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Health & Fitness

It’s Not About the Alcohol

Would you like to reduce your alcohol consumption by about 80 percent? Become the version of you who can just “take it or leave it” so that you can enjoy drinking socially without relying on alcohol to manage your stress, anxiety, loneliness and boredom when you’re by yourself?

Most high achieving women assume over-drinking is caused by a lack of willpower–or worse, the incurable disease of “alcoholism.” So they beat themselves up and avoid asking for help because they feel ashamed and out of control.

Whether you’re a daily drinker who can’t break the habit, or you’re still going to sobriety meetings even though you don’t drink anymore, the real problem is that you don’t trust yourself.

Which means it’s not about the alcohol. It’s about your relationship with yourself.

Colleen Freeland is a a mindful drinking coach helping professional women learn how drinking less (or not at all) is actually a superpower, even when the idea of giving up the only thing that helps them quiet their mind feels impossible.

The solution to alcohol use disorder is a FEELING. If you felt comfortable in your own skin and at ease in your life, you would drink like someone who is comfortable and at ease!

Join me each week for holistic, evidence-based strategies to fix your dopamine deficit, regulate your nervous system, cure imposter syndrome, manage sugar cravings, improve your sleep and reclaim your mental health so you no longer have the urge to escape your own body.

Get happy, not sober. Because happy people don’t drink themselves into a stupor.

Latest Episodes:

EP 227 Minisode: The Upper Limit Problem Jun 21, 2025

Show notes

Most women don't realize how uncomfortable they are with feeling good—until things start going too well. That's when the sabotage creeps in. A snappy comment. A skipped workout. An unnecessary glass of wine.

In today's episode, Colleen breaks down the concept of the "upper limit problem" from The Big Leap by Gay Hendricks—and explains how perfectionists and people-pleasers unknowingly block joy, ease, and success by clinging to struggle.

You'll learn how your emotional thermostat gets set in childhood, why guilt and discomfort with pleasure keep you stuck, and how to reset your internal baseline so peace and happiness stop feeling unsafe.

This episode is a powerful reminder that you don't have to earn your joy. You just have to stop arguing for your limitations.

🔑 Key Takeaways:

The "upper limit problem" is a self-imposed glass ceiling that blocks success, love, and creativity.
Most high-achieving women are used to pain—and don't know how to tolerate feeling good.
Guilt is often the signal that you're expanding beyond what feels "acceptable" to others.
You don't need permission to feel ease, rest, or joy. You just need a new intention.
Emotional sobriety means letting go of the need to suffer in order to deserve what you want.

✨ What if your next breakthrough wasn't about doing more… but feeling more?

If you're ready to stop drinking just to take the edge off your own growth, then Click here to BOOK A DISCOVERY CALL.

Do you want help from Colleen with a situation you're struggling with? Click here to submit your question for Colleen's NEW Q& A episodes. Your name will not be mentioned on air!

Find me on:

YouTube: @HangoverWhisperer

TikTok: @hangoverwhisperer

Instagram: @thehangoverwhisperer

X (Twitter) : @NotAboutTheAlc

EP226 Minisode: Becoming Unfuckwithable instead of resentful Jun 19, 2025

Show notes

In today's episode, Colleen shares a powerful one-on-one coaching conversation with a client who was dreading a weekend trip with her judgmental, high-maintenance mother-in-law. What started as a fear of overdrinking turned into something much deeper—a real-time lesson in emotional ownership, boundaries, and what it means to become unfuckwithable.

This episode isn't about family dynamics—it's about taking your power back. If you've ever agreed to something just to avoid conflict and ended up feeling resentful, this is for you.

You'll walk away with practical language, new scripts, and the mindset shift that will help you stop outsourcing your emotional well-being to other people's moods.

🔑 Key Takeaways:

Feeling trapped isn't a fact—it's a sign you haven't fully claimed your power of choice.
Boundaries are about what you will do, not about controlling others.
Being "unfuckwithable" doesn't mean you don't care—it means you stop performing to keep the peace.
You don't need to change other people's reactions to feel okay.
Resentment is often a sign that you said yes when you meant no.

If you are ready to get support from a community of women who are co-creating this change with intention and clarity— Click here to BOOK A DISCOVERY CALL.

