Rewired Sober

For decades, addiction has been widely defined as a chronic, relapsing brain disease — a framework adopted by the medical system, treatment centers, and many recovery programs, including Alcoholics Anonymous . In this episode, Kate explores why that definition — while historically important — often falls short, especially for women who don’t experience their relationship with alcohol as a lifelong...

What actually happens when two women, two coaches, and two very different styles sit down to talk about Dry January, habit change, and why New Year’s resolutions so often fall apart ? In this episode, I’m joined by Casey Davidson , host of the Hello Someday Podcast —one of today’s top mental health podcasts—and a nationally recognized voice in the sober-curious space who’s been featured across maj...

The Devil We Know: Why Sobriety Feels Uncomfortable Before It Feels Free In this episode of Rewired Sober , Kate explores one of the most misunderstood parts of sobriety: liminal spaces — the in-between seasons where the old way no longer fits, but the new way hasn’t fully formed yet. These are the moments when you know you made the right choice… but your nervous system still craves the relief of...

In this episode of Rewired Sober™ , we’re going straight for the jugular: pop culture, body image, drunkorexia, and the weaponized shame that’s kept women small, hungry, distracted, and drinking for decades. I break down how Sophie Gilbert’s Girl on Girl exposes the pressure cooker women have lived in for the last 20 years — the beauty standards, the public scrutiny, the Kardashian-era body illusi...

In this unfiltered, real-as-hell episode, Kate sits down —makeup-free and bra-free, with her messy podcast editing skills — to talk about something she sees in nearly every woman she coaches: The Overachiever Wound. If you grew up being compared, dismissed, or made to feel less-than… your nervous system learned that safety comes from performance. So you overachieved, excelled, got the degrees, the...

In today's episode, Kate goes deep into why women’s drinking has never been a personal failure and why sobriety is, at its core, a feminist act. Drawing from neuroscience, history, spirituality, and lived experience, she unpacks how women were conditioned to numb themselves instead of trust themselves and why quitting alcohol often becomes the first moment a woman stops being manageable and starts...

In today's episode, Kate sits down with Amy Liz Harrison, a sobriety and recovery mentor who spent years feeling disconnected, overwhelmed, and stuck in patterns that kept her exhausted. Amy shares how she slowly lost herself inside motherhood, marriage, people pleasing, and perfectionism, and how alcohol became the nightly escape valve she used to cope with stress she didn’t know how to name. Amy...

In today's episode, Kate pulls apart one of the biggest topics showing up in women’s recovery circles right now: ADHD in women, late diagnoses, masking, and why so many sober women suddenly “realize” they weren’t anxious or lazy. They were neurodivergent. Kate breaks it all down with her signature mix of neuroscience, honesty, and unapologetic feminist fire. She dives into: Why ADHD in women has e...

Why do so many sober women still struggle with people pleasing and codependency, even after years of recovery? In this powerful episode, Kate sits down with Dr. Sarah Michaud , clinical psychologist, author of Co-Crazy , and more than four decades sober, for a brutally honest conversation about the invisible emotional patterns that quietly drive addiction. Together, they explore the fears, childho...

What happens when your public self looks polished and high-functioning, but your private life is quietly unraveling? In this vulnerable and insight-packed guest episode, Kate sits down with Jennifer Mathieu , award-winning author of Moxie and The Faculty Lounge , longtime educator, and sober mom. Jennifer opens up about her ten-year spiral into “problematic drinking,” how alcohol became her nightl...

In this powerful Veterans Day episode, Kate sits down with her husband, Phillip , a 20-year Army veteran and nearly four years sober, for an unfiltered conversation about PTSD, moral injury, institutional betrayal, and healing through recovery . Together, they unpack what really happens inside the brain and body after trauma, how hypervigilance, anxiety, and moral conflict can take root long after...

Ever find yourself sober and wondering, is this it? In this refreshingly honest solo episode, Kate dives into one of recovery’s least talked about stages: boredom . Through personal stories, neuroscience, and real talk, she explores why life can feel flat in early sobriety and how that “blah” feeling isn’t failure—it’s your brain and nervous system recalibrating after years of artificial stimulati...

