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The Catholic Sobriety Podcast
Welcome to The Catholic Sobriety Podcast with your host Christie Walker!
This podcast is dedicated to empowering Catholics to live lives of freedom by providing tips and tools to help them be successful as they reduce or eliminate alcohol consumption. Christie Walker, a compassionate Catholic life and sobriety coach, is here to support you on your journey toward a healthier, more fulfilling life.
Are you questioning whether alcohol has taken control of your life? Do you worry about the impact it may have on your well-being? Many people find themselves in this situation, fearing the loss of pleasure and stress relief associated with alcohol. They assume that giving it up will only bring deprivation and misery. But Christie offers a different and much more positive perspective.
With Christie's expertise, you'll discover the joy and peace that come from embracing a healthier lifestyle rooted in the Catholic faith and tradition.
Ready to get curious? Start listening!
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The Catholic Sobriety Podcast
Ep 135: Is Moderation Really Possible for Me? (The Answer Is in Your Peace, Not Your Rules)
Is moderation possible for you — or is it just another version of control?
In this episode, we explore what moderation really looks like for Catholic women who want peace with alcohol but feel stuck in cycles of "rules and regrets." You'll learn why willpower alone isn't the answer, how your habits and healing are connected, and what to watch for when discernment gets cloudy.
Through a blend of Catholic faith, neuroscience, and coaching, you’ll uncover new insight into your drinking patterns — and what they may be pointing to beneath the surface. Whether you're considering sobriety, questioning moderation, or craving clarity, this episode offers the mindset shifts and spiritual support you need.
✨ Plus, discover how real transformation happens in community — and how to take the next step with us inside the Sacred Sobriety Lab.
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Welcome to the Catholic Sobriety Podcast, the go-to resource for women seeking to have a deeper understanding of the role alcohol plays in their lives, women who are looking to drink less or not at all for any reason. I am your host, christi Walker. I'm a wife, mom and a joy-filled Catholic, and I am the Catholic Sobriety Coach, and I am so glad you're here. Today's episode is one that I know many of you have wrestled with, maybe in prayer, maybe in silence, maybe it's in your journal, and the question is this is moderation really possible for me? Now, if you've ever asked yourself that with hope, with hesitation or with a little bit of fear, you are definitely not alone. So many Catholic women come to me asking this question with a deep longing and just as much uncertainty. So in this episode we are going to explore what moderation actually means and what it doesn't, why it works for some people and not for others, how your brain, your habits and your soul all play a role, how to discern, honestly and prayerfully, what path God is calling you to, prayerfully, what path God is calling you to, and the essential role that coaching and community play in helping you actually live that out. By the end of this episode, I hope you'll have some clarity not a label, not a rule, but a deeper understanding of what freedom could look like for you. So let's go ahead and dive in.
Speaker 1:First, let's get clear on what we even mean when we say moderation, because it's a word that gets tossed around a lot and it can mean very different things to different people. For some people, moderation might mean only drinking on the weekends. For others, it's capping it at one or two glasses per sitting. Someone might place a boundary saying that they will never drink alone or when they're feeling emotional. Some people avoid drinking around their kids, and then others like to save it for special occasions. Now, if you've ever created those kinds of boundaries, that's something that so many of us do. We all do it with a variety of things and, honestly, they can seem really reasonable at first glance. But here's the question that I want you to gently consider Are you defining moderation for yourself, or is moderation subtly defining you? Now here's what I mean.
Speaker 1:For many women I coach, moderation starts out as an empowered decision, and I am completely on board with it, because I believe in looking and getting curious and having awareness around your decisions to drink or not drink. But for some it can slowly turn into a new version of the same old cycle. Pretty soon you start setting rules and then you make exceptions. You're breaking trust with yourself. Then there's the self-talk, the rationalization, the back and forth, and before you know it, you're actually not really sure what counts as success anymore.
Speaker 1:I hear things like this so often. Somebody might say I said I'd only drink on Fridays, but I was so stressed out on Thursday so I poured a glass early. Another person might say I meant to have one, but my husband refilled my glass before I had finished, and so now I had two. And then another thing I've heard is I was doing well for a few weeks, but then I had a rough day and all my rules just went out the window. All my rules just went out the window.
Speaker 1:Now here's the important truth you are not weak. You are human. But it might be a sign that moderation isn't working at least not in the way that it's currently being approached for your nervous system, your brain wiring or, quite honestly, your spiritual walk. But that doesn't mean that you need to jump straight into absolutes. In fact, I want to encourage you to take a totally different approach. That's curiosity, testing, observation and giving yourself grace. Instead, instead of asking can I moderate?
