Sisters In Sobriety

By Sonia Kahlon and Kathleen KillenHealth & Fitness Mental Health

Sisters In Sobriety episodes

October 05 Breaking the Nightly Wine Habit with Casey Davidson
What happens when a successful life includes a private struggle with alcohol? In this episode, Sonia speaks with Casey Davidson, founder of Hello Someday Coaching and host of the Hello Someday podcast, about high achievement, anxiety, and getting out of the drinking cycle.
Why can drinking feel like the only way to switch off? What makes the evening “witching hour” so difficult? How can sober curiosity and gray area drinking open a conversation without labels? Sonia and Casey explore early sobriety, moderation, and the value of support from women who understand.
Casey shares the practical pieces of her “sober bubble”: asking for help, changing routines, eating before the evening rush, and lowering expectations. She explains her 100-day coaching approach, discusses everyday rewards, and explores how boundaries and community create room for a more satisfying life.
From college rugby and corporate pressure to motherhood and nightly red wine, Casey traces the moments that made drinking harder to ignore. She shares how a 100-day commitment grew into lasting sobriety—and how admitting she no longer wanted her corporate job helped lead her toward coaching.
This is Sisters in Sobriety, the support community that helps women change their relationship with alcohol. Check out our substack for extra tips, tricks and resources.
Casey’s Links
🌐 Hello Someday Coaching Website
📸 Casey’s Instagram — @caseymdavidson

SIS Links
💌 Sisters In Sobriety Substack – where the magic (and the mocktail recipes) happen
📬 Sisters In Sobriety Email
📸 Sisters In Sobriety Instagram
🌐 Kathleen’s Website Kathleen does not endorse any products mentioned in this podcast
📸 Kathleen’s Instagram
Timestamped highlights
00:00 — Introducing Casey Davidson
02:00 — People-pleasing and the gold-star girl
04:00 — Rugby culture and problematic drinking
07:00 — Mommy wine culture and climbing the ladder
09:00 — Recognizing herself in quit lit
11:00 — Reaching the point of needing change
12:00 — Committing to 100 alcohol-free days
15:00 — Extending the break to a year
16:00 — Building a sober bubble
19:00 — Preparing for the witching hour
20:00 — Eating before the evening rush
23:00 — Life after the red wine identity
25:00 — Admitting her career no longer fit
28:00 — Launching Hello Someday and defining coaching
30:00 — Making room for bigger life changes
33:00 — Casey’s perspective on moderation
37:00 — Her approach to substituting substances
42:00 — Questioning recovery labels
45:00 — Sober curiosity and gray area drinking
48:00 — Finding women who understand
52 min
September 28 Sober but Still Angry? With Zach Brittle
What happens when the drinking stops but the anger stays? Sonia welcomes Zach Brittle, LMHC, Certified Gottman Therapist, Relational Life Therapist, and host of Marriage Therapy Radio.
Why can resentment linger after quitting alcohol? How can someone take responsibility without taking all the blame? What happens when partners get sober at different times? Sonia and Zach explore recovery, relationship boundaries, and rebuilding trust beyond counting drinks or sober days.
Zach explains his approach to the “wise adult,” pausing before reacting, and playing the movie forward. He describes how Relational Life Therapy connects self-esteem, boundaries, and intimacy, and why having communication tools differs from being ready to use them. Sonia also asks about the difference between celebrating recovery and becoming overconfident.
From asking for help during the pandemic to confronting longstanding resentment, Zach shares the experiences behind his recovery. An unforgettable Christmas tree stand, a frustrating gas-station queue, and his and Rebecca’s different paths to sobriety reveal how change has reshaped their marriage and parenting.
This is Sisters in Sobriety, the support community that helps women change their relationship with alcohol. Check out our substack for extra tips, tricks and resources.
