Ep 91 - What happens after you quit drinking and discover that alcohol was only one part of the problem?

Award-winning musician, author, and radio host Cliff Beach appeared successful, confident, and creative. Behind that public image, however, he was struggling with unresolved trauma, alcohol, and unhealthy coping patterns.

After being diagnosed with high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes, Cliff began examining the chain reaction created by drinking. Late nights led to eating, poor sleep, low energy, and missed exercise. He decided alcohol was the first thing that needed to go.

Becoming alcohol-free improved Cliff's health and clarity, but it also revealed the deeper work waiting beneath the behavior. In this honest conversation, Cliff and Rose Ann discuss his fear that quitting drinking would diminish his creativity, the invisible tipping point when alcohol begins controlling you, and the emotional pain he could no longer avoid.

Cliff shares how faith, therapy, Celebrate Recovery, music, and supportive community helped him address his trauma. He also explains how he recognized emotional eating as another learned coping mechanism.

His story reminds us that quitting drinking can remove one behavior, but lasting change requires us to understand what we were asking alcohol to do for us.

Connect With Cliff Beach

Cliff Beach is an award-winning musician, author, radio host, speaker, and business executive whose work brings together creativity, entrepreneurship, wellness, and personal development.

• Visit Side Hustle & Flow
• Find Cliff Beach's books on Amazon
• Listen to Deeper Grooves on The SoCal Sound
• Follow Cliff on social media: @cliffbeachmusic

Choose Freedom® Resources

If alcohol or another life-interfering behavior is keeping you from the life God created you to live, these resources can help you prepare for change and begin practicing a new way forward:

• Prepare to Quit
• The Plans He Has for Me
• Transformed by His Promises
• Explore Choose Freedom®

Follow Say Goodbye and Imagine! for more conversations about faith, freedom, and lasting transformation. If this episode encouraged you, please share it with someone who may need it.

#QuitDrinking #AlcoholFree #FaithAndFreedom #TraumaHealing #LastingChange #ChristianPodcast #ChooseFreedom #CliffBeach

Ep 90 - Can God use suffering to make you stronger? Finding purpose in suffering does not mean pretending the pain was good, denying what happened, or remaining in a destructive situation. It means recognizing that suffering can interrupt our automatic responses and create an opportunity for God to refine us, redirect us, and use what we have learned to help someone else.

In this episode of Say Goodbye and Imagine!, Rose Ann Forte explores the connection between biblical wisdom, neuroscience, and the refining influence of suffering. She explains how painful consequences can interrupt the brain's familiar patterns and give us an opportunity to pause, examine what is happening, and make a more intentional choice.

Rose Ann also shares the deeply personal conversation that inspired her to write The Plans He Has for Me. What began as a painful accusation from a trusted Christian friend became the catalyst for a devotional that has now helped thousands of people recognize that science does not replace Scripture. It helps us understand the wisdom God gave us first.

Through Paul's illustrations of the focused soldier, disciplined athlete, and patient farmer in 2 Timothy 2:3–6, you will discover how suffering can develop endurance, character, hope, and Kingdom purpose. Rose Ann concludes with three questions to help you examine your automatic responses and consider how God might eventually use what you are learning to serve someone else.

Scripture Featured in This Episode

• 2 Timothy 2:3–6 NLT
• Romans 5:3–5 NLT
• Romans 8:28 NIV
• 2 Corinthians 10:5 NIV
• Romans 12:2 NIV
• 1 Timothy 4:15 ESV
• 2 Corinthians 1:3–4 NLT

Resources from Rose Ann

Prepare to Quit
https://amzn.to/4umJs6l

The Plans He Has for Me
https://amzn.to/3Qk3MHL

Transformed by His Promises
https://amzn.to/43PWhvf

Choose Freedom® books, program, and coaching
https://choosefreedom.today

If this episode encouraged you, please follow and rate Say Goodbye and Imagine! and share it with someone who may be wondering whether God can still use their story.

If one of Rose Ann's books has helped you, please consider leaving a rating or review on Amazon. Your review helps another person discover the same encouragement and support.

#ChristianPodcast #FindingPurposeInSuffering #FaithAndNeuroscience #RenewYourMind #ChooseFreedom

Ep 89 - Have you ever returned to a substance, thought pattern, emotional response, or behavior you promised yourself you would change and immediately thought, "I did it again"? In this episode, Rose Ann Forte and therapist Aliza Prokop explore how shame keeps us stuck by turning a painful choice or experience into a verdict about who we are.

Aliza describes shame as a self-evaluation that leaves us feeling unworthy or inadequate. She explains how trauma, negative self-talk, social comparison, and unresolved pain can contribute to hiding and keep us returning to familiar patterns that temporarily offer relief.

Drawing from her experience as a certified Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy specialist, Aliza shares why understanding what happened to us can replace blame with compassion. But compassion does not remove responsibility. As Aliza says:

"What happened to you isn't your fault. The healing is your responsibility."

Rose Ann and Aliza also discuss why learning how the brain responds to trauma can restore hope, why safe and supportive relationships are essential, and how prayer, Scripture, the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and repeated practice can help us interrupt the shame cycle.

Romans 8:1 reminds us that there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. Romans 12:2 reminds us that transformation happens through the renewal of our minds. "I did it again" does not have to be the end of our story.

In this episode:

• What shame is and how it attacks our identity
• Why social comparison can deepen shame
• How trauma and unresolved pain influence negative self-talk
• Why shame makes healing and change more difficult
• The difference between compassion and making excuses
• Why supportive relationships and qualified professional care matter
• How understanding the brain can replace hopelessness with hope
• Why renewing the mind requires testing, repetition, and practice
• How faith and the Holy Spirit help us discern the next right step

Learn more about Aliza:

Aliza M. Prokop Counseling Services:
https://ampcounseling.com/

The AMPcast with Aliza M. Prokop:
https://ampcounseling.com/podcast/

Choose Freedom resources:

Choose Freedom Program, providers, and coaching:
https://choosefreedom.today/directory/

Transformed by His Promises:
https://choosefreedom.today/books/transformed-by-his-promises/

Prepare to Quit:
https://choosefreedom.today/books/prepare-to-quit/

The Plans He Has For Me:
https://choosefreedom.today/books/the-plans-he-has-for-me/

Explore the Say Goodbye and Imagine podcast:
https://choosefreedom.today/podcast/

#ChristianPodcast #ShameAndHealing #FaithAndMentalHealth #TraumaHealing #RenewYourMind #ChooseFreedom