Episode 30 | Guest conversation: (when the kids leave and the drinking creeps in) with Anita McKenna
The Wine O'Clock WomanShow Notes
There’s a stage of life no one really prepares you for. The kids leave. Everything changes. It’s quieter, and something feels off. This is often where drinking starts to creep in. Not dramatically. Just more often than you’d like.
In this conversation with Anita McKenna, we talk about the empty nest and what’s really going on underneath it. The identity shift. The loss of role. Why so many women find themselves drinking more at this point, even when life looks fine from the outside. If this is you, it’ll likely feel very familiar.
Anita McKenna works mainly with women who are brilliant at doing life, but no longer want to just get through it. Through one-to-one work, group spaces and honest conversations, she blends therapeutic depth with practical support to help women/people notice where they’ve been living from duty and expectation, and begin choosing how they actually want to live, work and relate. Her work centres on one simple idea - less duty, more choice.
To connect with Anita:
Check out Anita's website here:
The 10 Minute Reset: A free 5-day mini course to help you interrupt autopilot and start choosing differently. Join the Reset here:
If this episode has left you thinking about your own relationship with alcohol, I'd love you to join me at Beyond the Booze Live, my free monthly 90-minute Zoom workshop.
You'll understand why you can promise yourself you won't drink in the morning, only to find yourself reaching for a glass that evening.
You'll begin to see what's happening before that first drink, why alcohol has become your go-to for feeling better, and how to start making different choices without relying on willpower alone.
Beyond the Booze Live: Come and understand your drinking better.
Find out more and save your free place here:
Find out how to work with me If you're ready to make changes- I offer two ways to work together:
The Homecoming Group Programme™ – six months of support to help you break the cycle of drinking, regain control and make choices around alcohol that feel right for you, alongside a community of women working towards the same thing.
The Homecoming Reset™ – private 90-day one-to-one support, tailored to you.
Explore both programmes
More from The Wine O'Clock Woman
Alcohol is sold to women as a reward, a way to relax, connect and cope with life. Yet when our drinking becomes something we're struggling with, we're often left feeling that we're the problem.
Changing your relationship with alcohol can feel like a very private struggle. But what happens when you talk to women who understand exactly what you're going through?
You drank again. Before you decide you’ve fucked it and you’re back at square one, there’s something far more useful you can do.
Why do we keep falling back into old patterns, even when we really want things to change? Julie Smith joins me to talk about the subconscious beliefs behind our behaviour, why willpower only gets us so far, and what needs to change underneath the habit for things to start feeling different.
What are you really looking for when you think, “I need a drink”?