Zach’s Links
Website
Instagram
Marriage Therapy Radio
SIS Links
💌 Sisters In Sobriety Substack – where the magic (and the mocktail recipes) happen
📬 Sisters In Sobriety Email
📸 Sisters In Sobriety Instagram
🌐 Kathleen’s Website Kathleen does not endorse any products mentioned in this podcast
📸 Kathleen’s Instagram
Episode Highlights
00:00 — Introducing Zach Brittle
02:00 — Recovery beyond alcohol
04:00 — Recognizing personal relapse risks
08:00 — Drinking escalates during COVID
10:00 — Asking for a sponsor’s help
13:00 — Taking inventory of resentment
15:00 — Owning his anger without alcohol
18:00 — Responsibility versus self-blame
20:00 — Anger in the gas-station queue
22:00 — The pause that creates choice
25:00 — Playing the movie forward
27:00 — Recovery becomes a new way of living
29:00 — A milestone tests his sobriety
33:00 — Why tools alone aren’t enough
35:00 — Self-esteem, boundaries, and intimacy
40:00 — Partners on different recovery paths
46:00 — Setting relationship boundaries
47:00 — Alcohol’s impact beyond drink counts
49:00 — Connection, fun, and life after drinking
56:00 — Modeling recovery for adult children
59 min
September 21 Bad Marriage Advice and Better Ways to Connect with Monica Tanner
On Sisters in Sobriety, Sonia welcomes relationship coach, author, and podcast host Monica Tanner to explore conflict, emotional safety, and intimacy when alcohol is no longer the escape hatch. Together, they explore how to ask for support, navigate difficult conversations, and reconnect through change.
Does “never go to bed angry” actually help? When does communication become criticism? What happens when drinking or scrolling becomes a way to disappear during conflict? Sonia and Monica explore resentment, sober relationships, and talking about sex without turning the conversation into a performance.
Monica introduces relational life therapy concepts, including protective childhood patterns, the emotional “whoosh,” and choosing a response with greater awareness. She shares examples of clear requests, healthy boundaries, side-by-side intimacy conversations, and small routines that create space for connection.
Monica also shares how her parents’ divorce shaped her interest in relationships, why late-night arguments brought up fears of abandonment, and how a simple request for reassurance changed those moments in her marriage. Her son’s approaching wedding became the inspiration for her book.
This is Sisters in Sobriety, the support community that helps women change their relationship with alcohol. Check out our substack for extra tips, tricks and resources.
Monica’s Links
🌐 Monica Tanner’s Website
🎙️ Secrets of Happily Ever After Podcast
📖 Bad Marriage Advice
SIS Links
💌 Sisters In Sobriety Substack – where the magic (and the mocktail recipes) happen
📬 Sisters In Sobriety Email
📸 Sisters In Sobriety Instagram
🌐 Kathleen’s Website Kathleen does not endorse any products mentioned in this podcast
📸 Kathleen’s Instagram
Timestamped Highlights
01:00 — Meet relationship coach Monica Tanner.
02:00 — The divorce that reshaped her idea of marriage.
04:00 — Rethinking “never go to bed angry.”
06:00 — Asking for reassurance before taking a break.
08:00 — Relationship maintenance before a crisis.
11:00 — Why conflict can block familiar communication skills.
14:00 — Recognizing protective patterns and boundaries.
16:00 — Teaching a partner how to love you well.
18:00 — Small requests before resentment builds.
20:00 — Asking for listening instead of solutions.
23:00 — Making requests without criticism.
25:00 — Withdrawal, fawning, and old survival strategies.
26:00 — Sonia on alcohol, conflict, and getting sober.
28:00 — Withdrawing in plain sight.
30:00 — Pausing during the emotional “whoosh.”
34:00 — Making space for conversations about sex.
38:00 — Exploring a broader definition of intimacy.
41:00 — When deeper relationship problems need help first.
45:00 — Monica’s routines for regular connection.
46:00 — Couples work, intensives, and closing reflections.
48 min
September 14 Good Enough Daughtering With Dr. Allison Alford
In this episode of Sisters in Sobriety, Sonia explores the invisible work adult daughters perform to keep families connected. With communication scholar, Baylor professor and Good Daughtering author Dr. Allison M. Alford. Dr. Alford helps women recognize how family roles can shape self-worth, perfectionism, resentment and coping.
Why are daughters so often expected to organize, anticipate needs and smooth over conflict? How do culture, birth order and family expectations influence daughtering? And why can a son receive enormous praise for a small gesture while a daughter feels she is always falling short?
Dr. Alford defines daughtering as the mental, emotional, logistical and identity work daughters do for their families. She explains how to make that labor visible, establish boundaries without turning them into ultimatums, distinguish venting from rumination and replace impossible A+ expectations with a sustainable B+ standard.
