In this episode, Colleen begins a five-part mini-series by reflecting on a season of life where everything looked perfect on the outside—four children, big career moves, and daily discipline to name a few. But on the inside she was hollow, disconnected, and coping in ways that kept her stuck. The move to West Virginia became more than a change of scenery; it became a field trip into herself.

It was here she first began to see the difference between living to perform and learning to be. What felt like upheaval at the time now stands out as a turning point—the beginning of finding her own voice beneath the roles and responsibilities.

🔑 Key Takeaways

• Success without connection to self eventually collapses.

• Coping mechanisms are often misguided attempts at emotional regulation.

• Living “from the outside in” erodes trust in your own experience.

• Sometimes the biggest gifts come disguised as disruption.

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 know that feeling after you push through a big event or deadline—the letdown that leaves you tired, unmotivated, and maybe even sick ?

Most women assume it’s either “burnout” or “laziness.” But according to my guest, Dr. Aimee Apigian, it’s actually a trauma response.

Dr. Aimee is a medical physician, trauma expert, and host of The Biology of Trauma podcast is here to explain why our bodies store trauma and how that trauma quietly drives brain fog, fatigue, autoimmune disorders, and even nightly drinking habits.

In this conversation, we unpack:

• How to tell the difference between a stress and trauma response based on what you’re thinking

• Why extended periods of stress without recovery cause trauma

• What it actually looks like to complete the trauma response instead of storing it

• Simple ways to give your body time, safety, and energy so it can reset

I’m also going to share my own story of the crash I had after a recent retreat I hosted,  and what changed when I treated my trauma response with compassion instead of my usual bullwhip. You’ll hear Dr. Aimee break it down in real time.

If you’ve been blaming yourself for not having enough willpower, for being “too tired,” or for never getting it together… you need to hear this. Your body isn’t broken, it’s protecting you. You just have to learn how to return the favor. 

Click here to order Dr. Aimee Apigian’s book The Biology of Trauma: How the Body Holds Fear, Pain and Overwhelm, and How to Heal It. 

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! 

In this episode, Colleen explores the powerful intersection of science and spirituality—from dopamine research and environmental design to Michael Singer, Don Miguel Ruiz, and Bruce Lipton. Drawing on both brain science and lived experience, she makes a simple but life-changing point: reality isn’t what’s “out there.” It’s what your brain chooses to notice.

Out of millions of possible inputs, your brain filters just a few—and those choices shape your emotions, your energy, and your life. Truth is not abstract dogma or moral code—it’s the felt sense that opens your heart and mind. When you learn to notice what you’re noticing, you reclaim the power to create a reality that feels expansive, joyful, and true.

🔑 Key Takeaways

• The brain processes 11 million inputs every second but only notices ~40—you get to influence which 40.

• “Truth” is felt in the body: it opens your heart and creates curiosity, hope, and creativity.

• The 3D world is neutral; meaning comes from how you interpret and judge it.

• Your focus works like an algorithm: whatever you attend to, you’ll see more of.

• Emotions aren’t nuisances—they’re invitations to examine what you’re projecting and receiving.

• Notice the “newsfeed” in your mind: what stories dominate, and how do they make you feel?

• By shifting attention toward what expands you, you rewire your lived reality.

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 personal story of missed flights, expired licenses, stolen wallets—and how choosing bat-shit positive over bat-shit negative turned each obstacle into an unexpected gift. With humor and honesty, she reframes setbacks not as evidence that life is against us, but as opportunities to practice trust, adaptability, and creativity.

Through this lens, even a canceled car rental or lost wallet becomes training ground for a deeper truth: the problem is never the problem. It’s the mindset that labels it as wrong that keeps us stuck. When we shift into curiosity—asking, “How is this happening for me?”—the very circumstances we once resented become portals to wisdom, resilience, and growth.

This is more than a pep talk. It’s a lived reminder that shit makes the best fertilizer—what looks like a mess today might be the soil for everything you’ve been waiting for.

