Kicking Booze and Breaking News with Courtney Friel, Ep #77

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In this episode of Coming Clean Podcast, I have the lovely Courtney Friel who is not just an author, newswoman extraordinaire, and a mom, but also a bad-ass who has been crushing sobriety for 11 years now! Through the telling of her own story, Courtney hopes to help others struggling with addiction. Listen to the show to learn more about this incredibly strong woman with an amazing outlook on life and learn how she’s dealing with life on life’s terms without turning back to drugs and alcohol. 

You will want to hear this episode if you are interested in...

  • Why Courtney waited so long to come out about her sobriety [3:35]

  • Courtney’s process of healing and discovering herself through journaling [6:22]

  • What was it that pushed Courtney to start drinking at 15? [10:39]

  • When did she realize she had a real problem? [12:59]

  • Was there ever fear that something would go wrong? [16:47]

  • What’s been the biggest lesson [21:08]

  • Did the pressure of being the youngest newscaster at Fox affect her addiction? [29:00]

  • What’s next for Courtney [34:22]

  • 2020 talk and finding a positive spin [40:12]

Why did the drinking begin so young?

What was it that made Courtney so uncomfortable that such a beautiful and well-spoken young lady would turn to drinking and drugs at the age of 15? Courtney says that outside of a brain that clearly was prone to alcoholism she was a really shy kid and people were really mean to her. She did have some friends but for the most part, mean kids would gang up on her. She internalized that pain of not being liked.

When she started to drink it was like F-you bullies and she just liked being numb. When she drank she came out of her shell and would make people laugh and she felt confident. It made her an outgoing and funny person. She’s now that person but she’s just realized she can be that without the help of booze and drugs.

Why Courtney Friel waited 6 years to go public about being sober

I was curious as to the reason why Courtney waited for nearly six years to go public about her addiction and getting clean, she said she was open about it with friends and family but about the time she was ready to go public she was going through a divorce and the timing didn’t seem right so she waited.

She didn’t want to come clean about her struggles before she was comfortable with where she was at and her ability to deal with whatever came from people knowing. She also didn’t want to come out too early and then fail publicly. She recommends people wait 2 years before they start talking openly about it. It was right around the 7-year mark that she decided she was ready to start writing a book after getting so many messages from people wanting to know more about her story. 

What is it about sobriety that makes you say ‘I’m so glad this happened’

When talking to Courtney about the biggest lesson she took away from her experience I loved her response. So in her own words…

 “I just feel like a bad-ass, I just look at all the shit I've been through without taking substances! I mean, divorce was crazy painful, sober dating, being a mom, all of those things are hard. But when you add to the layer of my job and all the mass shootings I've covered and all the horrible things I've seen. Where I've been in it, going around from house to house after the fires interviewing people who've just lost their homes. I mean, it's super depressing. Then five days a week all I'm doing is reading headlines of all these kids that have been killed and all of that. So that's why I feel like so many people in my business drink anyways, just to numb that stuff out. So the fact that for 11 years I have gone through life on life's terms... that's why it's my superpower. It's why I take it so seriously and I'm so proud of it. What would I relapse over? Nothing is worth that because I've gotten through so many things without drugs and alcohol.” 

Resources & People Mentioned

Connect with Courtney Friel

Connect With Peter O. Estevez

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