She also shares how her own family relationships changed when she stopped building connection around complaints and enlisted her husband, children and sister in creating new conversation patterns. Her message is simple: every woman is already a good-enough daughter and has agency in deciding how that role will fit into her life.
This is Sisters in Sobriety, the support community that helps women change their relationship with alcohol. Check out our substack for extra tips, tricks and resources.
Dr. Alford’s Links
🌐 Daughtering 101 Website
📕 Good Daughtering
📸 Instagram
SIS Links
💌 Sisters In Sobriety Substack – where the magic (and the mocktail recipes) happen
📬 Sisters In Sobriety Email
📸 Sisters In Sobriety Instagram
🌐 Kathleen’s Website Kathleen does not endorse any products mentioned in this podcast
📸 Kathleen’s Instagram
Timestamped Highlights
01:00 — Dr. Allison Alford introduces her work on daughtering
05:00 — Defining the overlooked cost of being a good daughter
07:00 — Why women’s caring roles are so often called mothering
10:00 — Honoring daughterhood as a distinct part of identity
12:00 — Choosing how fully to show up in family roles
14:00 — Daughters as the behind-the-scenes family CEOs
16:00 — How daughter conditioning develops from childhood
18:00 — Why sons receive praise for exceeding lower expectations
22:00 — Culture, geography and privilege shape daughtering
24:00 — The unspoken rules daughters are expected to follow
27:00 — How impossible standards create a fog of failure
30:00 — Creating a personal B+ daughter rubric
32:00 — The relationship between resentment and self-abandonment
34:00 — Boundaries as fences around emotional and physical space
36:00 — Recognizing when family venting becomes rumination
38:00 — Communicating a boundary once—and following through
40:00 — Making invisible daughtering labor visible
43:00 — Building a Plan B for healthier family conversations
46:00 — Eldest and only daughters face distinct pressures
50:00 — Every daughter gets to decide what “good enough” means
52 min
September 07 Writing a Joyful Recovery Story with Kerri Maher
In this episode of Sisters in Sobriety, Sonia explores the connection between sobriety, creativity, and reinvention with Kerri Maher, the USA Today bestselling author of The Paris Bookseller and The Kennedy Debutante. Kerri discusses her four years of sobriety and her deeply personal new novel, Summer of Love, set in California and centered on addiction, family, recovery, and hope.
What happens when someone’s drinking does not produce a cinematic rock bottom, but no longer feels sustainable? How can people find recovery support outside traditional 12-step programs? Sonia and Kerri discuss sober identity, online community, emotional sobriety, belonging, and the many different paths people can take toward changing their relationship with alcohol.
Kerri explains how The Luckiest Club helped her find her people, why sobriety and writing are both daily practices, and how greater clarity changed her creative and professional decisions. She also shares how The Artist’s Way, morning pages, artist dates, and an “adjacent art” with no pressure attached helped her develop Summer of Love.
Kerri’s story reveals a quieter, joyful vision of recovery: clear mornings, renewed confidence, richer emotions, and the freedom to experience places such as Napa beyond their drinking culture. She also reflects on generational addiction, “good girl” identity, sober travel, and writing a novel that allows recovery to be hopeful rather than punishing.
This is Sisters in Sobriety, the support community that helps women change their relationship with alcohol. Check out our substack for extra tips, tricks and resources.
Kerri’s Links
📚 Summer of Love
📸 Instagram: @kerrimaherwriter
SIS Links
💌 Sisters In Sobriety Substack – where the magic (and the mocktail recipes) happen
📬 Sisters In Sobriety Email
📸 Sisters In Sobriety Instagram
🌐 Kathleen’s Website Kathleen does not endorse any products mentioned in this podcast
📸 Kathleen’s Instagram
Timestamped Highlights
01:00 — Kerri introduces her sobriety and Summer of Love
04:00 — The small moments that made Kerri question her drinking
05:00 — An early 15-to-18-month period without alcohol
08:00 — How The Luckiest Club began and became Kerri’s community
10:00 — Finding accessible support during the sandwich-generation years
14:00 — Is recovery’s “special sauce” the program or the community?
