Ep. 238: What Is Gray Area Drinking? How To Exit The Drinking Cycle

If you’re a high-achieving, busy mom juggling a demanding career, family, and all the other responsibilities life throws your way, you may feel like you’ve been holding it all together… but with a few drinks (or a bottle of wine) at the end of each day.  If you’re used to being “on” all the time, there are a lot of hidden pressures that make giving up alcohol as your number one coping tool and “quick fix” for stress and connection difficult along the way. If you’re a high-achieving mom, managing recovery while maintaining family routines, careers, and social responsibilities can feel overwhelming.  But there are ways to create a healthy, balanced family lifestyle that supports your sobriety. I asked Sarah Allen Benton, author of Parents in Recovery, to talk with me about what it really means to be a parent in recovery and how you can thrive in both roles without sacrificing your well-being.  Sarah breaks down strategies that high-functioning parents can use to navigate sobriety successfully and create a nurturing environment for themselves and their families. 4 Ways I Can Support You In Drinking Less + Living More Join The Sobriety Starter Kit, the only sober coaching course designed specifically for busy women. My proven, step-by-step sober coaching program will teach you exactly how to stop drinking — and how to make it the best decision of your life. Save your seat in my FREE MASTERCLASS, 5 Secrets To Successfully Take a Break From Drinking  Grab the Free 30-Day Guide To Quitting Drinking, 30 Tips For Your First Month Alcohol-Free. Connect with me for free sober coaching tips, updates + videos on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and TikTok @hellosomedaysober. Connect with Sarah Allen Benton Sarah Allen Benton is a licensed Advanced Alcohol and Drug Counselor, Addiction Counselor, and Mental Health Counselor. She has been a parent in recovery from alcoholism for more than 18 years. She is co-owner of Benton Behavioral Health Consulting, LLC, offering clinical and business support services to innovative addiction and mental health companies, as well as co-owner and Chief Clinical Officer for Waterview Behavioral Health in Wallingford, CT. She holds a Master of Science in Counseling Psychology with an emphasis in Healthy Psychology from Northeastern University, Bouvé School of Health Sciences, and has worked as a therapist and clinical consultant for various addiction treatment programs, practices, and start-ups. She also worked at McLean Hospital in their dual diagnosis transitional treatment program. She is also the author of Understanding the High-Functioning Alcoholic: Breaking the Cycle and Finding Hope (2009). She lives in Killingworth, Connecticut. Learn more about Benton Behavioral Health Consulting Purchase Sarah’s book, Parents in Recovery: Navigating a Sober Family Lifestyle  at www.bentonbhc.com/books Connect with Casey McGuire Davidson To find out more about Casey and her coaching programs, head over to www.hellosomedaycoaching.com

Have you seen the “Rosé All Day” t-shirts? Or the ones that say “This Mom Runs On Coffee, Wine and Amazon Prime”?  How about the World Health Organization’s findings that “No level of alcohol consumption is safe for our health”. In this episode, I’m diving into the marketing strategies the wine industry uses to appeal directly to women and how this targeted messaging is designed to encourage women to drink problematically and why the wine industry is freaking out that the World Health Organization (who they describe as the leader of the “anti-alcohol lobby”) is having success with its message that “there is no safe amount of alcohol to drink”.   Together with Ruby Williams—a former wine industry insider and certified alcohol freedom coach—we’re peeling back the curtain on the strategies that have helped normalize alcohol as an everyday coping tool for women. 4 Ways I Can Support You In Drinking Less + Living More Join The Sobriety Starter Kit, the only sober coaching course designed specifically for busy women. My proven, step-by-step sober coaching program will teach you exactly how to stop drinking  — and how to make it the best decision of your life. Save your seat in my FREE MASTERCLASS, 5 Secrets To Successfully Take a Break From Drinking  Grab the Free 30-Day Guide To Quitting Drinking, 30 Tips For Your First Month Alcohol-Free. Connect with me for free sober coaching tips, updates + videos on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and TikTok @hellosomedaysober. Connect with Casey McGuire Davidson To find out more about Casey and her coaching programs, head over to www.hellosomedaycoaching.com

Gray area drinking is a middle ground between casual social drinking and a diagnosable alcohol use disorder, often characterized by a quiet, internal struggle with moderation. Many high-achieving women find themselves here, questioning their relationship with alcohol, yet not experiencing drastic external consequences. This space can be confusing and isolating, as it doesn’t fit traditional narratives around drinking problems.  My guest, Jolene Park, is a functional nutritionist, TEDx speaker, and creator of the Gray Area Drinking Recovery Hub shares her journey and expertise. Together, we explore what it means to live in the gray zone of drinking and the questions that come with it 4 Ways I Can Support You In Drinking Less + Living More Join The Sobriety Starter Kit, the only sober coaching course designed specifically for busy women. My proven, step-by-step sober coaching program will teach you exactly how to stop drinking — and how to make it the best decision of your life. Save your seat in my FREE MASTERCLASS, 5 Secrets To Successfully Take a Break From Drinking  Grab the Free 30-Day Guide To Quitting Drinking, 30 Tips For Your First Month Alcohol-Free. Connect with me for free sober coaching tips, updates + videos on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and TikTok @hellosomedaysober. Connect with Casey McGuire Davidson To find out more about Casey and her coaching programs, head over to www.hellosomedaycoaching.com

