Colleen Freeland Kachmann, founder and CEO of Emotional Sobriety Coaching©, is a coach and podcast host whose work aims to change how women engage with alcohol. Her holistic approach assists professional female clients, including entrepreneurs, executives, and career mothers, in addressing dysfunctional thinking patterns linked to alcohol use. As Kachmann states, her goal is for clients to "Get happy, not sober."
Before developing her method, Kachmann herself was a heavy daily drinker for over 15 years, a habit she kept hidden. She viewed alcohol as a reward for her productivity, a practice that ultimately led to exhaustion.
Kachmann's personal experience with traditional, sobriety-based recovery methods revealed limitations. She found that identifying as ‘someone who used to have a drinking problem’ left her "stuck in the past" and did not resolve the underlying anxiety, perfectionism, or negative self-talk that initially fueled her drinking.
This led her to research the science of addiction. Kachmann studied neuroplasticity, addiction, and recovery, concluding that labeling individuals as ‘alcoholics’ and employing fear-based warnings about relapse can inadvertently increase the risk of recurrence.
Her academic background includes a master’s degree in health coaching and a bachelor’s degree in biology and chemistry education. She also holds certifications in addiction and recovery, as well as women’s functional and integrative medicine. This foundation informed the development of her unique program: Emotional Sobriety Coaching©.
Emotional Sobriety Coaching© is designed to help clients reduce alcohol consumption by upwards of 80% without requiring rigid abstinence. The method integrates holistic techniques with evidence-based strategies, including self-directed neuroplasticity and mind-body tools for nervous system regulation, to reconfigure subconscious thinking habits that drive the desire to drink.
Kachmann states that the focus of her method is on an individual’s relationship with themselves, rather than with alcohol itself. She argues that when individuals perceive themselves as confident and in control, their drinking habits align with that self-perception. Her approach emphasizes reclaiming personal power and altering outdated belief systems. Kachmann views addiction not as a disease, but as a symptom of lost autonomy, aiming to free clients from negative self-talk.
Kachmann acknowledges that her method is "not for everyone," noting that some individuals may find it simpler to quit alcohol entirely. She uses a quiz titled “Do you have a drinking or thinking problem?” to help women determine if her program is a suitable fit. The method’s emphasis on learning from mistakes, rather than avoiding them, is a core tenet.
Through her approach, Kachmann has assisted thousands of professional women in transforming their relationship with alcohol, making drinking feel like a pleasure again. She has built a 7-figure coaching business and aims to help women achieve a level of consciousness where the desire to use alcohol to numb or diminish their feelings no longer exists.
