In this episode, Colleen shares a real moment from her life a few weeks ago. The kind of moment everybody encounters but rarely names. On a Thursday flight, she felt calm, grounded, and uninterested in drinking at all. Forty-eight hours later, on the way out of New York, she couldn't wait for the flight attendant to serve her Chardonnay. Nothing "mysterious" happened in between. Her capacity changed.

She unpacks how travel, lost work, accumulated stress, and zero real recovery time pushed her from a green-light nervous system into overwhelm — and how quickly old neural pathways stepped in to compensate. This isn't a story about self-control. It's a lesson in how the brain protects you when you've ignored your own needs for too long.

You'll hear what drinking too much actually signals, why overwhelm is a physiological state (not a character flaw), and what changes when you stop treating your habits as moral failures and start treating them as data. Colleen also shares how she recalibrated afterward — not with rules, punishment, or vows, but with space, compassion, and a return to her actual needs.

🔑 Key Takeaways • Drinking "too much" is a symptom of depletion, not a sign you're broken • Stress is activating; overwhelm is the shutdown that happens when demands exceed capacity • Old habits reappear when you haven't left space to process emotions or care for yourself • You cannot think your way out of overwhelm — you have to restore capacity first • Nervous-system literacy is more useful than willpower when it comes to changing your drinking • Emotional sobriety isn't about perfection. It's about paying attention early enough to respond, not react

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

I recently hit a wall. Not the kind where you're tired—the kind where you wake up and genuinely don't care anymore. About your business. About your goals. About any of it.

And here's what scared me: I saw it coming. I knew I was running on fumes. I just didn't stop.

In this conversation, burnout expert Cait Donovan helps me understand why. And it's not what I expected. It's not about workload or boundaries or self-care Sundays. It's about shame. It's about not believing you deserve to have needs in the first place. And it's about rebuilding trust with your own body—starting with something as basic as peeing when you need to pee.

In this episode, we cover:

→ Why shame is the first barrier to meeting your own needs (before finances, before time, before anything else)

→ Strategic disappointment: how to practice letting people down in small, safe ways so your nervous system learns you won't die

→ The difference between hyperindependence and strength—and why asking for help feels impossible

→ How foundational self-care builds emotional intelligence automatically

→ Why we mistake alignment with that feeling of having "a firecracker up my ass" and what alignment actually feels like (spoiler: it's a settling, not an urgency)

This episode is for you if:

• You're exhausted but can't seem to stop

• You've ignored your body's signals for so long you don't know what they are anymore

• You feel guilty resting, asking for help, or disappointing people

• You've tried to "fix" your burnout by changing external circumstances and it didn't work

• You suspect the problem isn't your schedule—it's something deeper

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

In this episode, Colleen unpacks one of the most common and misunderstood experiences women face in this work: the moment you look up, take inventory, and think, "My drinking hasn't changed." Instead of treating that as evidence of failure, she reframes it as a signal from your nervous system, a window into your thinking habits, and an invitation to expand your internal capacity.

She breaks down why consistency with alcohol doesn't shift just because you're "doing the work," how perfectionism and overwhelm hijack your perception of progress, and why your drinking is an output of deeper emotional patterns—not the root problem to be fixed. From there, she offers a clear five-question framework that helps you reclaim agency, rebuild momentum, and reconnect to your power without relying on willpower, shame, or urgency.

🔑 Key Takeaways

• Why "my drinking hasn't changed" is a nervous-system cue, not a character flaw • How setbacks function as essential data points in emotional sobriety • The three nervous-system states and how they influence your drinking decisions • Why you can't think your way out of overwhelm… and what to do instead • A 5-question coaching process to uncover your real blocks and build momentum • How to define your ideal drinking pattern in a way that feels empowering, not punitive • Why progress is built through iteration, capacity, and compassion—not perfection

This will remind you that your drinking doesn't change when you finally "get it right." It changes when you expand your capacity, shift your thinking habits, and learn to make decisions from the calm, grounded version of you who knows exactly what she wants.

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

In this episode, Colleen shares a simple moment from her morning — a single unexpected email — that shows exactly how the nervous system can hijack your day before you even know what happened. What could've turned into urgency, frustration, and spiraling worst-case scenarios instead became a real-time example of emotional sobriety: noticing the startle, interrupting the stress response, and choosing from capacity instead of panic.