Do you want help from Colleen with a situation you're struggling with? Click here to submit your question for Colleen's NEW Q& A episodes. Your name will not be mentioned on air!

Find me on:

YouTube: @HangoverWhisperer

TikTok: @hangoverwhisperer

Instagram: @thehangoverwhisperer

X (Twitter) : @NotAboutTheAlc

EP225 The journey from daily binge drinking to normal drinking–Carley's recovery story (part 1) Jun 17, 2025

Show notes

Click here to watch the full interview with Carley on YouTube

In this raw and relatable conversation, I'm joined by one of my incredible clients, Carley — a driven healthcare professional, mom of two, and former daily drinker who once believed her only two choices were to either quit drinking forever or keep white-knuckling it with shame and regret.

Carley opens up about what her drinking looked like behind closed doors and the pressure she put on herself to "keep it together" — until it started to fall apart. She shares how overachieving, perfectionism, and people-pleasing became coping mechanisms, and how alcohol slowly crept in as her off-switch.

We talk about the moment she realized her mental math wasn't working anymore, the emotional buildup that led her to finally book a discovery call, and what shifted when she heard someone say: "You don't have to get sober. You just have to feel better."

This is an incredibly powerful episode for anyone who has ever felt stuck between drinking too much and feeling like you can't stop completely. Carley's story is proof that emotional sobriety isn't about rules — it's about freedom.

What you'll hear in Part 1:

The hidden stressors that led Carley to overdrink (even as a healthcare worker who knew better)
The fear of reaching out for help — and what made her finally do it
The myth of "just try harder" and why it never works
The exact moment she realized she didn't have to choose between chaos and abstinence

Click here to BOOK A DISCOVERY CALL if you're ready to fully commit to your personal growth and do the work to get emotionally sober. Side effects include an 80 percent reduction in drinking.

Want daily updates from me? TikTok: @hangoverwhisperer Instagram: @thehangoverwhisperer Twitter (X): @NotAboutTheAlc YouTube: @hangoverwhisperer

—Do you want coaching from Colleen on a situation you're struggling with? Click here to submit your question. Your name will not be mentioned on air!

EP224 Minisode: Feeling rushed is not a fact Jun 12, 2025

Show notes

In today's episode, Colleen unpacks a subtle but powerful mindset that can completely shift how you experience stress, pressure, and time. Whether it's a packed calendar, an airport sprint, or your own inner critic barking about everything you should be doing, the real problem isn't your to-do list—it's your nervous system.

This episode explores how urgency is often just emotional dysregulation in disguise, and why "getting everything done" will never create the calm you're actually craving.

If you're constantly on the go, juggling work, family, and the secret shame of overdrinking, this one will help you slow down without falling behind—and start practicing emotional sobriety in the way you move through your day.

🔑 Key Takeaways:

Feeling rushed is not a fact—it's a nervous system state.
Stress often masquerades as urgency, but urgency isn't truth.
When your body is dysregulated, your brain makes up reasons to panic.
Emotional sobriety means choosing how you want to feel and leading with that.
You don't have to suffer through your schedule—you can rewire how you move through it.

If you are ready to get support from a community of women who are co-creating this change with intention and clarity— Click here to BOOK A DISCOVERY CALL.

Do you want help from Colleen with a situation you're struggling with? Click here to submit your question for Colleen's NEW Q& A episodes. Your name will not be mentioned on air!

Find me on:

YouTube: @HangoverWhisperer

TikTok: @hangoverwhisperer

Instagram: @thehangoverwhisperer

X (Twitter) : @NotAboutTheAlc Transcript

EP223 How to fix your "lack of time" problem Jun 10, 2025

Show notes

If you're drinking more than you want to, but every time you try to cut back it feels like one more thing to do… this episode is for you.

Today, I'm sharing the real story that kept me stuck in the drinking cycle for years—the one that has nothing to do with alcohol: 🙋🏼‍♀️ "I don't have enough time."

From the liquor store parking lot to the 87-item to-do list that ran my life, I walk you through how that one belief created stress, depletion, and ultimately... a nightly bottle of wine.

