Below are links to some of my favorite books and those that most impacted my journey.

Intoxicating Lies: One Woman’s Journey to Freedom from Gray Area Drinking by Meg Geisewite 

Drink: The Intimate Relationship between Women and Alcohol by Ann Dowsett Johnston

The Dirty Truth on Social Drinking: Everything in Moderation and Other BS by Hadley Sorenson

Blurred Lines: My Reclamation of Power from Alcohol Addiction (PS You Are Not Powerless) by Lauren Fay

This Naked Mind: Control Alcohol, Find Freedom, Discover Happiness & Change Your Life  by Annie Grace

I Didn’t Believe It Either: One Dad’s Discovery that Everything Is Better Without Alcohol by Todd Kinney

We Are The Luckiest: The Surprising Magic of A Sober Life by Laura McKowen

There are a number of communities that provide support to individuals looking to change their relationship with alcohol.  Check out some of these amazing programs:

The Healing Hive, led by Meg Geisewite

Ditched the Drink, led by Heather Lowe

Lighthouse Sobriety, led by Jen Hirsh

Sober Sis, led by Jen Kautsch

Zero Proof Experiences, led by Peggi Cooney and Suzi Streelman

Writing Your Recovery, led by Ann Dowsett Johnston (Now called From Memory to Memoir)

Finding a great replacement was absolutely necessary for my success.  I needed a grown-up drink, not something from the children’s table.  Here are a few of my favorites:

BEERS

Labatt’s Blue N/A

Athletic Brewing Company 

Brew Dog

Sam Adams

Wine

Prima Pave

Joyous

Be Well

Ready to Drinks

Recess

Daytrip

Hiyo

When I began to explore my trauma more deeply, I quickly realized how important it was to have the right guidance. I didn’t find one single resource that had all the answers—instead, my healing came through learning from many voices, each offering a different piece of the puzzle.

Francine Shapiro’s Getting Past Your Past: Take Control of Your Life with Self-Techniques from EMDR Therapy provided a lot of insight into EMDR and how trauma can be reprocessed.

Dr. Ingrid Clayton’s Fawning: Why the Need to Please Makes Us Lose Ourselves- And How to Find Our Way Back helped me understand my trauma responses.

Gabrielle Bernstein’s The Universe Has Your Back: How to Transform Fear into Faith allowed me to see how fear was shaping my behavior and to have trust in God.

Brene Brown’s Daring Greatly; How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent and Lead showed me how opening up and sharing our stories is the most courageous and empowering thing we can do.

Kristen Butler’s The Comfort Zone: Create the Life You Really Love with Less Stress and More Flow helped me navigate those uncomfortable firsts as I was learning to walk this new path. 

There are so many more books that impacted my healing.  I’m an avid reader so this list will continue to grow.  Keep coming back to see future additions.