see the delay differently: not as something happening to her, but something happening for her. That mindset opened the door to a deeper coaching conversation about leadershi...

What do your drinking and your bank account have in common? More than you think. In this episode, I sit down with mindset coach and Mystic Millionaire Danielle Amos to explore the hidden connection between your money beliefs, your scarcity mindset, and why you reach for the wine at the end of the day. Danielle went from $100K in credit card debt to a million-dollar business — without a website — u...

For two years, "reduce your drinking by 80%" was my signature phrase. It's on my website, my ads, my podcast — everywhere. In this episode, I tell you why I retired it, what I replaced it with, and what this shift means for you — whether you're in my program or hearing my voice for the first time. This is a behind-the-scenes episode pulled from Coffee with Colleen, my daily internal podcast for cl...

Most women measure alcohol consumption by how much and how often they drink. But the research says the most important predictor of whether your drinking becomes a real problem isn't about the amount you drink — it's why you drink. In this episode, I tell the story of the exact day I became a daily drinker — and why I didn't even know it happened. I break down the neuroscience of why drinking to re...

✦ February Bonus ✦ Join The Next Chapter by February 28, 2026 and receive $2,000  off.   In this episode, Colleen reframes one of the biggest misunderstandings about drinking: it's not one behavior — it's a collection of hundreds of habits shaped by context, environment, relationships, and emotional states. Many women believe their drinking defines who they are because they identify with their wor...

You think your cravings are a willpower problem. They're not. You think if you could just think differently, you'd drink differently. And that's exactly why nothing has worked. In this episode, I'm breaking down why the urge to drink starts in your body — not your brain — and giving you three red flags that your drinking is actually a symptom of something most high-achieving women refuse to look a...

In this episode, Colleen continues sharing takeaways from her retreat with Dr. Amanda Hanson ( midlifemuse ) — and she names something that sits underneath so much of women's drinking, overgiving, perfectionism, and burnout: conditioning. Not just childhood conditioning — cultural conditioning. Colleen explains how patriarchy functions like an invisible rulebook: the expectations women follow with...

You told yourself this morning you weren't going to drink tonight. But now that it's time to make that decision, it feels impossible to say no. That moment is exactly what Colleen breaks down in this episode — because the path forward requires you to understand that this is not a lack of discipline and it's not a willpower problem. The relief you feel when you take that first sip has nothing to do...

Do you want to know what's different about the women who can genuinely take or leave alcohol? And why it feels impossible for you to be "more like them?" In this episode, I'm giving you a sneak peak of my new masterclass: The science behind take it or leave it--why some women can and how you can too. The masterclass isn't even on my website yet--you'll watch it right on YouTube.  Click Here to WAT...

I was one of the most therapized people you've ever met. I knew my triggers. I'd unpacked my daddy issues, my relationship with my mom, my insecurity, my eating disorders, problems in my marriage. I cognitively understood what triggered me and why I wanted to drink so much. And that did fuck-all to reduce my cravings. Which is how I know that awareness isn't enough. Understanding the pattern doesn...

In this episode, Colleen shares a raw, surprising takeaway from a recent retreat — one that had nothing to do with learning new concepts and everything to do with experiencing her body in a new way. What began as deep discomfort around words like sensuality and sexual energy opened into a realization many women quietly live with: when you've been taught to fear, suppress, or perform your body for...

I woke up a little hungover this morning. I had a third glass of wine I didn't need. And instead of spiraling into shame, I did what I always do now—I grabbed my journal and got curious. In this episode, I'm walking you through exactly what I do the morning after I drink too much. The four mindset tools that set me up to learn instead of spiral into shame. The journaling framework I use to extract...

In this episode, Colleen responds to a question many women hit right after real momentum begins: What if I slip back? What if the funk comes back and I lose everything I've built? Using a recent coaching call — and her own very real 5 a.m. spiral — she breaks down why the goal of emotional sobriety isn't avoiding hard days, negative thoughts, or uncomfortable emotions. It's learning how to recogni...

Why does the wine start calling at 5pm—even when you promised yourself this morning you wouldn't drink tonight? In this episode, Colleen breaks down exactly what's happening in your nervous system when willpower fails, why high achievers are stuck in chronic stress mode, and how the shame spiral is actually making you drink more. Plus, three body-based tools you can use tonight to complete your st...

In this episode, Colleen unpacks one of the most misunderstood truths in emotional sobriety: drinking isn't a character issue — it's a nervous system response to chronic stress, shame, and unmet needs. Drawing from The Myth of Normal by Gabor Maté, she explains why so many of us learned to survive in environments that never felt safe — and how culture, economics, and generational trauma quietly wi...

This is a follow-up to last week's episode about a client whose New Year's resolution to "drink less" was already failing two days in. I talked about how emotional overwhelm leads to a "functional freeze," and why this is more than a habit, it's a survival strategy.  On the coaching call, we uncovered exactly why she's needed a survival strategy. Like many women who experience a decrease in libido...