Speaker 1:As a black or white question, with all the pressure behind it, try asking questions like this what happens when I do this? How does this pattern feel in my body, my soul, my thoughts? Or the morning after? My thoughts are the morning after. What do I notice when I take a break completely? Where does peace show up and where does anxiety creep in? See, when you shift into a mindset of testing, instead of proving, everything changes. You are no longer trying to control the outcome. You are simply paying attention. You're noticing what's true, not what you wish were true. And that's where real freedom is, that's where it lives. Not in perfect performance, but in honest discovery. Not in perfect performance, but in honest discovery.
Speaker 1:Moderation might very well be possible for you, or it might not. And the only way to know this is to observe without shame, reflect with the Holy Spirit and be willing to follow the truth, even if it's uncomfortable at first. And let me tell you, it will be uncomfortable at first if it's uncomfortable at first. And let me tell you, it will be uncomfortable at first. So, if you've tried to moderate and it's felt messy or confusing or completely exhausting. I want you to know that's not a sign of failure. That's actually a sign that your soul is craving clarity. And the best way to find that is through curiosity, experimentation and support, but not self-judgment or shame. Let's talk neuroscience for a moment. You know I love this. Now.
Speaker 1:Moderation is more than willpower. It involves habit loops, dopamine patterns and deeply ingrained coping mechanisms. When you drink even just one, your brain releases dopamine, your feel-good, reward-seeking chemical and over time your brain learns that alcohol is a shortcut to relief, reward or rest. This pattern can be subconscious, but powerful. Now here's the tricky part For some women, even a small amount of alcohol reactivates that desire for more.
Speaker 1:So let's say you've decided that you're only going to drink I don't know, maybe Saturdays, and you drink on Saturdays and you actually drink what you planned for Saturday and that you know felt really good and felt like a good amount for Saturday, and that you know felt really good and felt like a good amount. But then Sunday comes around and you notice that you're actually craving alcohol and you hadn't craved it like all week while you weren't drinking it, but then you had it on Saturday and, like I said, you completely stuck to your plan, but you're craving it now, on Sunday. That's what I'm talking about when I say that even a small amount can reactivate that desire for more. I'm like that with sugar. I can go for months without sugar, but the minute I have it my brain is like we are eating all the sugar. So and I do have sugar, and I just know that it's just going to be a little bit of chaos the next day I'm going to want it, but I have to remind myself no, you planned for this day and this amount, and now it's a different day and we're not doing that today. So it does take some training, it does take some practice and just kind of telling yourself like we're not going to keep doing this. But it's not because you don't have the willpower, it's just the way that that craving loop works.
Speaker 1:The other thing that can happen is you might be alcohol-free for five days a week, but if your brain knows that a glass is coming on Friday, you could still be living with the anticipation, negotiation and internal chatter that kind of comes along with it and that creates mental noise where you're technically drinking less, but alcohol still holds way too much mental real estate. So I want you to ask yourself this do I feel peaceful in my moderation or just control? Because peace and control are not the same thing. One comes from the spirit and one comes from fear. Now, since we're talking about the spirit, I want to pause here and speak to your soul for a moment.
Speaker 1:Now, this journey isn't about labeling yourself. I very much do not want you to label yourself. I don't want you to label yourself as a social drinker, gray area drinker, normal drinker. Alcoholic Labels might be helpful for some, but I just find the more we repeat them, the more they become part of our identity and they are not your identity. Okay, you are a daughter of God. That is your identity. Your worth is not tied to your drinking history or your success in moderating, but you are also called to walk in truth and discernment requires.
Speaker 1:So here's what I ask my clients to consider when asking is moderation possible for me? One question is have I been able to moderate consistently without feeling like I'm white, knuckling it, or without regret? Am I able to choose to drink or not drink with peace? The other thing you might ask is does drinking, even moderately, lead me closer or farther from the person I want to be or the person that I know God is calling me to be. And then the third is am I using moderation as a way to avoid the harder, deeper healing that God may be calling me into? Like, are you afraid of letting go? Are you afraid of opening your hands and letting something go? And if so, where's that coming from? That last one is a big one, I know, and sometimes we can cling to moderation, not because it's working, but because sobriety feels too permanent or too scary or too unknown. But what if sobriety wasn't a punishment but instead a promise of freedom? What if it wasn't a finish line, but it was actually a doorway?
