Worth Fighting For
Sober Edge
What happens when we stop using alcohol to avoid the conversations we don't want to have? Inspired by Priya Parker's new book, The Art of Fighting, Teri explores the connection between healthy conflict and alcohol freedom. Drawing from her own experience of rebuilding communication in her marriage, she shares how learning to use our voices, ask better questions, and stay with discomfort can transform our relationships. From the internal battles we face when we stop drinking to the friendships that change along the way, this episode is an invitation to consider what's truly worth fighting...
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Project You: How to Do Less and Live More
Sober Edge
What if all the work you've done to create an alcohol-free life wasn't meant to turn you into a better project—but to give you your life back? In this solo episode of The Sober Edge, Teri explores our cultural obsession with optimization and the subtle pressure to keep improving everything: our morning routines, our bodies, our habits, our productivity and even our alcohol-free lives. She shares what she's learning about doing less, following “energy flow” instead of forcing what feels like an “energy snag,” bringing novelty back into everyday life, and adopting her new favorite...
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With ChatGPT, who needs a Coach?
Sober Edge
AI can answer our questions, help us understand our patterns, give us journal prompts, prepare us for difficult conversations and even be there at 2 a.m. when a human coach definitely isn't available. So...with ChatGPT, who needs a coach? As someone who uses AI and is also a coach, I've been thinking about this question a lot. In this solo episode, I'm exploring what AI does remarkably well, where its limitations begin to show, and why having more information doesn't necessarily lead to transformation. We'll also explore what happens when another human being sees the hesitation, hears what's...
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This Is Me: the Identity Gap
Sober Edge
What does identity have to do with becoming alcohol-free—and perhaps more importantly, staying alcohol-free? In this solo episode of The Sober Edge, I explore why changing our relationship with alcohol is about so much more than changing a behavior. Alcohol can become woven into the way we see ourselves: the fun one, the wine lover, the hostess, the friend who pours the drinks, or even the mom whose glass of wine signals that she is finally off duty. For women in midlife, this can become even more complicated as so many of our other identities are shifting at the same time. Children leave...
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What I've Learned Along the Way: Looking Back at 7 years
Sober Edge
Seven years ago, I walked into a church basement in Colorado to become part of the very first This Naked Mind coaching certification. I had no idea how much that weekend would change my life. In this episode, I'm looking back at everything that happened after that—from coaching hundreds of clients, building my own business, and working alongside incredible mentors to discovering that some of my biggest lessons came from changing my mind. I share the coaching philosophy that has stayed with me, the approach I've completely shifted over the years, and why experience has taught me that one...
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Evolving After Alcohol with Michelle Plante
Sober Edge
What happens after you've been alcohol-free for years? For many of us, that's when the real adventure begins. In this heartfelt conversation, Terri welcomes back Michelle Plant—over seven years alcohol-free—to talk about the unexpected evolution that happens after alcohol is no longer taking center stage. Together they explore identity, creativity, play, grief, laughter, and the freedom to become more than one version of yourself. Michelle shares how sobriety opened the door to stand-up comedy, storytelling, and creating a live show called This Might Hurt a Little, where people read...
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The Truth About Self-Sabotage
Sober Edge
What if self-sabotage isn't really sabotage at all? In this episode of The Sober Edge, Teri Patterson explores how many of the behaviors we criticize—procrastination, perfectionism, avoidance, people-pleasing, and even shutting down—may actually be nervous system strategies designed to keep us safe. Drawing on neuroscience, nervous system regulation, and her own experience after more than ten years alcohol-free, Teri explains why growth can feel threatening, why we return to familiar patterns, and how compassion creates lasting change far more effectively than criticism ever could. Rather...
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No Willpower? No Problem!
Sober Edge
What if the problem isn't that you need more willpower? In this solo episode, Teri explores one of the biggest myths in alcohol-free living: the idea that lasting change comes from simply trying harder. Drawing on neuroscience, habit formation, nervous system regulation, and practical real-life strategies, she explains why willpower is a limited resource—and why successful alcohol-free living depends on needing less of it. You'll learn how alcohol impacts the brain's reward system, why stress and fatigue make cravings feel stronger, and how simple changes to your routines, environment, and...
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Blurred Lines & Beautiful Reclamations with Lauren Fay
Sober Edge
This week on The Sober Edge, I’m joined by my friend Lauren Fay for a conversation that feels honest, thoughtful, and deeply human. Lauren shares the story behind her memoir Blurred Lines—why she chose to move beyond a traditional coaching book and instead tell the truth through story. We talk about identity shifts, visibility, family dynamics, self-trust, nervous system healing, and what really happens after we stop drinking. What I loved most about this conversation is that it isn’t about perfection or polished transformation. It’s about the blurry middle. The becoming. The messy,...
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Intuition, Nervous System, and the Art of Listening Again
Sober Edge
If you’ve ever felt disconnected from your intuition after stepping away from alcohol, you’re not alone. In this solo episode, Teri explores what intuition actually is (hint: it’s biological, not mystical), how alcohol dulls our internal signals, and why things can feel confusing or “loud” in early alcohol-free living. You’ll learn how your nervous system, brain, and body work together to create intuitive awareness—and how to gently rebuild trust in yourself through simple, everyday practices. This is a conversation about coming back to yourself… one signal at a time.
info_outlineWhile I love a good ‘self help’ book, I was completely fascinated by the title of my guests’ book: “Not Another Self Help Book”. How could I resist having her on the podcast to share her unique perspective on how to show up in the world when life is hard?
Lindsey Kane Leaverton is an author, songwriter, former minister and a financial wealth management expert. She also identifies as a proud member of the LGBTQIA+ community, a woman with ADHD, OCD and PTSD; as she shares, she has ‘all the adjectives’!
Lindsey wrote this book, "Not Another Self-Help Book" to highlight some of the most challenging things we experience as humans, and how we might find a gift in each of these challenges, such as pain, trauma, addiction and waiting. We also talk about how she lost everything when she came out as gay, her long journey with chronic pain, our equal dislike of the phrase “God doesn’t give you more than you can handle”. We cover a lot in today’s episode and have a lot of laughs along the way.
Here are some of my favorite parts:
- Her belief that “my Higher Power is not out to get me”
- How she gets out of her own head
- Her favorite chapter in the book
- Her long journey back from chronic pain
- How she credits a random encounter on an airplane with saving her life
- and more...
I hope you love this episode as much as I did!
Get all the details of how to connect with Lindsey and more in the SHOW NOTES
Interested in The Sober Edge Book Club? Check out our new pricing HERE!
*Lindsey does not identify as sober or alcohol-free but does share her deep respect and personal experience with Al-Anon. If you follow Lindsey on social media, you may see her with a drink in hand, but on today’s episode we do not talk about her drinking nor do we glorify the drinking of alcohol in any way.