I was one of the most therapized people you've ever met.

I knew my triggers. I'd unpacked my daddy issues, my relationship with my mom, my insecurity, my eating disorders, problems in my marriage. I cognitively understood what triggered me and why I wanted to drink so much.

And that did fuck-all to reduce my cravings.

Which is how I know that awareness isn't enough. Understanding the pattern doesn't break the pattern. And talk therapy—as valuable as it is—didn't change how I felt in my body.

Today's guest is Dr. Amanda Hanson, a clinical psychologist who spent the first half of her 27-year career practicing traditional therapy—until she realized all that talking wasn't actually helping women change. What she discovered instead will completely transformed how you think about emotions, nervous system regulation, and why so many of us numb instead of feel.

We go deep in this conversation. We talk about why women are taught to source their safety outside of themselves—and what happens when you stop. We talk about the rage release practice that cracked me open at her retreat. We talk about aging, beauty, and the cultural scam that keeps women distracted from their real power. And we talk about what it actually takes to stop abandoning yourself.

If you've done the therapy, read the books, understand your patterns—and you're still stuck—this episode is going to show you what's missing.

In this episode, we cover:

→ Why traditional talk therapy often isn't enough to change behavior

→ The difference between being emotionally dysregulated and being fully alive

→ How self-abandonment leads to numbing (wine, food, scrolling)

→ What a rage release and grief release practices look like

→ How to give yourself the things you've been waiting for someone else to give you

→ Aging, beauty, and refusing to be complicit in a system designed to keep women small

Dr. Amanda Hanson is a clinical psychologist with 27 years of experience who now works with women in ways radically different from her traditional training. She is the host of the podcast Things Your Mother Never Told You and creator of the Magnetic retreat experience.

Find her on Instagram @midlife.muse or at AmandaHanson.com

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 raw, surprising takeaway from a recent retreat — one that had nothing to do with learning new concepts and everything to do with experiencing her body in a new way.

What began as deep discomfort around words like sensuality and sexual energy opened into a realization many women quietly live with: when you've been taught to fear, suppress, or perform your body for others, you often shut down far more than sexuality — you shut down joy, creativity, pleasure, and aliveness. And when that energy stays blocked, the body looks for relief wherever it can find it.

Colleen explores how drinking, numbing, and emotional shutdown aren't moral failures or cravings for "bad behavior," but attempts to regulate trapped energy in a body that hasn't felt safe to move, express, or feel. She explains the difference between processing trauma cognitively and liberating energy physically — and why movement, music, and instinctive expression can unlock more healing than insight alone.

🔑 Key Takeaways

• Why blocked sensual and creative energy often shows up as numbness or drinking
  
  

• How purity culture and performative sexuality disconnect women from their bodies
  
  

• The difference between sexual energy and sexual behavior
  
  

• Why movement is a powerful form of emotional regulation
  
  

• How suppressing instinctive expression drains energy and joy
  
  

• Why healing doesn't always come from "working through it" — sometimes it comes from moving through it
  
  

• How reconnecting with your body creates relief without numbing

This episode is about reclaiming your body as your own — not for a partner, not for performance, not for approval — but as a source of power, pleasure, and presence. It's a reminder that the body doesn't want to be fixed — it wants to be seen and felt.

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

I woke up a little hungover this morning. I had a third glass of wine I didn't need. And instead of spiraling into shame, I did what I always do now—I grabbed my journal and got curious.

In this episode, I'm walking you through exactly what I do the morning after I drink too much. The four mindset tools that set me up to learn instead of spiral into shame. The journaling framework I use to extract the lesson. And what I discovered about why my mind and body were out of sync.

But I'm also being honest: this process only works if you're in a certain place in your journey. If shame and frustration are still running the show, this episode might feel overwhelming. If that's you, I'll explain what to do instead.

What I cover:

→ Why another drink feels like a good idea when your nervous system is stressed

→ The four mindset tools you need to expand your perspective so you can extract a valuable lesson

→ How to tell the difference between your conscious intentions and subconscious habits

→ Why willpower doesn't work when you're dysregulated

→ What to do if this process feels impossible (you've got to clear the shame first)

→ The four phases of this journey and how to know where you are

This episode is for you if:

• You tend to overdrink and you're tired of the shame spiral

• You want to actually learn from your mistakes so you can stop repeating them

• You're curious about what it looks like to change your drinking without white-knuckling

• You want to understand why some approaches work for some people and not others

• You're ready to figure out where you are in your journey and what you actually need

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