17:00 — Emotional sobriety, anger management, and continued inner work
19:00 — Writing and sobriety as practices built through repetition
21:00 — How alcohol created subtle brain fog without stopping productivity
26:00 — The personal origins of Summer of Love
28:00 — Morning pages bring the book’s characters and plot together
31:00 — Watercolor play as relaxing, pressure-free creativity
33:00 — Writing about recovery as joyful rather than punishing
35:00 — Clear mornings and dependable presence as everyday sober joy
43:00 — Exploring generational patterns of addiction
46:00 — Looking beyond wine culture in Napa Valley
49:00 — Rediscovering California through food, landscape, and connection
53:00 — Sober travel and experiencing mornings without a hangover
54:00 — Kerri’s message to sober and sober-curious readers
55:00 — Closing the conversation
56 min
August 31 Mystical Mocktails: Drinking With Intention With Julia Hadas
On this episode of Sisters in Sobriety, Sonia explores how alcohol-free drinks can become meaningful rituals rather than consolation prizes with bestselling author and mixologist Julia Halina Hadas, whose book Mystical Mocktails combines zero-proof recipes with intention, connection and everyday magic.
What makes a mocktail feel complete? How can flavor, aroma, temperature and glassware change the experience? Julia explains why people often seek more than alcohol from a drink—and how a thoughtfully made alternative can offer beauty, pleasure and social connection without the buzz.
The conversation covers practical building blocks such as citrus, sweeteners, tea, coconut water, herbs, spices and garnishes. Julia shares how mint can suggest renewal, maple and black tea can feel grounding, and rose can represent connection. She also explains how to prevent watery tea-based drinks, balance sweetness and acidity, order creatively at a bar and pair affirmations with the physical act of drinking.
Julia also reflects on pregnancy, her husband’s sobriety and the importance of recognizing when alcohol-removed products feel triggering. She shares how creating her Rose of Remembrance recipe unexpectedly helped her process grief following her father’s death—showing how an intentional drink can hold memory, emotion and healing.
This is Sisters in Sobriety, the support community that helps women change their relationship with alcohol. Check out our substack for extra tips, tricks and resources.
Julia’s Links
Website: WitchCraft Cocktails
Instagram: @witchcraftcocktail
Book: Mystical Mocktails
SIS Links
💌 Sisters In Sobriety Substack – where the magic (and the mocktail recipes) happen
📬 Sisters In Sobriety Email
📸 Sisters In Sobriety Instagram
🌐 Kathleen’s Website Kathleen does not endorse any products mentioned in this podcast
📸 Kathleen’s Instagram
Timestamped highlights
01:00 — Meet bestselling author and mixologist Julia Halina Hadas
02:00 — Making zero-proof drinks before nonalcoholic spirits were widely available
04:00 — Seeking connection and a change in feeling through drinks
06:00 — Bringing herbs and intention into mixology
07:00 — Magic, spirituality and reclaiming personal power
09:00 — Using maple and black tea to create a grounding drink
11:00 — The Rose of Remembrance recipe and processing grief
12:00 — Why yuzu can transform an alcohol-free drink
14:00 — How garnishes and aroma elevate the experience
17:00 — Mint, cucumber, strawberry, basil and rose as intentional ingredients
20:00 — Preventing tea-based mocktails from becoming watery
22:00 — Adding cardamom, cinnamon, nutmeg and clove
25:00 — The color-changing magic of butterfly pea flower
27:00 — Tea ceremonies, presence and the Jasmine Peace Potion
30:00 — Making drink preparation part of a personal ritual
32:00 — Why glassware can make an ordinary moment feel special
35:00 — The cup as a symbol of what a person welcomes into their life
39:00 — Pairing affirmations with the physical act of drinking
47:00 — How to order a more interesting mocktail at a bar
56:00 — Protecting sobriety when alcohol-removed drinks feel triggering
1 hr 2 min
August 24 The Midlife Body With Dr. Shawna Darou
Midlife can make a woman feel as though her body has suddenly changed the rules—but those changes are not a personal failure, and they are not “just aging.” In this episode of Sisters in Sobriety, Sonia and Kathleen help unpack the relationship between perimenopause, metabolic health, alcohol, blood sugar, stress and movement with Dr. Shawna Darou, ND. A naturopathic doctor with more than 20 years of experience, Dr. Darou translates complex women’s health information into clear, practical steps for building strength and vitality through midlife and beyond.
