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The Big Drink Rethink

The Big Drink Rethink

By: Anna Donaghey
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 The Big Drink Rethink is a podcast for anyone questioning their relationship with alcohol - whether you want to quit, drink less, take a break, or just explore the role alcohol plays in your life. Hosted by Alcohol Mindset Coach and Author, Anna Donaghey, each episode blends lived experience, psychological insight, and powerful tools to help you create change - gently, intelligently, without pressure, and in a way that opens up your life. Featuring expert guests, real stories, and practical strategies, this podcast offers a refreshingly smart, non-judgemental space to reflect, grow, and explore the life you want. Because rethinking your drinking isn’t about missing out. It’s about tuning in. It’s not about restriction - it’s about making space. To feel clearer, live more fully, and ask one honest question: What are you really thirsty for?Copyright 2026 Anna Donaghey Hygiene & Healthy Living Personal Development Personal Success Psychology Psychology & Mental Health Social Sciences
Episodes
  • Ep 115: When Alcohol Is the Backdrop

    Ep 115: When Alcohol Is the Backdrop
    Mar 26 2026
    What happens when we question alcohol’s role as the backdrop to almost every social moment? In this powerful episode, Anna Donaghey is joined by Ry Gavan from DRiNKLiNK, a Scotland-based charity supporting families affected by someone else’s drinking, for an honest conversation about the ripple effects of alcohol in our lives.Rather than focusing solely on “extremes,” Anna Donaghey and Ry explore why alcohol’s real power lies in its expectation: its presence at celebrations, commiserations, sport, family gatherings, and so much more. They explore the underlying fear of social disruption when someone opts out, the tension between belonging and authenticity, and the surprising reality that our imagined social fallout rarely materialises.This episode is a must-listen for anyone curious about the social script around drinking, the underestimated impact of alcohol, and what actually changes (for the better) when you step outside the expectation.Here are the Highlights:00:00 Intro: Exploring alcohol as the expected backdrop01:04 The tension of opting out02:08 Ry’s story05:24 Social rituals, identity, and the anxiety of changing your “role”09:50 Alcohol is woven into Scottish life, sports, family, and celebrations11:28 Grey area drinking, and challenging the “boring” label14:43 Underestimating the real disruption of drinking15:15 Alcohol’s impact on deaths, hospitalisations, and NHS strain18:34 How one change can influence others in the group19:26 Belonging anxiety, why standing out feels risky, but rarely is22:36 Moving beyond thinking alcohol as the “glue” of social connection29:53 Confidence and learning to love who you are33:53 Underestimating the real impact of drinking35:26 DRiNKLiNK’s work and impact40:07 Alcohol and social inequalities42:28 Testing your assumptions and finding new evidence44:43 Gamifying sobriety, progress, joy, and positive change46:15 How to connect with DRiNKLiNK and share your story.Anna’s book "What Are You Thirsty For? Rethinking Alcohol and The Life You Want", is now out in the world for you to buy!Order your copy, access her free tools and explore her coaching programmes at: https://thebigdrinkrethink.com/The Thirsty For More Mindset Lab is Anna’s ‘inner circle’ - a calm, thoughtful space where conversations continue, patterns are explored, and things begin to make sense. Find out more at: https://thirstyformore.substack.com/If you appreciate the podcast and would like to show a bit of love, you can donate the cost of a coffee here. It helps support the time and care that goes into making the show: https://buymeacoffee.com/bigdrinkrethinkAbout the host Anna:Anna is a certified Alcohol Mindset Coach, trained by Annie Grace of This Naked Mind. Drawing on her own journey out of alcohol addiction, she now helps others explore and control their drinking. With a career spanning 25 years as a Strategist in the Advertising industry, she combines her own lived experiences, with great insight into what makes us tick and what influences us to behave the way we do.Connect with Anna:Website: thebigdrinkrethink.comLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/annadonagheyInstagram: instagram.com/bigdrinkrethinkProduced by winteraudio.co.ukAbout Ry Gavan:Ry Gavan works with DRiNKLiNK, a Scotland-based charity supporting people affected by someone else’s drinking.He’s passionate about destigmatising sobriety and challenging the expectation that alcohol is required for connection.His work focuses on the ripple effects drinking has on families and communities and what changes when we begin to see clearly without it.Connect with Ry:Website: https://drinklink.org/
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    48 mins
  • Ep 114: Who Am I If I Don't Drink? | Alcohol Coaching |

