Ep 74: Alcohol: Nature, Nurture & What We Can Change

What if parents could truly change the future just by having more open conversations about alcohol? In this episode host Anna Donaghey is joined by Jessica Lahey, educator and author of The Addiction Inoculation.

Together, they explore the factors that influence substance use in young people, the power of prevention, and how honest dialogue can break cycles of dependence. This episode guides listeners through what they can do, no matter their own history with alcohol, to build resilience in the next generation.

Here are the highlights:

00:00 Introduction

05:15 Talking about substance use prevention is challenging

09:47 Lack of learned strategies to manage stress and anxiety

15:12 Adverse childhood experiences can lead to substance use disorders

16:28 Teenagers understand consequences but weigh positive outcomes more

20:43 Empowering kids with self-efficacy can prevent substance use

34:34 Kids need at least one trusted adult to confide in

37:29 Kids may try substances due to feeling inadequate or out of place

50:39 Reliable information for teenagers is key for understanding and trust.

🔗 Get all the free resources from the series at: Toolkit Optin

If you’re a mum wanting to explore your relationship with alcohol, join ‘Mummy Doesn’t Need Wine’ here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/mummydoesntneedwine

Anna’s group coaching community ‘Unstuck!’ helps identify your alcohol ‘stories’ and beliefs, breaking the cycle of alcohol and all the shame that goes with it. For more information and to find out how to join, please follow this link: Unstuck! community information

To further explore your relationship with alcohol, check out Anna’s self-guided programme, The Big Drink Rethink Experiment: https://www.thebeliefscoach.com/the-big-drink-rethink-experiment

And apply the code POD99 to purchase for just £99 as a podcast listener

If you’re loving the podcast and would like to give Anna a warm, fuzzy feeling of appreciation, then you can buy her a coffee:

https://buymeacoffee.com/bigdrinkrethink

If you’re loving the podcast and would like to give Anna a warm, fuzzy feeling of appreciation, then you can buy her a coffee:

https://buymeacoffee.com/bigdrinkrethink

About 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: thebeliefscoach.com

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/annadonaghey

Instagram: instagram.com/bigdrinkrethink

Produced by winteraudio.co.uk

Find out more about Jessica Lahey:

Jessica Lahey is the author of the New York Times bestselling book, The Gift of Failure: How the Best Parents Learn to Let Go So Their Children Can Succeed and The Addiction Inoculation: Raising Healthy Kids in a Culture of Dependence, which won the Research Society on Alcohol’s Media Award for “outstanding journalistic efforts of writers who cover empirical research on alcohol.”

She co-hosts the long-running #AmWriting podcast on writing and the publishing industry from her home in the woods of Vermont.

Connect with Jessica:

1. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/teacherlahey/
2. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessica-lahey-b815a366/
3. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jplahey#
4. YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFJ5jb98nTWRKRPm1JS0i_g

Find Jessica on Substack: https://amwriting.substack.com/

#AmWriting - the free weekly podcast on writing, by writers:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/amwriting/id1099630313

Buy Jessica’s Books:

The Gift of Failure: How the Best Parents Learn to Let Go So Their Children Can Succeed:

The Addiction Inoculation: Raising Healthy Kids in a Culture of Dependence