Why does alcohol suddenly hit harder in midlife? What do belly weight, brain fog, disrupted sleep, afternoon fatigue and persistent food noise reveal about insulin resistance? How can women use GLP-1 medications and continuous glucose monitors more responsibly—and why can excessive fasting or carbohydrate restriction backfire? The conversation also explores sugar cravings in early sobriety, chronic stress, menopause and the habits that support long-term metabolic health.
Dr. Darou explains why menopause is a metabolic transition, not only an estrogen transition; how alcohol interrupts nighttime blood sugar regulation and fat oxidation; and why muscle acts as a “metabolic sink.” She shares a realistic starting point: prioritize protein, add daily movement, walk after meals and build strength gradually. Flexible consistency, proper recovery and movement that feels genuinely enjoyable matter more than perfection.
Dr. Darou also shares her unexpected evolution from engineer to naturopathic doctor—and from someone who did not identify as an athlete to a competitive runner who began racing at 50. Her story challenges narrow ideas about aging and shows how confidence, community and ambitious new goals can emerge later in life.
This is Sisters in Sobriety, the support community that helps women change their relationship with alcohol. Check out our substack for extra tips, tricks and resources.
Timestamp Highlights
01:00 — Meet Dr. Shawna Darou
02:00 — From engineering to women’s health
05:00 — The pandemic’s metabolic impact
06:00 — Movement as a longevity lever
07:00 — Becoming an athlete at 49
09:00 — Why women over 40 need new possibilities
13:00 — Metabolic health beyond weight
15:00 — Early signs of metabolic dysfunction
17:00 — How insulin resistance fuels cravings
18:00 — Reversing dysfunction without diet culture
20:00 — GLP-1 benefits and risks
23:00 — Why midlife changes the rules
26:00 — Using a continuous glucose monitor responsibly
32:00 — Chronic stress and blood sugar
35:00 — What alcohol does metabolically
38:00 — Why alcohol hits harder in midlife
39:00 — Sugar cravings in early recovery
41:00 — The “yes with a boundary” approach
47:00 — Protein and post-meal movement
56:00 — Flexible consistency, intensity and recovery
Dr. Darou’s Links
Website — www.drshawnadarou.com
Instagram — @drshawnadarou
SIS Links
💌 Sisters In Sobriety Substack – where the magic (and the mocktail recipes) happen
📬 Sisters In Sobriety Email
📸 Sisters In Sobriety Instagram
🌐 Kathleen’s Website Kathleen does not endorse any products mentioned in this podcast
📸 Kathleen’s Instagram
1 hr 8 min
August 17 Getting Sober, Coming Out, and Starting Over With Braunwyn Spinner
What happens when alcohol feels like the only way to become comfortable in your own skin? In this episode, Sonia is joined by Braunwyn Spinner, advocate, mother of seven, and former Real Housewives of Orange County cast member whose sobriety unfolded in public.
How can someone go years without alcohol and still have a serious drinking problem? What changes when a social life—and a television career—is built around drinking? Braunwyn and Sonia explore relapse, alcohol withdrawal, AA and the 12 steps, sober socializing, queer recovery spaces, codependency, parenting, and the difference between avoiding alcohol and developing emotional sobriety. They also ask why getting sober can initially feel worse, how to identify the “fun limit,” and what it means to choose recovery when relationships and routines begin to change.
Their conversation makes clear that alcohol dependence is not defined only by how often a person drinks, but by what happens after the first drink. They discuss why heavy withdrawal should never be attempted alone, how independent transportation and an exit plan can protect early sobriety, and why repeatedly stopping for a few days can mean reliving the hardest stage again and again. Recovery can include community, boundaries, therapy, medication, and learning to recognize the restless “wanting” beneath substitute compulsions.
Braunwyn also shares the deeply personal story behind her first drink at 14, the moment in Miami that ended her drinking, and the sober producer who helped get her into an AA meeting when she planned to relapse. She opens up about realizing she was gay in sobriety, leaving a decades-long marriage, co-parenting, becoming more present with her children, surviving a mental health crisis, returning to television, and loosening the hold of beauty standards and the male gaze.
