Parenting, Anxiety, and the Power of Asking Why | Where Are They Now | E850

This Naked Mind Podcast

Annie Grace

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

4.7 • 2.7K Ratings

🗓️ 1 November 2025

⏱️ 61 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Are you struggling with learning how to cope as a special needs parent when alcohol has been your go-to for years? Amy once felt the same way—thinking wine was the only way to take the edge off. But during a 30-day alcohol experiment, she uncovered something surprising: her drinking had less to do with parenting challenges and more to do with old coping patterns she’d carried for years. In this Where Are They Now chat with Coach Hayley, Amy opens up about how going alcohol-free has helped her show up differently as a mom, let go of micromanaging, and even lean back into supporting the very community she once wanted to escape. In this episode, Amy and Hayley catch up on: How Amy's "sneaky" relationship with alcohol masked deeper coping patterns Why The Alcohol Experiment was just the beginning of her real transformation How to cope as a special needs parent by addressing root causes, not just symptoms Why her drinking habits had nothing to do with special needs parenting challenges Learning to feel emotions instead of shoving them down with alcohol and other substances Shifting from anxiety-driven micromanagement to mindful, empowered parenting Applying the same "why" questions to break patterns with sugar, caffeine, and social media Professionally reinvesting in supporting individuals with diagnoses after her transformation And more… Episode links: Start Your Alcohol Experiment - www.alcoholexperiment.com Related Episodes: Special Needs and Drinking - Amy’s Naked Life -E313 - https://thisnakedmind.com/ep-313-naked-life-story-amy-m/ From Isolation to Connection: Finding Your Way Alcohol-Free - Alcohol Freedom Coaching - E825 - https://thisnakedmind.com/feeling-lost-after-quitting-drinking-e825/ Sharing Your Personal Journey with Alcohol: A Guide to Honest Conversations and Healing Connections - Reader’s Question - E620 - https://thisnakedmind.com/ep-618-readers-question-annie-graces-tips-for-dealing-with-family-members-who-continue-to-drink-2/ Ready to take the next step on your journey? Visit https://learn.thisnakedmind.com/podcast-resources for free resources, programs, and more. Until next week, stay curious! Quince For your next trip, treat yourself to the luxe upgrades you deserve from Quince. Go to Quince.com/naked for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns Hungryroot Get 40% off your first box + a free item for life at Hungryroot.com/nakedmind with code nakedmind Shopify: Sign up for your one-dollar-per-month trial and start selling today at Shopify.com/mind Cozy Earth Black Friday came early at Cozy Earth! Stack my code NAKEDMIND with their sitewide sale for up to 40% off.

Transcript

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0:00.0	You're listening to This Naked Mind with Annie Grace.
0:13.0	Welcome, Amy to Where Are They Now? Thank you so much for joining me. I am so excited to connect with you.
0:22.5	We have just briefly spoke prior to this. And I can tell this is going to be just a really,
0:27.5	really great episode. I know that your story has inspired so many, not only moms, special
0:34.0	needs moms, and just when it came to changing your relationship with alcohol around the time
0:38.4	of COVID there's so many layers to your story and you dropped so many golden nuggets of wisdom
0:44.9	and I'm just so excited to connect with you see how things have been going since so I just want to
0:49.7	say welcome first and foremost. Thank you. Thank you, Haley. And now I need to go back and listen to that
0:55.2	podcast. I'd like to know what nuggets of wisdom there might have come from the journey. So I'm
1:00.5	glad for the opportunity to share because I feel as though starting with a 30-day experiment,
1:07.1	that's what I did. And it's been a gift to me of self-discovery and strength and reflection and I am
1:16.1	in no way the same person that entered this whole thing this 30-day experiment all those years
1:22.0	ago so I welcome the opportunity to talk about it oh so excited and it yeah self it, yeah, self-discovery strength. And I,
1:29.5	as I listened to you and Annie talking, and she mentioned the word survivor. And you're just
1:34.3	so incredibly resilient. And I, again, I'm just really excited to dive in. And I know some of our
1:41.0	listeners have heard and maybe some of them haven't heard. And like you said,
1:45.1	I've got to go back and listen. But if you just want to touch back a little bit on your story from
1:49.4	where you started and diving into that 30 day experiment and what kind of led you to that point.
1:54.8	I can. Sure. I remember, Annie had asked me, you know, what was your story with alcohol?
2:01.8	What was your relationship?
2:03.2	And the first thing that came into my mind was, well, it was sneaky.
2:07.1	It wasn't this full-blown thing that the whole world would know.
	...

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