🔑 Key Takeaways

• You can only rise to the level of problem you’re capable of solving.

• The mindset that sees a problem can’t solve it—only a growth mindset can.

• Every obstacle is neutral until we assign meaning; you can choose negative or positive.

• “This is happening for me, not to me” turns setbacks into training grounds.

• Wisdom comes through mistakes, pain, and struggle—not through perfection.

• When you trust that you’ll be okay in the long run, today’s problems become gifts.

• Shit makes the best fertilizer: what looks messy now may grow your strongest roots.

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

What if the struggles you face today as a woman didn’t start with you—but with your mother, and her mother before her? In this powerful conversation, therapist and certified mother-daughter coach Erica Thomas shares how our earliest identity as “daughter” shapes our personality, our relationships and even how we show up at work.

We’re breaking open the cultural and familial scripts that keep women small—silencing our voices, worrying more about how things look than how they feel, and losing ourselves in people-pleasing servitude. You’ll hear Erica’s personal story, why she believes the patriarchy often lives inside us, and how healing the mother-daughter wound creates generational change that ripples both forward and backward in time.

This episode is part truth-telling, part blueprint: a call to every woman who wants to stop carrying the emotional weight she inherited, and start living with authenticity and personal power.

Erica Thomas is a licensed psychotherapist of over 20 years and a mother-daughter relationship expert driven to create generational change for women. As the founder of Vita Nova Counseling and Vita Nova Mother-Daughter Coaching, Erica guides women to heal past hurts and growth into their God-given potential and helps mothers and daughters transform generational legacies into ones that leave healing, hope, reconnection, and empowerment. 

Find Erica on social media Facebook: @vitanovaLHTX Instagram: @vitanovacounseling LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/ericagthomas

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! 

In this follow-up episode, Colleen shares a personal holiday stumble—an experience she originally recorded in late 2024, but one that still rings true as we look ahead to the upcoming season. She names it a “relapse,” not because of how much she drank but because of the disconnect between what she wanted and what actually happened.

Instead of hiding it, she walks through the three-question framework from Part One, showing in real time how to turn what looks like failure into data, compassion, and next steps. Through honest reflection, she reframes her week of drinking with family as a learning lab: noticing where it could have been worse, expanding the timeline to see real improvement, and uncovering the lesson that unrealistic expectations set her up to struggle.

What emerges is a radically different take on relapse—not as proof you’re broken, but as proof you’re still learning. This isn’t just a confession—it’s a model of how to meet yourself in the mess, stay curious, and come back stronger.

🔑 Key Takeaways

• Comparing a holiday week to your “best week” skews progress—zoom out to see real improvement.

• Every story you tell yourself is “bullshit”—so choose the version that moves you forward.

• Setting unrealistic expectations (like piling an elimination diet on top of holiday stress) undermines success.

• Use the three-question framework every time:

  1. How could this have been worse / where did I improve?

  2. What did I learn?

  3. What would I like to do differently next time?

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 the holiday season approaches, this episode—originally recorded after Thanksgiving 2024—offers perspective that’s just as relevant now as it was then. Colleen pulls apart one of the biggest myths of change: that it’s the behavior itself that’s hard.

The truth? It’s the act of change—the moment you take your brain off autopilot—that feels so uncomfortable.

From holiday chaos to daily overwhelm, she shows how perfectionism and constant performance keep you stuck, and why setbacks are not proof of failure but invitations to learn. She reframes relapse, stress, and “slip-ups” as tests—opportunities to gather information instead of self-destruct. She makes the case that baby habits can’t yet compete with old, well-worn patterns in times of stress, and that setting realistic expectations is the most compassionate, powerful strategy for lasting growth.

This is more than a pep talk.

It’s a playbook for walking through the holidays (and any high-pressure season) without letting setbacks steal your progress—or your self-trust.

🔑 Key Takeaways

• Stressful seasons test your new habits; don’t expect baby habits to out-muscle old ones every time.

• Setbacks are tests, not failures—the lesson is in how you respond.