You'll learn my 5-step Rewrite & Release method for deconstructing the neural pathways that are making you feel overwhelmed, out of control, and like you have nothing left to give—except a glass of wine at the end of the day.

This is the work that actually rewires your brain. This is what it means to get emotionally sober. This is where your freedom begins.

Click here to BOOK A DISCOVERY CALL if you're ready to fully commit to your personal growth and do the work to get emotionally sober. Side effects include an 80 percent reduction in drinking.

Want daily updates from me? TikTok: @hangoverwhisperer Instagram: @thehangoverwhisperer Twitter (X): @NotAboutTheAlc and YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@hangoverwhisperer

—Do you want coaching from Colleen on a situation you're struggling with? Click here to submit your question. Your name will not be mentioned on air!

EP222 Minisode: Stop Chasing The Highs Jun 07, 2025

Show notes

In today's episode, Colleen shares a personal reflection on what it means to stay emotionally sober when things are going really well. When the business is booming, the boxes are checked, and it feels like everything is finally clicking. Most of us assume that emotional work is about learning how to handle hard moments—grief, anxiety, cravings, conflict, etc. Though that's true in it's own right, there is still a catch. ----> If your mood is dictated by external wins, then your nervous system is still being hijacked, and the crash that follows might be more subtle—but it can also be just as dysregulating.

🔑 Key Takeaways:

Emotional sobriety isn't just about surviving the lows—it's about regulating the highs, too.
A perfectionistic "high" can feel just as dysregulating as a shame spiral, even if the story is more flattering.
True well-being comes from presence, not performance.
What goes up must come down—and emotional maturity is learning how to come back to center with love, not fear.

If you are ready to get support from a community of women who are co-creating this change with intention and clarity— Click here to BOOK A DISCOVERY CALL.

Do you want help from Colleen with a situation you're struggling with? Click here to submit your question for Colleen's NEW Q& A episodes. Your name will not be mentioned on air!

Find me on:

YouTube: @HangoverWhisperer

TikTok: @hangoverwhisperer

Instagram: @thehangoverwhisperer

X (Twitter) : @NotAboutTheAlc

EP221 Minisode: How to actually feel your feelings Jun 05, 2025

Show notes

In this episode, Colleen breaks down the difference between thinking your feelings and actually feeling them—and why most high-achieving women get stuck in a loop that keeps them stressed, stuck, and searching for answers in the wrong places.

You'll learn a simple, body-based skill that helps you shift out of emotional overwhelm and back into clarity, presence, and personal power—without needing to fix, solve, or overexplain anything at all.

Whether you're drinking to numb the noise or overthinking your way into burnout, this episode will show you how to interrupt the loop and finally let go—for real.

🔑 Key Takeaways:

Feeling your feelings is a body-based skill, not a thinking exercise.
Thoughts create sensations—so the more you think, the more you feel, and vice versa.
Most people try to think their way out of feelings, but this fuels the problem.
Observing the energy in your body without judgment allows emotions to release.
Your power lies in focus—what you pay attention to is what changes.

Your feelings aren't a problem to fix. They're a signal from your body asking to be felt.

If you are ready to get support from a community of women who are co-creating this change with intention and clarity— Click here to BOOK A DISCOVERY CALL.

Do you want help from Colleen with a situation you're struggling with? Click here to submit your question for Colleen's NEW Q& A episodes. Your name will not be mentioned on air!

Find me on:

YouTube: @HangoverWhisperer TikTok: @hangoverwhisperer

Instagram: @thehangoverwhisperer

X: @NotAboutTheAlc

EP220 How to heal your nervous system 3 minutes at a time—with Somatic Coach Laurie James Jun 03, 2025

Show notes

Today's episode is for the woman who's doing everything right—and still feels like she's falling apart.

Colleen sits down with Laurie James, somatic coach and author of Sandwiched: A Memoir of Holding On and Letting Go to talk about what happens when your nervous system hits a breaking point. Laurie ended up in the hospital—twice—after leaving a toxic marriage, raising four daughters, dating again, writing a book, and trying to heal.

This is a raw, honest conversation about how success can hide trauma, why "pushing through" is often dissociation in disguise, and how to regulate your nervous system before your body takes matters into its own hands.