She breaks down the subtle physiological chain reaction that happens long before overwhelm hits — the jolt, the mental spin, the internal "wall," the freeze — and shows how quickly your brain starts catastrophizing when your capacity is low. Colleen also explains why even tiny stressors feel massive when you're depleted, and how honoring your body's limits (instead of bulldozing through them) changes everything about how you show up.

🔑 Key Takeaways

• The five stages of the trauma response and how to spot them as they unfold • Why capacity changes daily — and why ignoring that reality leads straight to overwhelm • How your brain hijacks your perspective when you're tired, stressed, or depleted • Why completing the stress response is non-negotiable if you want to stay effective • How to shift from "fix it now" urgency to grounded, strategic problem-solving • A simple litmus test to know whether something expands your capacity or drains it • How emotional sobriety turns small moments into opportunities to build resilience

This is a reminder that your power isn't in outrunning stress — it's in noticing it sooner, responding with compassion, and restoring your capacity before you take action. That is what makes you truly unstoppable.

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

As middle aged women, we all know what it's like to be exhausted. Not the kind of exhausted where you need a nap—the kind where you've been running on fumes for so long you forgot what actual energy feels like.

You're already doing everything you can to eat well, exercise, get better sleep and cut back on the wine. You've probably got rows of supplements lined up on your counter like little soldiers. You do lots of research and see holistic practitioners because your health is important to you.

And it's not so much that something is wrong–it's that something isn't right.

Here's what you're missing: you can't expect your symptoms to improve if you haven't corrected the root cause–which is energetic. It's the patriarchal programming that makes you feel like your self-worth is tied to your productivity. It's the part of you that doesn't know how to relax because relaxing literally doesn't feel safe.

My guest today is Hope Pedraza. She's a functional diagnostic nutrition practitioner who uses human design as a diagnostic tool—and before you roll your eyes, stay with me. She combines the labs, the data, the science, with your energetic blueprint to show you exactly where the disconnect is. How you're designed to operate versus how you're actually living.

In this episode, you'll learn:

→ What human design actually is (and the science behind it—yes, there's science)

→ The connection between your energy centers and specific organs—and how emotional patterns literally show up on your labs

→ Why it's physiologically impossible to change your habits when you're in survival mode

→ The two-step process to start repatterning your operating system

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

Connect with Hope Pedraza:

• Podcast: Hopeful and Wholesome

• Website: hopefulandwholesome.com

• Instagram: @thehopepedraza

Transcript

In this episode, Colleen pulls the curtain back on overwhelm and names it for what it really is: a trauma response living in your nervous system, not a personal failing or lack of willpower. She walks through the five stages your body moves through when the demands on you exceed your capacity, and why trying to "push through" that wall only drives you deeper into shutdown.

Instead of treating overwhelm as something to beat, Colleen shows you how to use it as a litmus test that tells you exactly when to stop, step back, and tend to your nervous system first. You'll learn a simple five-minute reset practice you can use anytime you feel yourself hit the wall, so you can move forward from compassion instead of self-criticism.

🔑 Key Takeaways

• Overwhelm isn't weakness or drama; it's a physiological trauma response in your nervous system

• The five stages of the body's trauma response: startle, stress activation, hitting the wall, freeze, and shutdown

• Why trying to "power through" overwhelm keeps you stuck and deepens shame, anxiety, and self-doubt

• How chronic internal narratives (people pleasing, perfectionism, fear, guilt) quietly drain your capacity long before the "last straw"

• A simple litmus test and five-minute pause practice to respond to overwhelm with compassion instead of pressure

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

In this episode, Colleen gets brutally honest about something most "high-functioning" women never admit out loud: what happens when your old motivation system collapses. Divorce, sobriety, and building a business forced her to drop the over-functioning, over-exercising version of herself and face a hard truth: she'd been using fitness to run on stress, shame, and hangovers.

She unpacks why, after quitting drinking, her drive completely disappeared, why post-acute withdrawal wasn't just about brain chemistry, and how dopamine is actually tied to the stories you tell yourself about reward and worth. From there, she walks through how she rebuilt movement from the inside out with tiny, sustainable habits that actually feel good instead of punitive.

