Say goodbye to blame and shame, and hello to an impactful, inspired life.
You’re looking forward to the day your relationship with alcohol changes — for good. Because right now you’re feeling worn out, frustrated, and worried that you’ll never be able to remove the control alcohol seems to have over you.
You’re tired of negotiating with yourself about how much is okay to drink and whether or not you should have any alcohol at all.
You’re tired of using it as a crutch as you deal with stress from work, anxiety about your aging parents, or loneliness after dealing with a divorce or an empty nest as your children become adults.
What you want is to feel fully present in your life. You want to embrace this new chapter and make space for all the possibilities that come your way. And you want to do it now.
I’m here to tell you it’s possible.
Hi, I'm Susan Joy, M.S.
I understand the emotions that you're feeling right now because of both my own experience seeking an alcohol-free life and my education in counseling and coaching.
Like so many people, my college days were spent learning and studying and my college weekends were spent drinking and partying.
As I grew older, alcohol became a facet of all social situations, and at the time, I felt like I had my drinking under control...until I didn't. I was a moderate, "gray area" drinker who experienced a rock bottom I could never have imagined.
After facing life-changing consequences, I realized the traditional model of recovery was never going to work for me. I was not powerless and I did not view myself as having a disease. I found the work of Annie Grace and her ground-breaking, science-based approach to changing your relationship with alcohol.
It took time, effort, and finding this new approach to find freedom from alcohol, and I'm proud to now be living an alcohol-free life.
During my journey, I learned that I couldn't simply change my actions and behaviors in order to stop drinking.
First, I needed to understand the role that I had given alcohol in my life. To do that, I needed to examine my knowledge, emotions, and subconscious beliefs in order to remove my desire for alcohol.
And it worked.
It’s not just my personal experiences that help me to understand my client’s perspectives so well.
My master’s degree in counseling from Austin Peay State University, coupled with an alcohol-track life coaching certification from This Naked Mind Institute and a health coaching certification from the Institute of Integrative Nutrition makes me perfectly suited to meet every client exactly where they’re at.
I have a special interest in working with sober-curious women who are experiencing midlife psychological, biological, and social transitions. Dealing with divorce, a newly empty nest, aging parents, and career changes can prove very overwhelming and complicate your relationship with alcohol even further.
When I’m not working one-on-one with clients, you’ll find me practicing yoga and spending time with my golden retriever Maggie, a former certified therapy dog who enjoyed her work very much. Unfortunately, she was forced into early retirement as she wasn’t able to practice her therapy skills during the pandemic. She’s enjoying her doggy days off, though you may notice that Maggie tries to make sneak appearances during our video conferencing sessions — she still loves working with people.
I believe...
01
Everyone can make their own choice about the role alcohol plays in their life. For some people, that will mean abstaining and embracing an alcohol-free life. Others may feel more sober curious and want to attempt mindful drinking or slowly removing alcohol from their experiences.
02
Change is most sustainable with positive emotion. There’s no need to beat yourself up with shame, blame, or guilt about your current or previous relationship with alcohol. The small steps you’re taking now to make alcohol irrelevant in your life will create lasting and immense change over time.
03
The journey to freedom from alcohol begins with what’s in your mind. When you uncover the subconscious beliefs you hold around alcohol, you can transform the emotions and thought processes behind them, which in turn makes it easier to change your behavior and actions.
The thing is, there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to becoming alcohol free. But there are universal transformations for those who do commit to taking control back and removing the desire for alcohol from their lives.