The Bubble Hour

Tina lives in Sweden and travels frequently for her work in television. She joins Jean for an interview from the road to share her story and perspectives on recovery. Tina will share her personal story, and reflect on the drinking norms in her region as well as insights on the local recovery community and attitudes regarding sobriety.  Learn her strategies for staying sober while staying in hotels and what it was like for her to visit LA recently for a recovery conference.

Welcome to Season 7 of The Bubble Hour. Since January can be a time of new recovery for so many, Jean shares recent recordings of conversations with women in the earliest days of their sobriety.  

Andrea Owen is an author, mentor, and professional certified life coach who helps high-achieving women let go of perfectionism, control, and isolation and choosing courage and confidence instead. She has helped thousands of women manage their inner-critic to create loving connections and live their most kick-ass life. She is the proud author of How To Stop Feeling Like Shit: 14 Habits That Are Holding You Back From Happiness (Seal Press/Hachette Books) which has been translated into 16 languages, as well as her inaugural book, 52 Ways to Live a Kick-Ass Life: BS Free Wisdom to Ignite Your Inner Badass and Live the Life You Deserve, (Adams Media/Simon & Schuster). When she’s not juggling her full coaching practice or hosting retreats, Andrea is busy competing in triathlons, chasing her 11-year-old son and 9-year-old daughter or making out with her husband, Jason. She is also a retired roller derby player having skated under the name “Veronica Vain”. Learn more about Andrea at http://yourkickasslife.com 

As a young mom home-schooling four children, Kelly found within herself a deep passion for teaching and life-long learning. When her children grew and everything changed, she recognized a need to focus on her own life and attend to nuturing her sobriety and recovery. In time, the two threads became woven together and Kelly now combines education and recovery to help other women learn to take back their power and thrive without alcohol and other problematic forms of coping. Kelly pursued Karuna Training, a contemplative psychology program, and has now moved into the graduate stream. She is a She Recovers Recovery Coach, one of only 3 to receive the prestigious "Signature" designation, and is the administrator of the SheRecovers Together online group, a private support group with over 2000 members. Kelly operates Shining Bright Recovery, where she helps women from around the world take charge of their recovery through coaching and personal support. Kelly also organizes and facilitates a monthly SheRecovers Sh

Today, most of us associate the name Betty Ford with the world-famous addiciton treatment centre in California. But there are so many ways that the life of this remarkable woman has influenced each of us, by advancing the causes of women's rights, speaking openly about taboo subjects like breat cancer, abortion, and premarital sex, and most notably to being the naitonal conversation about drug and alcohol addiction. Though much has changed since Betty Ford took to the national spotlight in the 1970s, there is still so far to go. Author Lisa McCubbin helps us understand the life that continues to radiate hope and light. Learn more about LIsa's work at www.lisamccubbin.com

It is important to mark and celebrate milestones in recovery and there are may ways to do so. Emily has chosen to acknowledge her sixth-month mark by sharing her story here. She is celebrating by giving service to others in a way she has found helpful in her own recovery. Listen in to hear Emily reflect on the experiences and lessons of life after alcohol in the first six months.

If the writing is on the wall, is there any reason to continue until things get worse? Kate found herself in a troublesome relationship with alcohol and realized she didn't have to take it any further in the wrong direction. There is a downside to deciding on abstinence without a "rock bottom" incident, though, and that can be staying motivated for the long haul. Listen in for Kate's take on things, and how her perception has shifted looking back. Kate's blog is https://westcoastk8blog.wordpress.com/

Laura is a busy wife and mom with a PR consulting business who writes about recovery on her blog www.quitwining.com. She is also a community contributor for today.com and huffpost.com.   Sober since 2014, Laura is dedicated to helping others and has become a recovery coach to further her ability to share the freedom she has found in sober living.

Taylor's recovery from alcohol addiction revealed many other ways that pain was showing up in her life: struggles with weight, grief, relationship troubles, overachieving, perfectionism, and anxiety all turned out to be connected. The more she heals, the more she learns about herself

Cathy Taughinbaugh helps parents and family members of young adults who struggle with addiction. We will hear about how Cathy has chosen to make this field her life's work and what we all need to know about helping the young people in our lives. And, as always, we are likely to learn a little more about ourselves in the process. Cathy's website is www.cathytaughinbaugh.com

Full of humour and insights, "How to be Perfect LIke Me" follows up on Dana's recovery story in "Bottled: A Mom's Guide to Early Recovery" Dana will discuss relapse, writing about recovery as a healing tool, and all she has learned about getting and staying sober. To read more about Dana and order her books, visit https://momsieblog.com/

A "normie" by all appearances throughout her life, the unstructured freedom of retirement caused a shift in Ella's drinking pattern that triggered a pattern of addiction and spiral out of control. Listening to podcasts became such an important supplement to Ella's traditional 12-step program that she wanted to give back by sharing her story. Though not comfortable appearing on air herself, Ella took the time to write her journey in letter form.   

Sara is a therapist who has been alcohol-free for three months. She reflects on what has made the difference after unsuccessful attempts in the past, and why people in the mental health profession may feel additional shame and stigma in recovery.

Dr Dawn Nickel, co-founder of SheRecovers, has over two decades of recovery and has helped thousands of women find their way to a better life. Along the way, her perspective has shifted and grown, as each person she encounters has shaped her understanding of what it truly means to be "in recovery".  Host Jean asks Dawn some difficult questions about the harder aspects of recovery - accepting the choices of others with whom we may disagree, how to be supportive of someone who relapses while staying on our own side of the street, and how recovery from one maladaptive coping skill can infuence other aspects of life.

Jean and Erin W continue their conversation from the previous week, only Erin turns the tables and puts Jean on the hotseat as the guest. They touch on using the word "alcoholic" as a label, having enough, being enough, imposter syndrome, the theme song (aka Jean's singer-songwriter days), Jean's dream guest, and more.

Erin W is tired of being silent about the imperfections of life and done being quiet about life after alcohol. No more playing it small. She shares her perspectives and insights on the SheRecovers Blog, where she is managing editor and lead writer. https://sherecovers.co/blog/

Recovery touches many aspects of our life and often people find that when they quit drinking, seemingly unrelated parts of life are impacted by the process. The same can be true in reverse order, and this has been the experience of Victoria who has found that a diagnosis of breast cancer and the ensuing treatment has given her a new energy and determination to kick alcohol for good.  

Brid is a fitness professional, wife and mother of two who lives in Ireland. She blogs about life after alcohol at www.melivingfree.ie and hopes to bring a new energy and message of hope to women in Ireland who are struggling to find recovery in an alcogenic culture.  

Jean stuck her phone into her lifejacket and chatted away while paddling across a pristine lake in the Canadian woodlands. Enjoy this brief episode! To see footage of her adventure, pop over to www.unpickledblog.com

Marie had gone without alcohol for years, but out of the blue let it back into her life. When she quit drinking for the second time, she discovered a whole new world of resources on the internet and realied she had never used sobriety as an opportunity to heal and change. The difference in her life has been remarkable and Marie will share insights that have helped her understand what is behind her need for comfort in the form of alcohol and how she has learned to live differently.