This is Sisters in Sobriety, the support community that helps women change their relationship with alcohol. Check out our substack for extra tips, tricks and resources.
Highlights
00:01 – Braunwyn introduces herself in a new chapter as Braunwyn Spinner
00:02 – Why her first drink made her feel comfortable in her skin
00:04 – The difference between abstinence and working a recovery program
00:05 – Why time between drinks does not rule out alcohol addiction
00:07 – How reality television accelerated her drinking
00:09 – The “God shot” that told her drinking had to end
00:12 – Sonia’s final drink and the unexpected day sobriety began
00:14 – What the first 30 days can feel like
00:16 – The sober producer who helped save Braunwyn’s life
00:19 – Finding comfort instead of judgment in AA
00:21 – Sobriety, stillness, and realizing she was gay
00:23 – Protecting early recovery with a private room, car, and exit plan
00:24 – Recognizing the sober “fun limit”
00:27 – Braunwyn’s first sober kiss with a woman
00:29 – How sobriety exposed codependency and changed her marriage
00:34 – Parenting with presence and making living amends
00:36 – Why emotional health can feel worse before it gets better
00:38 – Queer identity, religious trauma, and addiction risk
00:42 – Recognizing substitute addictions and the feeling of “wanting”
00:52 – Why giving sobriety six weeks can change everything

Braunwyn's Links
📸 Instagram
SIS Links
💌 Sisters In Sobriety Substack – where the magic (and the mocktail recipes) happen
📬 Sisters In Sobriety Email
📸 Sisters In Sobriety Instagram
🌐 Kathleen’s Website Kathleen does not endorse any products mentioned in this podcast
📸 Kathleen’s Instagram
54 min
August 10 Early Sobriety: What No One Tells You About the First 90 Days With Girl, Undrunk
Early sobriety can feel euphoric, terrifying, lonely and unexpectedly funny—sometimes all in the same day. In this episode of Sisters in Sobriety, Sonia and Kathleen explore what the first days and months without alcohol actually look like and share practical ways to manage cravings, triggers and life after rehab. They are joined by Heather Chappell and Zoe Kachan, host and co-host of Girl, Undrunk, the raw, unfiltered sobriety podcast that finds humor in the highs, lows and messiness of recovery.
What happens when someone returns from rehab to the same apartment, routines and drinking cues they left behind? How do friendships change when alcohol is no longer the thing holding them together? Heather and Zoe discuss the “rehab high,” the fear of relapse, sober community, dating without alcohol and the surprising challenge of discovering who they are when drinking is no longer shaping their personalities.
The conversation examines emotional sobriety, mental health and the slow work of developing coping skills that alcohol once replaced. Heather and Zoe explain how meetings, sponsorship, therapy, firm boundaries and supportive sober friendships helped them build safer lives. They also share simple approaches to cravings: staying in the present, following the possible consequences of a drink from beginning to end, leaving overwhelming situations and naming uncomfortable feelings out loud.
Heather and Zoe also open up about the experiences that led them to treatment, from isolation and deteriorating health to job loss, a DUI and repeated hospital visits. Their stories continue beyond getting sober, revealing the anger, trauma and relationship patterns that resurfaced in recovery. An honest discussion of sober intimacy explores how the body can carry fear even when the mind feels safe—and why patience, communication and self-trust matter while learning to date and connect without alcohol.
This is Sisters in Sobriety, the support community that helps women change their relationship with alcohol. Check out our substack for extra tips, tricks and resources.