What happens when a word that once saved you stops fitting? In this raw and deeply personal solo episode, Kate opens up about one of the most controversial topics in recovery: why she no longer calls herself an alcoholic. After years in 12-step rooms and studying addiction as a psychiatric nurse, she’s unpacked what this label means medically, psychologically, and spiritually, and why it no longer...

Can being too high-functioning actually keep you stuck in your drinking? In this episode, Kate sits down with Rachel Mack Martin, author of Functional: A High Performer’s Guide to Freedom from Alcohol , to talk about what it really means to look like you “have it all together” while quietly struggling with alcohol. Rachel, a director in financial services with an MBA and a life that appeared pictu...

What happens when one person in the family gets sober? The whole system shifts. In this solo episode, Kate unpacks what really goes down when you walk into family gatherings clear-headed for the first time. From side-eyes at the dinner table to Aunt Linda clutching her Riesling like an emotional support animal, Kate blends humor, compassion, and psychology to help you understand why your family re...

What if getting sober didn’t just change your habits, but changed the entire life you thought you wanted? In this episode, Kate sits down with Kathryn Sabella, a divorced mom of two, recovery leader, and co-facilitator of The Sober Mom Collective . Kathryn shares how removing alcohol brought not only clarity but the courage to face the truth about her marriage and herself. Together, they unpack wh...

What if sobriety wasn’t about recovery, but about reclaiming your whole self? From fashion blogger to sobriety advocate, Suzanne Warye is challenging mommy wine culture, dismantling the myth of moderation, and showing women that sobriety is not deprivation but transformation. In this conversation, she and Kate dive into motherhood, identity, personal style, and what it really means to create The S...

In this episode, Kate sits down with Melissa McGovern, better known as The Sober New Yorker . After decades of drinking, woven into everything from Wisconsin’s drinking culture to New York’s nightlife, Melissa hit a turning point when her best friend died from alcohol-related illness. A devastating loss, paired with a harsh wake-up call from her doctor, pushed her to stop negotiating with moderati...

What if one promise to your child completely rewired your life? In this episode, Kate sits down with Kim Bellas, founder of Sober Is the New Cool and the White Heart Initiative , to explore how motherhood, resilience, and a little white heart turned into a global recovery movement. Inspired by her son’s epilepsy diagnosis, Kim ditched alcohol “for three months”, and never went back. Now 12 years s...

In this episode, Kate sits down with Jessica Guerrieri , author of Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea —a novel that has taken sober and sober-curious communities by storm. Jessica blends raw honesty, lived addiction, and the messy truths of motherhood into a work of “book club fiction” that’s reaching women where memoirs sometimes can’t. With over 12 years of sobriety, Jessica opens up about...

In this episode of Rewired Sober , I continue breaking down Kate’s 8 —the eight core practices that help us rewire our brains in recovery. Last time, we covered the first four, and today I walk you through the final four practices that create lasting change. Sobriety isn’t just about not drinking; it’s about building a new identity, new thought patterns, and a life that feels like your own. In thi...

Sobriety isn’t just about putting down the drink; it’s about retraining the thoughts, loops, and behaviors that kept us stuck in the first place. In this solo episode of Rewired Sober , I’m walking you through the first four practices in what I call Kate’s 8 —the eight core ways we actually rewire our brains in recovery. Thanks to the science of neuroplasticity, we know that real change is possibl...

In this episode of Rewired Sober , I sit down with Michelle Folan, certified health and nutrition coach and host of the globally ranked podcast Asking for a Friend . Known for her no-BS, sassy approach to midlife wellness, Michelle helps women over 50 lose fat, build strength, and reclaim their vitality using evidence-based fitness, nutrition, and lifestyle strategies. Michelle shares her personal...

Why do we procrastinate so much in recovery? In this episode, I unpack the six key reasons why procrastination shows up during sobriety and how we can gently work through it: Six Reasons We Procrastinate in Recovery: 1) Low Dopamine Tolerance Our brains are used to quick dopamine hits from alcohol. Without that, even basic tasks feel boring and unrewarding. I share ways to build motivati...

In this episode, I sit down with Andrea Kaplan, founder of Rewriting Sober , midlife mom of two, writer, and walking proof that it’s never “too late” to rewrite your story. At 48, Andrea hit one year sober, not from a dramatic rock bottom—but from the quiet, heavy hell of anxiety, shame, and soul-numbing routine. We unpack the real transformation: moving from people-pleasing and control to clarity...