Speaker 1:Now let me be clear about something really important I am not anti-moderation. There are women that I work with who, after a dedicated season of full abstinence where they took time to heal their bodies, renew their minds and deepen their spiritual walk, have found their way into a version of moderation that's peaceful, prayerful and aligned with their values. But here's what those women all have in common They've done deep inner work. They've brought their wounds before the Lord and invited him to restore what the world had dulled or distorted. They've learned how to sit with discomfort instead of escaping it. They've identified the why behind their drinking and they no longer need it to numb, distract or perform. They have tools, real tools, to regulate their nervous systems, to respond with grace and recognize old thought patterns so they can capture that thought and reframe it in a way that gets them the results that they actually want. Because here's something we need to talk about honestly Ongoing compulsive or situational drinking is almost always a sign of inner healing that needs to take place.
Speaker 1:Whether that's dealing with unforgiveness, past trauma, chronic stress, unmet needs, grief, resentment, loneliness or spiritual dryness, alcohol becomes a quick fix that masks the real wounds. It's just a band-aid. It numbs what actually needs to be noticed and it quiets what God might be trying to speak into. So when someone asks me is moderation possible for me? I want to offer them a deeper, more important question have you healed the part of you that's reaching for the glass in the first place? Because the truth is, moderation might be possible, but the bigger question is is it peaceful, is it honest, is it holy and is it worth it If moderation keeps you in chaos, if it's mental gymnastics in your brain all the time, if it costs you your clarity, your energy, your presence with your children and your husband, your prayer life, your sense of freedom, if it keeps you from believing that you are a beloved daughter of God and if it keeps a part of your identity tethered to a pattern that you know deep down is holding you back, then I ask you, with love and not shame, is that really moderation or is it just maintenance of a deeper wound?
Speaker 1:Because, sister, sobriety, real soul, deep sobriety and moderation is not about never drinking again. It's about walking into the kind of peace that alcohol cannot imitate. It's about waking up with clear eyes and no regret, showing up for your calling with joy and energy, feeling your feelings, not trying to flee from them, being emotionally available to the people you love most, and hearing the voice of God in prayer, unclouded by anxiety or distraction. Reducing or eliminating alcohol is not a punishment, it's not an exile and it is not deprivation. It's completely the opposite. It's actually presence, it's peace, it's healing, it's you showing up for use, keeping your promises whole, awake and free.
Speaker 1:So, wherever you are in your journey, whether moderation has worked or whether you're still clinging to hope that it might be, let today be an invitation to go deeper, to ask not just what's possible but what's true what's needed, and if you don't have the answers for that yet, you're not alone. That's actually what my Sacred Sobriety Lab is for. It's to help you do this work with grace, guidance and a community. So, my friend, as you sit here with this question, is moderation possible for me? Question is moderation possible for me? I invite you to also ask what kind of life do I truly want to build? Because your life is too precious, your soul is too sacred and your purpose is too urgent to stay stuck in cycles of stress and shame. If you're feeling stirred right now, if something in you is whispering, I want to live differently. I want you to know this. You don't have to figure it out alone.
Speaker 1:If you want support discerning your next steps with spiritual guidance, brain-based tools and a Christ-centered community, come and join us in the Sacred Sobriety Lab, because when you join the lab, you get 12 full months of weekly group coaching with me, where we walk together through your real-life questions, patterns and breakthroughs. You also become part of a private, supportive community of Catholic women just like you, women who are done hiding, done pretending, and ready to walk in peace, purpose and spiritual freedom. Inside the lab, we blend faith and neuroscience, scripture and strategy, honesty and hope. It's a place to be seen, to be strengthened and to be reminded that God is not finished with your story and he's just getting started. If that sounds like what your soul has been craving, I'd love to welcome you, and I'm actually offering 25% off my Sacred Sobriety Lab and or one-on-one coaching. You just have to use the coupon code SUMMER25 to get that discount. You can use the link in my show notes to learn more or to book a free clarity call with me if you'd prefer to talk through it one-on-one and find out more.
Speaker 1:Whatever you choose, don't stay stuck in isolation. Don't let fear keep you circling the same questions. Become part of a movement of women reclaiming their clarity, their callings and their wholeness, one sacred step at a time. Well, that does it for this episode of the Catholic Sobriety Podcast. I hope you enjoyed this episode and I would invite you to share it with a friend who might also get value from it as well, and make sure you subscribe so you don't miss a thing. I am the Catholic sobriety coach, and if you would like to learn how to work with me or learn more about the coaching that I offer, visit my website, thecatholicsobrietycoachcom. Follow me on Instagram at the Catholic sobriety coach. Catholic sobriety coach. I look forward to speaking to you next time and remember I am here for you. I am praying for you.
