Today, Whitney Combs is helping women do something she spent years trying to figure out for herself: how to stop using alcohol as a coping tool and start building a life that feels manageable, authentic, and emotionally sustainable. As a sobriety coach and nervous system regulation expert, she teaches women practical skills for navigating stress, overwhelm, anxiety, and the challenges of everyday life without reaching for a drink. What makes Whitney’s work so compelling is that it grew directly out of her own experience. Before she was coaching others, she was a physician assistant, educator, wife, and mother of four who appeared to have everything under control. She was successful, highly accomplished, and deeply committed to the people she loved. Yet beneath the surface, she was carrying a tremendous amount of pressure. Like so many women, she had become accustomed to performing, achieving, and taking care of everyone around her while quietly struggling to take care of herself. During our conversation, what struck me most was how much of Whitney’s journey wasn’t really about alcohol at all. It was about perfectionism. It was about anxiety. It was about the exhausting belief that she always had to be “on,” always had to get things right, and always had to be everything to everyone. Alcohol simply became the tool she used to manage the impossible expectations she had placed on herself. https://youtu.be/YYyVBos0ZoI The Only Child Who Grew Up Feeling Like an Adult Whitney describes her childhood with genuine affection. She was raised by loving parents and speaks warmly about the home she grew up in. At the same time, she laughed about being an only child, joking that there were essentially three adults living in the house. Because she spent so much time around adults, she developed a level of maturity and responsibility very early in life. While those traits served her well in many ways, they also planted the seeds of perfectionism. As we talked, it became clear that Whitney spent much of her life believing she needed to do things correctly, perform well, and meet high expectations. She wasn’t someone who naturally gave herself permission to be messy, uncertain, or imperfect. Instead, she became the kind of person who worked harder, tried harder, and expected more from herself than anyone else ever could. By adulthood, those tendencies had become deeply ingrained. She had long struggled with depression and anxiety and had worked with mental health professionals throughout her life. But even with that support, the demands she faced continued to grow. She was teaching future physician assistants, raising four young children, managing a marriage, and trying to excel in every area of her life simultaneously. From the outside, it looked impressive. From the inside, it was exhausting. Like many high-achieving women, Whitney had learned how to function at a very high level while carrying an enormous amount of internal stress. She kept moving forward, checking boxes, and meeting responsibilities. But eventually, she needed a way to quiet the constant pressure she felt. That’s where alcohol entered the picture. When Drinking Becomes a Full-Time Mental Job One of the things I appreciated most about Whitney’s honesty was how clearly she described the mental gymnastics that accompanied her drinking. Because she was so determined not to let alcohol become a problem, she created rules. At first, she would only drink Thursday through Saturday. Then she imposed limits on the number of drinks she would have. Like so many people who are beginning to question their relationship with alcohol, she spent countless hours negotiating with herself, creating strategies, and trying to maintain control. The problem, of course, was that the rules rarely worked the way she hoped they would. Once drinking started, the carefully constructed plans often fell apart. The next morning would bring guilt, frustration, and renewed promises to do better next time. As Whitney reflected on those years, she laughed while sharing one of the most memorable stories from her journey. Determined to prevent herself from drinking impulsively, she actually locked her wine refrigerator and froze the key inside a block of ice. The plan seemed brilliant. Until it wasn’t. One night, she became so determined to get into the wine fridge that she found herself running to the garage in search of tools to pry it open rather than waiting for the ice to melt. It’s a funny story now, but it also captures something many people understand all too well. The problem wasn’t the wine fridge. The problem was the amount of mental energy she was spending trying to control something that no longer felt aligned with the life she wanted. “I was constantly negotiating with myself, and it was exhausting.” As the years passed, those negotiations became harder, more complicated, and less effective. Eventually, Whitney reached a point where she realized she didn’t want to spend the rest of her life managing alcohol. She wanted freedom from thinking about it altogether. Learning That Sobriety Doesn’t Solve Everything Like many people, Whitney initially believed that quitting drinking would solve most of her problems. What she discovered instead was both more challenging and ultimately more rewarding. After exploring different approaches and spending nearly nine months trying to figure out how to stop drinking for good, she finally committed to sobriety and joined a coaching program. Looking back, she credits that experience as one of the most important investments she made in herself. The reason had very little to do with alcohol itself. What the coaching program taught her was that removing alcohol doesn’t automatically remove the emotions that led you to drink in the first place. The anxiety is still there. The overwhelm is still there. The perfectionism is still there. The tendency to overfunction and overperform doesn’t magically disappear. Sobriety gave her clarity, but it also required her to develop new tools. That realization ultimately shaped the work she does today. “Just because you quit drinking doesn’t mean you stop having feelings.” Instead of numbing difficult emotions, Whitney began learning how to regulate her nervous system and respond to stress in healthier ways. Over time, she discovered that lasting recovery wasn’t just about removing alcohol. It was about building the capacity to sit with discomfort, process emotions, and care for herself in ways she never had before. The Power of Nervous System Regulation Today, nervous system regulation sits at the center of Whitney’s coaching philosophy, and our conversation around this topic was one of my favorite parts of the episode. She explained that many people only think about coping skills when they’re already overwhelmed. In reality, she believes there are two different categories of nervous system care. The first involves daily practices that help keep us emotionally grounded and resilient. These are the habits that support our well-being before a crisis occurs. Meditation, yoga, journaling, movement, prayer, and mindfulness practices all fall into this category. They help create a stronger foundation so that life’s inevitable challenges don’t knock us completely off balance. The second category involves what Whitney calls rescue tools. These are strategies we can access in moments of acute stress, anxiety, or emotional overwhelm. Breathwork is one example. Naming and acknowledging emotions is another. She also shared a story about her daughter, who uses an ice wrap around the back of her neck when anxiety becomes intense. The cold sensation helps bring her attention back into her body and out of spiraling thoughts. What I loved about this conversation was how practical it felt. Rather than presenting recovery as some abstract concept, Whitney offered concrete examples of what it looks like to care for ourselves in real time. “This is not forever. This is for now.” That simple reminder can be incredibly powerful when we’re caught in the middle of a difficult moment. Finding the Courage to Share Her Story After completing her coaching program and stepping away from her work as a physician assistant educator, Whitney found herself asking a new question. What did she want to do next? The answer surprised her. She had become fascinated by everything she was learning about recovery, emotional wellness, and nervous system regulation. The more she explored these topics, the more passionate she became about helping others navigate the same challenges. She began discussing the possibility of coaching with her own coach and eventually started the process of becoming certified herself. Yet even as she stepped into this new chapter, there was still the question of whether she was ready to share her story publicly. One of the most emotionally difficult conversations came with her parents. Like many loving parents, they immediately worried that somehow they had caused her struggles. Whitney had to help them understand that this wasn’t about blame. It was simply about her own journey and her decision to create a healthier future. Once they worked through those emotions, however, she found that most people responded with tremendous support. About six months after deciding she wanted to become a coach, she had a moment of clarity while sitting at a water park. She decided it was time. That day, she went home and began sharing her sobriety journey publicly. Interestingly, she didn’t start by talking about the hardest moments. Instead, she focused on what she was gaining. She talked about freedom. She talked about peace. She talked about authenti