Managing anger is one of the most challenging, and often surprising, aspects of sobriety. If you're on the path to recovery or have recently stopped drinking, you might have noticed emotions like anger bubbling up more frequently or intensely than before. It's a normal part of the process, but it can feel overwhelming, especially when you’ve been using alcohol to numb those feelings for years. I asked my good friend Gill Tietz, host of the Sober Powered Podcast, certified anger management specialist, crisis intervention specialist and professional recovery coach, to talk about anger—what it really is, why it shows up, and how you can manage it in a way that supports your sobriety rather than jeopardizes it. 4 Ways I Can Support You In Drinking Less + Living More Join The Sobriety Starter Kit, the only sober coaching course designed specifically for busy women. My proven, step-by-step sober coaching program will teach you exactly how to stop drinking — and how to make it the best decision of your life. Save your seat in my FREE MASTERCLASS, 5 Secrets To Successfully Take a Break From Drinking  Grab the Free 30-Day Guide To Quitting Drinking, 30 Tips For Your First Month Alcohol-Free. Connect with me for free sober coaching tips, updates + videos on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and TikTok @hellosomedaysober. Connect with Casey McGuire Davidson To find out more about Casey and her coaching programs, head over to www.hellosomedaycoaching.com

If you’re trying to take a break from alcohol or quit drinking it helps a lot if you can get alcohol out of your house and stay away from drinking events for a while. And it would be great if our partners would support us, especially in early sobriety.  But if your husband is struggling with alcohol he might be unwilling to stop drinking around you, try to undermine your efforts or criticize you for not drinking.   He might miss his drinking buddy or worry how your decision to stop drinking will impact him.  Hopefully, you’re tapping into sober support and resources like this podcast, but if you’re worried about your husband’s drinking I asked Todd Kinney, author of I Didn't Believe It Either: One Dad's Discovery That Everything Is Better Without Alcohol to chat about what you can do if your husband is struggling with alcohol. 4 Ways I Can Support You In Drinking Less + Living More Join The Sobriety Starter Kit, the only sober coaching course designed specifically for busy women. My proven, step-by-step sober coaching program will teach you exactly how to stop drinking — and how to make it the best decision of your life. Save your seat in my FREE MASTERCLASS, 5 Secrets To Successfully Take a Break From Drinking  Grab the Free 30-Day Guide To Quitting Drinking, 30 Tips For Your First Month Alcohol-Free. Connect with me for free sober coaching tips, updates + videos on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and TikTok @hellosomedaysober. Connect with Casey McGuire Davidson To find out more about Casey and her coaching programs, head over to www.hellosomedaycoaching.com

Being single in sobriety has a lot of advantages and some unique challenges.  On the one hand you don’t have a partner in your home who might not support your choice to be sober, may be drinking themselves or be unwilling to remove alcohol from your house. You’ll control your own environment and have more time for self-care.  But you’ll also be surrounded by a culture that promotes dating and socializing with alcohol. Being single in sobriety can stir up feelings of loneliness or isolation, fears of dating without a social lubricant and open evenings without accountability.  On top of that, if you're like many women you've felt the pressure to pair up which can be triggering.  We’re told from a young age that the ultimate goal is to find a romantic partner, and that success in life often equates to marriage.  This narrative can lead to feelings of inadequacy if you’re single for longer than society thinks is “acceptable.”  But what if we questioned that whole narrative?  What if being single didn’t mean something was missing, but instead opened up the possibility for deep fulfillment, joy, and independence? I invited Meghan Keane, author of Party of One: Be Your Own Best Life Partner, to help us explore how to embrace being single and redefine happiness on your own terms.  4 Ways I Can Support You In Drinking Less + Living More Join The Sobriety Starter Kit, the only sober coaching course designed specifically for busy women. My proven, step-by-step sober coaching program will teach you exactly how to stop drinking — and how to make it the best decision of your life. Save your seat in my FREE MASTERCLASS, 5 Secrets To Successfully Take a Break From Drinking  Grab the Free 30-Day Guide To Quitting Drinking, 30 Tips For Your First Month Alcohol-Free. Connect with me for free sober coaching tips, updates + videos on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and TikTok @hellosomedaysober. Connect with Casey McGuire Davidson To find out more about Casey and her coaching programs, head over to www.hellosomedaycoaching.com

Have you been trying to break your habit of drinking using willpower, positive inspiration or negative, fear-based motivation by trying to avoid negative consequences?  If you haven’t been successful in your attempts to stop drinking using this approach it’s actually not your fault. Instead you've likely just been trying to make a long term behavior change in all the wrong ways.  There are easy ways and hard ways to break a habit, and research into the science of behavior change shows that willpower just doesn’t work in the long term.  In this episode I’m going to talk about how to break your habit of drinking in four simple steps - without relying on willpower or hating the process.