💡 Key Takeaways:

If your body shuts down, it's not random—it's internal wisdom.
Autoimmune issues and fatigue are often trauma responses.
You can't think your way to safety—you have to feel it in your body.
"Small, tolerable steps" are more healing than breakthroughs.
Emotional sobriety starts by noticing what your body is already trying to say.

Click here to BOOK A DISCOVERY CALL if you're ready to fully commit to your personal growth and do the work to get emotionally sober. Side effects include an 80 percent reduction in drinking.

Click here to get Laurie's free Beginner's Guide to Somatic Healing Find Laurie James on Instagram @laurie.james and Facebook: @Laurie JamesLaurie's Podcast is Confessions of a Free Bird w/ Laurie James

Connect on socials! TikTok: @hangoverwhisperer Instagram: @thehangoverwhisperer Twitter (X): @NotAboutTheAlc and YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@hangoverwhisperer

—Do you want coaching from Colleen on a situation you're struggling with? Click here to submit your question. Your name will not be mentioned on air!

EP219 Minisode: Anxiety is an alarm May 31, 2025

Show notes

Most of us see anxiety as a personal flaw—something to fix, medicate, or avoid. But what if anxiety isn't the problem at all? What if it's the invitation?

In today's episode, Colleen breaks down the two types of anxiety as explained by Dr. Russell Kennedy—foreground alarm and background alarm—and shares a personal story of how unresolved fears and childhood programming were quietly driving Colleen into burnout... even though her mindset looked great on the surface.

This isn't just about alcohol. It's about understanding the real source of your stress, shifting from self-bullying to self-trust, and learning how to work with your nervous system instead of against it.

Whether you're drinking to deal with anxiety or simply tired of pushing through life at full speed, this episode will help you stop fighting the wrong battle—and start healing what's actually underneath.

🔑 Key Takeaways:

Foreground anxiety is triggered by perceived threats—usually created by your thoughts.
Background anxiety is rooted in unresolved emotional trauma, often from childhood.
Even when your mindset is strong, your body can still hold onto old fear patterns.
The real solution isn't doing more—it's slowing down to listen and release.
Emotional sobriety is the power to choose your response, not just manage your reaction.

Give yourself permission to rest, slow down, and check in with your body instead of overriding it with more effort.

If you are ready to get support from a community of women who are co-creating this change with intention and clarity— Click here to BOOK A DISCOVERY CALL.

Do you want help from Colleen with a situation you're struggling with? Click here to submit your question for Colleen's NEW Q& A episodes. Your name will not be mentioned on air!

Find me on

TikTok: @hangoverwhisperer

Instagram: @thehangoverwhisperer

X: @NotAboutTheAlc

EP218 Minisode: Reducing Anxiety is the Anti-Goal May 29, 2025

Show notes

In today's episode, Colleen dismantles one of the most common mindset traps she see's in her clients: the belief that anxiety is something to get rid of. If you've ever said, "I'm just an anxious person," or used alcohol to calm your nerves before a flight, presentation, or party—you're not alone. But what if anxiety itself isn't the problem?

She'll walk you through a real client breakthrough where they shifted the focus away from "less anxiety" and toward something far more powerful: a regulated nervous system. You'll learn why trying to "not drink" or "not be anxious" backfires neurologically, and what to focus on instead.

🔑 Key Takeaways:

Anxiety is normal; our problem is thinking it's a problem.
Focusing on what you don't want wires your brain for more of it.
The brain can't solve a negative—it needs a clear, affirmative goal.
Regulating your nervous system is the secret to lasting change.
You don't need to "not drink." You need to do something else on purpose.

🛠️ Practice This:

Next time you feel anxious, ask yourself: What do I want to feel instead—and what would support that feeling right now? Make a plan for how you want to feel before the plane takes off, the event begins, or the trigger hits. Then Reflect.

If you are ready to get support from a community of women who are co-creating this change with intention and clarity— Click here to BOOK A DISCOVERY CALL.

Do you want help from Colleen with a situation you're struggling with? Click here to submit your question for Colleen's NEW Q& A episodes. Your name will not be mentioned on air!

Find me on

TikTok: @hangoverwhisperer

Instagram: @thehangoverwhisperer

X: @NotAboutTheAlc

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