The Catholic Sobriety Podcast

Every summer, millions of women tell themselves the same thing: "I'll deal with this after Labor Day."
And every fall, they're right back where they started.
In this episode, Christie makes the case that summer isn't the worst time to do this work — it's actually the best. The barbecues, the girls trips, the family reunions, the cooler full of White Claw at every single event from June through August? That's not the obstacle. That's the laboratory.
If you're a Catholic woman who loves Jesus, keeps her life together in almost every area, but has this one habit that doesn't quite line up with who you know you're called to be — this episode is for you.
In this episode:
Why "I'll start after summer" is the habit talking — not wisdom
How your brain is already craving before you've made a single decision (and why that's not weakness)
Why summer's social pressure is actually the fastest path to lasting change
What God might be doing in the seasons that feel most inconvenient
Three things you can do right now — before the next barbecue
Mentioned in this episode:
The Sober(ish) Summer Challenge is coming back this year — and Christie is making it better. Registration isn't open yet, but if this episode resonated, stay close. She'll let you know the moment doors open.
→ Follow Christie on Instagram: @thecatholicsobrietycoach
 → Subscribe so you don't miss the announcement
This podcast is for you if:
You don't identify as an alcoholic but you know something's off. You're disciplined, faithful, and quietly non-negotiable about your evening wine. You've tried to cut back. It worked for a while. And now there's a low hum of something — shame, confusion, frustration — that follows you around.
You're in the right place.
About Christie:
Christie Walker is a Catholic sobriety coach and content creator who has been alcohol-free for 29 years. She works with Catholic women in the gray area — not rock bottom, not fine — using a framework built on Catholic faith, identity in Christ, inner healing, and neuroscience. 
Her coaching programs include the Sober(ish) Summer Challenge, the Sacred Sobriety Lab, and the Sacred Sobriety Kickstart (a free 5-video series for women ready to take a first step).

Know someone who needs to hear this? Send her this episode. It might be the kindest thing you do for her all summer.
Drop us a Question or Comment
👉🏻 Get started with my FREE 5-Day Sacred Sobriety Kick Start
https://the-catholic-sobriety-coach.myflodesk.com/5-day-sobriety-kick-start
👉🏻 Book a Clarity Call
https://app.paperbell.com/checkout/packages/38683

Visit my Website: https://thecatholicsobrietycoach.com

Abby is a wife, mom, and Sacred Sobriety Lab member who has been alcohol-free for 232 days. But before that number, there were six attempts at cutting back — each one unraveling the same way, one exception at a time.
In this episode, Abby walks us through what her drinking actually looked like at its peak, why moderation kept failing her, and what shifted when she stopped trying to manage alcohol on her own terms and instead responded to what she felt God asking of her.
We talk about the mental chatter that follows a drinker everywhere — the planning, the negotiating, the stopping at three and being furious about it — and what it felt like when that chatter finally went quiet.
We also get into the Kentucky Derby party where Abby caught herself smiling so hard she couldn't contain it. The mocktail called The Chauffeur. Going to Confession. And what happened in the eight months after her last drink that she never could have orchestrated on her own.
This is the first time I've had a client on this podcast. It won't be the last.
If you're a Catholic woman who's tired of the mental gymnastics and suspects this is about more than wine — this episode is worth your time.
Drop us a Question or Comment
If you have ever...
Struggled with the social pressures associated with alcohol use.
Felt isolated, alone, and unsure of how to break the cycle.
Experienced shame and frustration after drinking.
Told yourself, “I’ll never get this. It’s no use.”
Then this 5-Day Sacred Sobriety Kick Start is for you! 
Each day, you’ll receive a short video with simple tasks to help you analyze your drinking habits with clarity.

