Ep. 281: You Stopped Drinking…He Didn’t. How Sobriety Might Change Your Marriage

The Hello Someday Podcast For Sober Curious Women

Casey McGuire Davidson: Sober Coach

Education, Self-improvement, Health & Fitness, Mental Health

4.9 • 752 Ratings

🗓️ 28 August 2025

⏱️ 57 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

One of the most common questions I hear from women who stop drinking is: “What happens to my marriage if my spouse still drinks?” If your partner was your “drinking buddy” for years, it’s natural to wonder what changes when you decide to go alcohol-free. Will you lose connection? Will intimacy or date nights feel different? What if your partner doesn’t want to quit? In this episode, I asked Kelley Kitley, a licensed clinical social worker, therapist, and author of MY self, to join me in an honest conversation about how our marriages shifted when we quit drinking and our husbands didn’t. Between us, we’ve got decades of marriage, parenting, and sobriety experience—and we’re sharing what worked, what was challenging, and how sobriety actually brought more peace and authenticity into our homes. For the full shownotes, kindly go to this podcast episode link: https://hellosomedaycoaching.com/you-stopped-drinking-he-didnt-how-sobriety-might-change-your-marriage/ 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. Love The Podcast and Want To Say Thanks? ☕ Buy me a coffee! In the true spirit of Seattle, coffee is my love language. So if you want to support the hours that go into creating this show each week, click this link to buy me a coffee and I’ll run to the nearest Starbucks + lift a Venti Almond Milk Latte and toast to you! https://www.buymeacoffee.com/hellosomeday 💕 Support the sponsors of The Hello Someday Podcast You can find all the special discounts mentioned on the show right here: https://hellosomedaycoaching.com/sponsors/ Leave me a rating and review on Apple Podcasts!⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ I read every single review and they really help the podcast algorithm decide to share my show with a wider audience. Just click here, scroll below the latest episodes, and you’ll see the link to “rate and review this podcast”. I’ll be forever grateful to hear from you and to read reviews like this one from Laura, “I’ve listened to so many sober podcasts and The Hello Someday Podcast is by far THE BEST Sobriety Podcast out there for women. This podcast was key to me quitting alcohol. Casey’s practical tips and tricks are invaluable, with advice I haven’t heard anywhere else. If I could give this podcast 27 stars I would!!” Connect with Casey McGuire Davidson To find out more about Casey and her coaching programs, head over to www.hellosomedaycoaching.com

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to the Hello Sunday podcast, the podcast for busy women who are ready to drink less and live more.
0:10.2	I'm Casey McGuire Davidson, ex-red wine girl turned life coach, helping women create lives they love without alcohol.
0:18.4	But it wasn't that long ago that I was anxious, overwhelmed, and drinking a bottle
0:23.1	of wine a night to unwind. I thought that wine was the glue, holding my life together,
0:28.6	helping me cope with my kids, my stressful job, and my busy life. I didn't realize that my love
0:35.0	affair with drinking was making me more anxious and less able to
0:39.2	manage my responsibilities. In this podcast, my goal is to teach you the tried and true secrets
0:45.5	of creating and living a life you don't want to escape from. Each week, I'll bring you tools,
0:52.1	lessons, and conversations to help you drink less and live more.
0:56.6	I'll teach you how to navigate our drinking-obsessed culture without a buzz,
1:01.0	how to sit with your emotions when you're lonely or angry, frustrated, or overwhelmed,
1:06.9	how to self-soothe without a drink, and how to turn the decision to stop drinking from your
1:12.6	worst case scenario to the best decision of your life. I am so glad you're here. Now let's get
1:19.2	started. Hey there, this is Casey. Welcome back. I'm excited about our episode today because it's something that comes up with so many women I talk with, which is if your partner was your drinking buddy, if you've been drinking together for years, how will your relationship, how will parenting, how will intimacy change once one of you decides to stop drinking? My guest today is Kelly Kittley, and she and I have
1:48.1	very similar stories in terms of our marriages, our partnerships, are drinking, and when we
1:53.9	stop drinking. So I thought this would be a really interesting conversation. She's a licensed
2:00.2	clinical social worker and owns serendipitous psychotherapy. She's a licensed clinical social worker and owns serendipitous psychotherapy.
2:04.7	She's written an award-winning Amazon bestselling autobiography myself and produced a short film,
2:11.8	Gray Area, adapted from the book. It's won 12 awards for social change. She's a go-to national mental health expert and has
2:20.9	contributed to over 700 TV segments. She's a wife of over 20 years, has four teenagers, and has been
2:28.8	alcohol-free for 12 years. So congratulations and welcome. Thank you so much for having me. It's great to be here.
2:35.8	Well, so to start off, why don't you just tell us a little bit about you and your story?
	...

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