• “Failure” is just a mismatch between expectations and reality.

• Self-compassion is the fastest way to keep momentum alive.

• Progress sticks when you give yourself credit for improvements already made.

• Three anchors to use in setbacks: How could this have been worse? Where did I improve? What have I learned?

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

Our culture teaches that when someone is struggling with substance use, the correct response is tough love. It’s better to let them hit rock bottom than to enable their behavior.

My guest today is Heather Ross, host of the Living While Loving Your Child Through Addiction podcast. She’s also a dear personal friend. We’re letting you eavesdrop on one of the many raw conversations we’ve had about the devastating impact the “tough love” mindset has on both the giver and the receiver. And why compassion is not the same as enabling. 

You’ll hear Heather’s first-hand account of what happened when she shifted her goal from controlling the situation to connecting with her daughter. Her story is both heartbreaking and inspiring, because despite losing her daughter to a fentanyl overdose, she will never regret that she was a safe place for her daughter–and a source of unconditional love.

Buckle up, because this one’s a tear jerker. But whether you’re a parent, partner or just wondering how to show up for someone you love, you’ll walk away with a clear understanding of how to release fear, find your ground and support your person without losing yourself. 

Click here to get Heather’s free guide: A New Perspective about “Enabling”--A guide for parents who want to help their kids but aren’t sure how.  Find Heather on social media @HeatherRossCoaching, and listen to her podcast Living While Loving Your Child Through Addiction.

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 struggles in early sobriety and beyond: bone-deep exhaustion. She shares her own experience quitting alcohol (and much more) all at once, and how the “post-acute withdrawal syndrome” myth left her believing she’d be tired and unmotivated for years. What she eventually discovered is that tiredness isn’t just physical—it’s an emotional signal tied to how you’re thinking, what you’re carrying, and how you’re responding to your body.

She reframes fatigue as a feeling, not a fixed fact. She lays out the calls to action—hydration, movement, thought work, environment shifts—that help you recharge in real time instead of waiting for some mythical “dopamine reset.”

This episode will show you how to trust your body as the litmus test for truth and to respond in ways that restore energy, purpose, and hope.

🔑 Key Takeaways

• Post-acute withdrawal syndrome (PAWS) is more myth than science; your dopamine recalibrates far faster than you think.

• Tiredness is often emotional—driven by draining thought patterns—not just physical.

• The litmus test is always your body: does this thought process feel open/energizing or heavy/depleting?

• “Tired” is a feeling, not a fact—you can shift it by shifting how you respond.

• Water, movement, sleep, and sunlight are the simplest energy fuels.

• Mental preoccupations and negative self-talk drain more energy than work itself.

• Change your environment and thought loops to spark curiosity and motivation.

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 gives an update on the behind-the-scenes of what happened after being suddenly cut from a program she’d once called home. At first, she carried the weight of unfairness and betrayal, convinced it would take a long time to heal. But what started as a sting that clung to her body and mind turned into something radically different: a live demonstration of releasing the story that was holding her hostage.

Through an unexpected NLP exercise with her coach, she revisits the childhood wound at the root of her pain and dismantles the old belief that others get to decide her worth. In real time, you’ll hear how her body shifted, her brain rewired, and her story transformed from “I’ve been wronged” to “I’m free.” What looked like rejection became a clean slate, a wider horizon, and a reminder that freedom comes when you reclaim the pen and rewrite your own narrative.

This isn’t just an update—it’s a case study in emotional sovereignty, showing how quickly you can drop a heavy story and walk away lighter.

🔑 Key Takeaways

• It’s not the event itself that hurts—it’s the story you tell yourself about it.

• Collective agreement (“this sucks, you were wronged”) can reinforce pain instead of helping you heal.

• Waiting for someone else to respond or explain is giving away your power.

• Your body often signals when you’re carrying emotional baggage.

• Reframing old wounds allows you to rewrite new stories in real time.

• A neutral event can become an opportunity if you choose to see it that way.

Freedom comes from owning that you are the source of both your suffering and your joy.

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