Episode 142: Finding Your Inner North Star After Loss, Addiction and Emotional Pain

Episode 142: Finding Your Inner North Star After Loss, Addiction and Emotional Pain

From Permission to Shine: Empowering Women to Overcome Obstacles and Lead with Authenticity by Sherisse Bisram

May 10, 2026 · 44 min · Season 9 · Episode 142

About this episode

Sherisse Bisram and Colleen Clifford discuss overcoming loss and addiction through self-awareness and healing.

Episode 142: Finding Your Inner North Star After Loss, Addiction and Emotional Pain In this deeply moving episode, Sherisse is joined by commercial fisherwoman, health coach, and author Colleen Clifford for an honest conversation about alcohol, grief, trauma, and the journey back to yourself. Colleen shares her powerful personal story of living with binge drinking for decades without identifying as an alcoholic, until a devastating tragedy changed everything. Following the alcohol-related loss of her husband 14 years ago, she was forced to confront her own relationship with alcohol, emotional pain, and self-awareness in a completely new way. What followed was a profound journey of healing, reflection, and transformation. Together, Sherisse and Colleen explore the ways alcohol can become a coping mechanism for unprocessed emotions, particularly for women carrying stress, grief, pressure, and unresolved pain beneath the surface. In this episode, we explore: • The hidden emotional impact of binge drinking and numbing behaviours • How grief and trauma can shape our coping mechanisms • Why many women struggle to ask for help • The role of self-awareness in healing and recovery • How…

People in this episode

Host: Sherisse Bisram

Guest: Colleen Clifford

Topics covered

  • grief
  • addiction
  • self-awareness
  • healing
  • transformation
  • women's issues

Keywords

  • binge drinking
  • emotional pain
  • trauma
  • coping mechanisms
  • inner North Star
  • self-connection
  • women's struggles

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: commercial fisherwoman, health coach, author

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