    Ep 114: Who Am I If I Don't Drink? | Alcohol Coaching |
    Mar 19 2026
    Who are you, really, if you remove alcohol from your life? In this deeply thoughtful solo episode, Anna Donaghey takes on the big, unsettling question: “Who am I if I don’t drink?”Rather than focusing on willpower or missing out, Anna Donaghey explores the real, often unspoken identity shifts that happen when we rethink our relationship with alcohol. With psychological insight, lived experience, and practical tools, she explores why alcohol feels like more than a habit, it becomes a social uniform, a signal for belonging, and even a “scaffolding” for how we move through life.Exploring topics like “identity lag,” belonging, and the power of meeting your true self, Anna Donaghey guides listeners through the discomfort and liberation that can come with letting go of drinking. She offers gentle reframes, challenging listeners to consider not just what they’ll lose, but the strengths and surprises they might gain. This episode is for anyone feeling curious about life on the other side of drinking.Here are the Highlights:00:00 Intro: Rethinking your relationship with alcohol01:03 “Who am I if I don’t drink?” - the question beneath the fear03:29 Drinking as a “social passport” - ritual, friendship, and fitting in04:34 The need to belong and why challenging alcohol can feel threatening06:14 Alcohol as a uniform, how it signals our role in different settings07:16 Meeting yourself as an adult without alcohol for the first time08:25 Identity lag: why our sense of self changes slower than our behaviour10:06 How alcohol helps us perform or buffer feelings12:55 Ask: “Who have I not allowed myself to be?”13:32 Outgrowing old coping strategies14:38 Using alcohol as armor, scaffolding, or stabilisers18:47 Liberation and alignment, shifting from performance to true self20:41 If alcohol wasn’t in the picture, what would remain and what might strengthen?Anna’s book "What Are You Thirsty For? Rethinking Alcohol and The Life You Want", is now out in the world for you to buy!Order your copy, access her free tools and explore her coaching programmes at: https://thebigdrinkrethink.com/The Thirsty For More Mindset Lab is Anna’s ‘inner circle’ - a calm, thoughtful space where conversations continue, patterns are explored, and things begin to make sense. Find out more at: https://thirstyformore.substack.com/If you appreciate the podcast and would like to show a bit of love, you can donate the cost of a coffee here. It helps support the time and care that goes into making the show: https://buymeacoffee.com/bigdrinkrethinkAbout the host Anna:Anna is a certified Alcohol Mindset Coach, trained by Annie Grace of This Naked Mind. Drawing on her own journey out of alcohol addiction, she now helps others explore and control their drinking. With a career spanning 25 years as a Strategist in the Advertising industry, she combines her own lived experiences, with great insight into what makes us tick and what influences us to behave the way we do.Connect with Anna:Website: thebigdrinkrethink.comLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/annadonagheyInstagram: instagram.com/bigdrinkrethinkProduced by winteraudio.co.uk
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    22 mins
  • Ep 113: The Courage To Become Someone New with Andrew Drasen | Rethinking Alcohol |

    Ep 113: The Courage To Become Someone New with Andrew Drasen | Rethinking Alcohol |
    Mar 12 2026
    How do you truly start over, and what does real reinvention look like? In this episode, Anna Donaghey talks with Andrew Drasen, author, speaker, and survivor about life beyond sobriety, diving into identity, purpose, and hope.Andrew’s journey goes far beyond addiction, spanning imprisonment, loss, and the search for meaning. He shares his struggles with self-image, rebellion, and choices that led to incarceration, as well as the heartbreak of losing loved ones, including his fiancée Caroline.Together, Anna and Andrew explore how we cling to unsustainable identities, and how radical acceptance, creative rebuilding, and writing his memoir A Vision of Hope became acts of healing. This conversation is a reminder that change is possible. Healing isn’t the end, it’s the beginning.Here are the Highlights:00:00 Rethinking drinking and identity01:15 Andrew’s story: addiction, loss, and the reckoning02:42 Childhood, self-image, and early substance use04:04 Identity as “life of the party” and rule-breaking07:58 The snowball effect: risky behaviour and its consequences09:40 False bravado, ego, and self-worth13:01 First arrest and inevitability of trouble15:49 Escalating to heroin and survival mode17:47 Turning points: a break in sentencing and glimpses of hope20:00 Recovery, 12-step meetings, and writing21:32 Grieving loss, healing through creativity22:07 Losing Caroline, deep identity work, and transformation33:29 Andrew’s recovery framework38:28 If you’re afraid of change: the courage to try40:00 Recovery as a beginning, not an end.Anna’s book "What Are You Thirsty For? Rethinking Alcohol and The Life You Want", is now out in the world for you to buy!Order your copy, access her free tools and explore her coaching programmes at: https://thebigdrinkrethink.com/The Thirsty For More Mindset Lab is Anna’s ‘inner circle’ - a calm, thoughtful space where conversations continue, patterns are explored, and things begin to make sense. Find out more at: https://thirstyformore.substack.com/If you appreciate the podcast and would like to show a bit of love, you can donate the cost of a coffee here. It helps support the time and care that goes into making the show: https://buymeacoffee.com/bigdrinkrethinkAbout the host Anna:Anna is a certified Alcohol Mindset Coach, trained by Annie Grace of This Naked Mind. Drawing on her own journey out of alcohol addiction, she now helps others explore and control their drinking. With a career spanning 25 years as a Strategist in the Advertising industry, she combines her own lived experiences, with great insight into what makes us tick and what influences us to behave the way we do.Connect with Anna:Website: thebigdrinkrethink.comLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/annadonagheyInstagram: instagram.com/bigdrinkrethinkProduced by winteraudio.co.ukAbout Andew Drasen: Andrew Drasen is the author of A Vision of Hope and the creator of a 90-day framework that helps people discover identity, clarify direction, and build purpose-driven lives.His mission is to help people see not just who they are, but who they can become - transforming pain into growth and purpose.Listeners can visit Andrew’s website at avisionofhopebook.com to download the free preview pack, preorder the book, or sign up for the newsletter. It’s the best place to access all of his resources and stay connected.Connect with Andrew:Website: https://www.avisionofhopebook.com/
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    42 mins
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