What happens when the thing you're most afraid to lose is also the thing quietly costing you everything? Anne grew up in a home where five o'clock cocktails were as reliable as the sunset. Drinking was culture, celebration, and comfort, and for a long time, it felt completely earned. But through two pregnancies, her parents' declining health, and eventually losing both of them, a bottle a night became two. A blackout fight with her husband, one she has zero memory of, became the moment she couldn't look away anymore. She found This Naked Mind, joined The Path in October 2023, and started doing the unglamorous daily work. "Looking back, I can see how I rewired my mindset around drinking," Anne says. "It was subtle. It just got a little easier and a little easier." Two and a half years later, she's present, she's lucid at 11:30 PM when her kids need her, and she's collecting memories she actually gets to keep.
In this episode, Anne and Coach Cole talk about:
The family culture that made drinking feel normal, necessary, and completely deserved
Losing both parents, leaning harder on wine, and the night a blackout broke through the denial
Why Anne chose The Path over rehab — and what drew her to TNM's nonjudgmental approach
How journaling and questioning her own thoughts slowly dismantled beliefs she'd never examined
Being the parent who's awake and present at 11:30 PM — and why that changed everything
Open, honest conversations with her teenage sons about alcohol and family history
Natural highs from tennis wins, ski trips, and family dinners that beat any buzz she remembers
And more on trading old problems for ones she's genuinely glad to have...
Episode links: nakedmindpath.com
Related Episodes:
How To Rewire Your Brain To Stop Drinking| Meet Our Coaches | E827 - https://thisnakedmind.com/how-to-rewire-your-brain-to-stop-drinking-e827/
How To Talk To Your Kids About Alcohol | Interview | EP523 - https://thisnakedmind.com/ep-523-how-to-talk-to-your-kids-about-alcohol-with-scott-pinyard-and-tnm-parents/
What Do You Do About Missing the “High” from Drinking? | Reader Question | EP 20 - https://thisnakedmind.com/ep-20-reader-question-what-do-you-do-about-missing-the-high-from-drinking/
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This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp, Green Chef, OSEA, Quince, and Shopify. BetterHelp: BetterHelp is offering our listeners 10% off at betterhelp.com/nakedmind Green Chef: Green Chef is offering 50% off your first month, then 20% off for two months at greenchef.com/nakedmind use code NAKEDMIND. OSEA: Get 10% off of your first order sitewide with code NAKEDMIND at OSEAMalibu.com Quince: get free shipping and 365-day returns at quince.com/naked Shopify: Sign up for $1 month trial at shopify.com/mind