👉🏻 Get started with my FREE 5-Day Sacred Sobriety Kick Start
https://the-catholic-sobriety-coach.myflodesk.com/5-day-sobriety-kick-start
👉🏻 Book a Clarity Call
https://app.paperbell.com/checkout/packages/38683

Visit my Website: https://thecatholicsobrietycoach.com

Christie pulls back the curtain on her four coaching pillars — Catholic faith, neuroscience, inner healing, and identity in Christ — and shares the personal journey behind each one. Nearly three decades sober, she walks through why she built her coaching approach the way she did, what she wishes she'd known sooner, and why she believes this framework works. If you've ever felt like something was missing from your sobriety journey, this episode is for you.
Resources mentioned: Encounter School of Ministry, Be Healed by Dr. Bob Schuchts, Unbound by Neal Lozano, John 10:10
Drop us a Question or Comment
👉🏻 Get started with my FREE 5-Day Sacred Sobriety Kick Start
https://the-catholic-sobriety-coach.myflodesk.com/5-day-sobriety-kick-start
👉🏻 Book a Clarity Call
https://app.paperbell.com/checkout/packages/38683

Visit my Website: https://thecatholicsobrietycoach.com

Have you ever walked past something — a park, a pair of tiny shoes, a photo on the fridge — and felt that sudden ache of a season that's gone? That's where this episode starts. Christie was walking her dog when she passed a neighborhood park where her boys used to play, and the grief hit her out of nowhere.
Not grief over something bad. Grief over something beautiful that simply isn't anymore.
And then her brain did what it always does — it connected it to you. To the women she works with who are afraid to let go of alcohol because they're grieving it before they've even quit.
In this episode, Christie unpacks why that grief is real, what you're actually going to miss (and what you're not), and the one reframe that changes everything: drinking didn't make you more yourself. Untangling yourself from alcohol will.

IN THIS EPISODE
Why grief is a completely normal — and actually appropriate — part of letting go of alcohol
The park moment: Nathan, Andrew, and Ben, and what one walk taught Christie about missing a season
The minivan reel that broke her heart a little (you've seen it, you know the one)
What you're really going to miss vs. what you think you're going to miss — and why those are very different things
The identity lie: why so many women drink to feel like themselves, and why it's working against them
The neuroscience of why alcohol feels like relief — and why that feeling is a trick
What it looks like when a woman finally comes back into focus
Permission to grieve AND keep going
Drop us a Question or Comment
If you have ever...
Struggled with the social pressures associated with alcohol use.
Felt isolated, alone, and unsure of how to break the cycle.
Experienced shame and frustration after drinking.
Told yourself, “I’ll never get this. It’s no use.”
Then this 5-Day Sacred Sobriety Kick Start is for you! 
Each day, you’ll receive a short video with simple tasks to help you analyze your drinking habits with clarity.

👉🏻 Get started with my FREE 5-Day Sacred Sobriety Kick Start
https://the-catholic-sobriety-coach.myflodesk.com/5-day-sobriety-kick-start
👉🏻 Book a Clarity Call
https://app.paperbell.com/checkout/packages/38683

Visit my Website: https://thecatholicsobrietycoach.com

What if the reason changing your relationship with alcohol feels like a constant fight is because you're using the wrong strategy entirely? In this episode, Christie draws on her own story — 29 years of living alcohol-free, a faith journey that transformed her identity, and years of coaching Catholic women — to unpack the difference between behavior management and identity-based change. This isn't about willpower. It's about who you actually are. And that changes everything.
Topics Covered:
Why willpower was never designed to carry this weight long-term
What identity actually means — and how your brain uses it
Christie's personal story and the conviction that changed everything
The Catholic theology of identity that makes this more than just a strategy
What identity-based change looks like on an ordinary Tuesday night
One question to take with you this week
The Catholic Sobriety Podcast | Christie Walker
Drop us a Question or Comment
If you have ever...
Struggled with the social pressures associated with alcohol use.
Felt isolated, alone, and unsure of how to break the cycle.
Experienced shame and frustration after drinking.
Told yourself, “I’ll never get this. It’s no use.”
Then this 5-Day Sacred Sobriety Kick Start is for you! 
Each day, you’ll receive a short video with simple tasks to help you analyze your drinking habits with clarity.

👉🏻 Get started with my FREE 5-Day Sacred Sobriety Kick Start
https://the-catholic-sobriety-coach.myflodesk.com/5-day-sobriety-kick-start
👉🏻 Book a Clarity Call
https://app.paperbell.com/checkout/packages/38683

Visit my Website: https://thecatholicsobrietycoach.com