You'll hear how she went from daily marathons and hot yoga to "slug on a log" mode, and then into a realistic, sustainable routine that supports bone density, strength, and future adventures… without relying on self-hate, perfectionism, or external validation to get her moving.

🔑 Key Takeaways

• Why so many women lose their motivation after sobriety or big life changes (hint: your old rewards stop working, not your willpower)

• How dopamine is tied to your internal narrative about reward, identity, and what "counts" as success

• The difference between forcing yourself with willpower vs building habits that feel sustainable, kind, and matched to where you actually are

• Why you're never just building "one habit" (like working out) but a whole stack of upstream habits that make follow-through possible

• Red flags that your routine is fueled by shame and "shoulds" instead of genuine desire, and why that guarantees burnout instead of long-term change

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

You've done the therapy. Read the books. Listened to the podcasts. You understand your trauma responses intellectually. But when you get triggered, your mind still spins out of control—and you can't make it stop.

Here's what you need to know: Your spinning mind isn't something to fix or control. It's communication from a wounded part of you that needs your attention.

In this episode, we're talking about:

• Why trying to think your way out of emotional pain actually makes it worse

• The difference between being triggered BY a part vs. BECOMING that part (blending vs. unblending)

• Why your wounded inner child doesn't speak the language of logic—and what she actually needs from you

• How to drop out of your spinning mind and into your body where the real healing happens

• Why "I've done so much work, why am I still dealing with this?" is the wrong question

• The practice that changes everything: showing up for your pain without trying to fix it

This is Internal Family Systems (IFS) meets emotional sobriety. This is how you stop abandoning yourself when your wounded parts show up asking for help.

🔑 Key Takeaway: Healing doesn't happen in your head. It happens in your nervous system when you learn to show up for your wounded parts with presence, patience, and unconditional love.

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

In this episode, Colleen shares a real-life story about her daughter's college move-in that reveals one of the most important skills in emotional sobriety: knowing the difference between a grounded choice and a nervous system hijack.

What started as a harmless whiff of pot in the entryway spiraled into panic, urgency, and the impulse to move apartments immediately. But the real issue wasn't the apartment — it was a stress response scanning for danger. Colleen breaks down how fear narrows your perspective, why your brain searches for confirming evidence when you feel unsafe, and how to recognize the moment you stop choosing and start reacting.

You'll learn how to evaluate your options from clarity instead of pressure, how to distinguish obligation from true desire, and how to pause long enough to reconnect to the version of you who can choose intentionally.

🔑 You'll Learn:

• The difference between real choice and a nervous-system-driven reaction • How fight, flight, and freeze disguise themselves as "logic" • Why urgency is a sign to pause, not act • How resentment forms when you choose from fear instead of truth • A simple way to widen your perspective and see more than one angle • How emotional sobriety helps you make decisions you'll be proud of later

This episode is a reminder that grounded choices feel like options — not obligations — and that clarity is something you create from the inside out.

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

In this episode, Colleen breaks down one of the most foundational teachings of emotional sobriety: your higher self isn't a future version of you — she's a frequency you can access right now.

Drawing from quantum physics, nervous system science, and the emotional practices at the core of this work, Colleen explains why clarity, intuition, creativity, and confidence aren't things you earn after healing enough trauma or doing everything "right." They emerge when you learn to quiet the noise of your subconscious programming, regulate your nervous system, and align your emotional state with the version of you who already knows what to do.

You'll learn how distorted thinking jams your internal signal, why stress blocks intuition, and what it actually takes to receive insight instead of chasing it. This minisode is a practical guide to becoming coherent — mentally, emotionally, and energetically — so you can stop fighting with your thoughts and finally tune into the wisdom already within you.

🔑 Key Takeaways

• Your higher self is a frequency, not a destination • Why intuition emerges when your brain and body are coherent • How nervous system regulation opens access to insight • The three components of alignment: breath, emotion, and intention • Why affirmations fail when they're fueled by fear • How to replace subconscious loops with new emotional signals • What it means to "broadcast" a new identity energetically

This episode is a reminder that transformation doesn't come from trying harder — it comes from tuning in.

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