Episode Highlights
02:00 Heather’s loneliness, anxiety and escalating drinking in New York
05:00 The call that finally took Heather to rehab
06:00 Zoe’s early drinking, drug use and need to fit in
09:00 A DUI, hospital visits and Zoe’s last attempt to start over
11:00 Leaving rehab and facing the first 90 days
12:00 Resisting an early craving at the dog park
13:00 Building a protective routine around high-risk hours
15:00 Discovering that personality and humor survive sobriety
17:00 Relearning adulthood after years of drinking
19:00 Mental health, emotional sobriety and alcohol as a coping mechanism
21:00 Meetings, sponsorship and rebuilding confidence
22:00 Therapy, anger and confronting the past without alcohol
24:00 Everyday triggers and rewiring the brain
26:00 Leaving unsafe situations and setting firm boundaries
29:00 How sobriety changes friendships
32:00 The chance meeting that brought Heather and Zoe together
40:00 Dating, relapse and protecting early recovery
44:00 Sober intimacy, dissociation and learning to trust the body
49:00 Day-one advice and how to name a craving
Girl, Undrunk Links
Instagram
SIS Links
💌 Sisters In Sobriety Substack – where the magic (and the mocktail recipes) happen
📬 Sisters In Sobriety Email
📸 Sisters In Sobriety Instagram
🌐 Kathleen’s Website Kathleen does not endorse any products mentioned in this podcast
📸 Kathleen’s Instagram
52 min
August 03 Trapped Emotions, Alcohol Cravings, and the Heart Wall With Dr. Bradley Nelson
Can unresolved emotional pain influence alcohol cravings, addictive behaviors, and the way the body experiences stress? In this episode of Sisters in Sobriety, Sonia speaks with Dr. Bradley Nelson, holistic physician and bestselling author of The Emotion Code, The Body Code, and The Heart Code, about his approach to identifying and releasing what he calls “trapped emotions.”
Why can someone understand a harmful pattern and still feel unable to change it? Could addiction be less about the substance itself and more about an attempt to soothe emotional pain? Dr. Nelson shares his perspective on the subconscious mind, biofeedback, muscle testing, alcohol cravings, and the “heart wall”—a protective emotional barrier he believes can form after heartbreak, grief, trauma, or loss.
The conversation explores how emotions may go unprocessed, how present-day triggers can connect with earlier experiences, and why Dr. Nelson views symptoms as messages rather than root causes. He demonstrates the sway test, explains the Emotion Code chart, and describes his process for narrowing down an emotion, deciding whether more context is needed, and using a magnet or hand movement to release it. These practices are presented as Dr. Nelson’s energy-healing framework and are not a substitute for evidence-based medical, mental health, or addiction care.
Dr. Nelson also opens up about the childhood experiences that shaped his path, including a serious case of measles, kidney disease, and an early encounter with holistic practitioners in rural Montana. He traces the journey from computer programmer to chiropractor and shares stories that led him to connect physical symptoms, heartbreak, compulsive behavior, and emotional healing—including accounts involving chronic pain, food cravings, and alcohol use.
This is Sisters in Sobriety, the support community that helps women change their relationship with alcohol. Check out our substack for extra tips, tricks and resources.
00:00 — Dr. Bradley Nelson and the concept of trapped emotions
02:00 — Childhood healing experiences and belief in a higher power
05:00 — From computer programming to the healing arts
06:00 — Searching for the roots of patients’ symptoms
07:00 — Addiction as a response to emotional pain
09:00 — The subconscious mind as the body’s internal computer
11:00 — Muscle testing and yes-or-no biofeedback
13:00 — How emotions may become “trapped” in the body
16:00 — Emotional baggage, anxiety, PTSD, and addictive behavior
18:00 — The overflowing-glass metaphor for emotional pain
20:00 — How the “heart wall” may relate to addiction
22:00 — Why the heart is viewed as more than a pump
26:00 — A patient story connecting heartbreak and chronic neck pain
29:00 — Introducing the ring-in-ring method and sway test
36:00 — Using the Emotion Code chart to identify an emotion
38:00 — Closing an emotional “open loop”
42:00 — How emotional baggage may drive cravings
45:00 — A story about alcohol urges and releasing the heart wall
48:00 — True healing versus symptom relief
51:00 — A small next step and where to learn more
Dr. Bradley's Links
Instagram
Website
SIS Links
💌 Sisters In Sobriety Substack – where the magic (and the mocktail recipes) happen
📬 Sisters In Sobriety Email
📸 Sisters In Sobriety Instagram
🌐 Kathleen’s Website Kathleen does not endorse any products mentioned in this podcast
📸 Kathleen’s Instagram
54 min

About Sisters In Sobriety

From the publisher's feed

You know that sinking feeling when you wake up with a hangover and think: “I’m never doing this again”? We’ve all been there. But what happens when you follow through? Sonia Kahlon and Kathleen Killen…