Are you thinking about taking a break from alcohol this Sober October? Whether you're curious about the health benefits, or just ready to reset your habits, this episode is for you. I’m here to help you explore how a month without alcohol can change your life, and why now is the perfect time to give it a try. Sober October is part of a growing movement, with millions of people worldwide taking on alcohol-free challenges like Dry January and Sober October. But what does it actually mean to join in, and how can it help you create lasting change? In this episode, I sit down with Kate Baily to dive deep into how to thrive (not just survive) during Sober October. We explore everything from how alcohol impacts your health and mindset, to practical tips for staying alcohol-free all month long. 4 Ways I Can Support You In Drinking Less + Living More Join The Sobriety Starter Kit, the only sober coaching course designed specifically for busy women. My proven, step-by-step sober coaching program will teach you exactly how to stop drinking — and how to make it the best decision of your life. Save your seat in my FREE MASTERCLASS, 5 Secrets To Successfully Take a Break From Drinking  Grab the Free 30-Day Guide To Quitting Drinking, 30 Tips For Your First Month Alcohol-Free. Connect with me for free sober coaching tips, updates + videos on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and TikTok @hellosomedaysober. Connect with Casey McGuire Davidson To find out more about Casey and her coaching programs, head over to www.hellosomedaycoaching.com

Your first year of sobriety can be uncomfortable, tender, transformational, scary and exciting. As you move from Day 1 to 365 sober, you’ll have navigated a range of emotions, challenges, triumphs and changes in your life, simply because you decided to no longer drink alcohol. In your first year of sobriety you’ll struggle with cravings, worry about how others will perceive you, wonder if you’ll feel bored or be boring, invest in self-care, make new friends, re-negotiate boundaries and relationships, feel healthier and more energized, discover new things you love, sleep like a baby, navigate challenges like business trips, vacations, couples dinners, stress, overwhelm, loss, fears and limiting beliefs.  You’ll also experience more joy, peace, pride, confidence, clarity, ease and happiness than you ever did when you were drinking. Your first sober year is a wild ride, and when you hit that one year milestone you might not even recognize the person you were and the emotions you felt when you were just trying to get one week alcohol-free under your belt. That was true for Emily, a high-achieving working woman who decided to take a break from drinking one year ago and has never looked back. Despite being mostly a weekend drinker without outward consequences or anyone telling her she had a problem with alcohol, Emily knew it was dragging her down, keeping her stuck and preventing her from living her best life. 4 Ways I Can Support You In Drinking Less + Living More Join The Sobriety Starter Kit, the only sober coaching course designed specifically for busy women. My proven, step-by-step sober coaching program will teach you exactly how to stop drinking — and how to make it the best decision of your life. Save your seat in my FREE MASTERCLASS, 5 Secrets To Successfully Take a Break From Drinking  Grab the Free 30-Day Guide To Quitting Drinking, 30 Tips For Your First Month Alcohol-Free. Connect with me for free sober coaching tips, updates + videos on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and TikTok @hellosomedaysober. Connect with Casey McGuire Davidson To find out more about Casey and her coaching programs, head over to www.hellosomedaycoaching.com

Do you fear it’ll be boring? That you’ll miss out on fun or connection? Maybe you’re worried that you’ll feel isolated or like you’re giving something up. Those fears are super common, but let me show you how sober life can actually be full of joy, freedom, and personal growth—especially for high-achieving, busy women. Living a sober life is often painted as something dull or difficult, but the reality is so much more exciting and fulfilling than most of us imagine. When you remove alcohol from the equation, you start to experience life in a way that’s more vibrant and meaningful. Whether it’s waking up clear-headed, fully present with your kids, or finally having the energy to pursue those dreams you’ve put on hold, sobriety opens doors you didn’t even know existed. So, what are you waiting for? Dive into this episode to learn how sober life could be the best decision you ever make—for yourself and the people you love. 4 Ways I Can Support You In Drinking Less + Living More Join The Sobriety Starter Kit, the only sober coaching course designed specifically for busy women. My proven, step-by-step sober coaching program will teach you exactly how to stop drinking — and how to make it the best decision of your life. Save your seat in my FREE MASTERCLASS, 5 Secrets To Successfully Take a Break From Drinking  Grab the Free 30-Day Guide To Quitting Drinking, 30 Tips For Your First Month Alcohol-Free. Connect with me for free sober coaching tips, updates + videos on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and TikTok @hellosomedaysober. Connect with Casey McGuire Davidson To find out more about Casey and her coaching programs, head over to www.hellosomedaycoaching.com