Description

In this powerful episode of Confident Sober Women, host Shelby welcomes Julie Bloom, a recovery coach and mental health trainer who shares her inspiring 7-year sobriety journey that began with an unexpected "gift of illness."

Episode Highlights:

Julie reveals how severe burnout, PTSD, and vertigo became catalysts for her sobriety journey after 20 years as a college Spanish teacher. As a former "well-caffeinated and chardonnay working mom," Julie describes how her alcohol dependence developed while balancing career demands with raising a young daughter.

The conversation explores how serious health challenges—including debilitating vertigo—forced Julie to stop drinking and began her recovery, initially through audiobooks and podcasts like The Bubble Hour while isolated "in the corner of her sectional."

Key Insights on Recovery:

• Identity Transformation: Julie discusses how sobriety required creating a new identity after leaving her tenured teaching position, leading to certification as both a professional and recovery coach.
• Emotional Regulation: Learn practical techniques for managing emotions, including mindfulness, journaling, and "adaptive thinking"—giving the appropriate amount of time, space, and energy to situations.
• Creativity in Recovery: Discover how breaking free from addiction cycles unleashes creative potential, providing the "clarity, bandwidth, and energy" needed to envision and build a fulfilling life.
• Midlife Challenges: The episode addresses how perimenopause, career dissatisfaction, and relationship issues often intersect with recovery journeys, creating what Julie calls a "shitty planet alignment."

Julie shares her journey of professional reinvention, becoming a mental health trainer and speaker who helps others develop resilience and adaptability. She emphasizes the importance of community and altruism in recovery, including her work with SheRecovers.

Shelby and Julie discuss how ADHD symptoms can intensify during perimenopause due to decreasing estrogen levels, highlighting the need for neurological approaches to healing beyond traditional talk therapy.

This episode provides valuable insights for women seeking sobriety and emotional well-being, particularly during significant life transitions. 

For more information, follow Julie at

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Oh, and by the way, if you didn’t know, my remote Neurofeedback Therapy program is up and running. Learn more here! Learn more about EMDR therapy, EMDR Intensives and Remote Neurofeedback.

If you aren't part of the Confident Sober Women Facebook group, it's a great place to be. There are over a thousand other sober women there building lives they don't want to escape from. Come on over and join us.

And if you haven't read my memoir, grab a copy today and maybe a second one for a friend. There is so much hope in recovery, and I shared my story so raw and vulnerable so that others would know they aren't alone and that there is a way to live well, manage relationships, parent your kids, and have a healthy body, all while staying sober. Grab a copy of Recovering in Recovery: The Life-Changing Joy of Sobriety wherever books are sold.