Testimonials
Sobriety coaching is my joy, my love, my passion.
Ever since I experienced for myself what it was like to really be free from alcohol, I wanted to help as many women as possible experience the same incredible feelings of joy and liberation.
Through my group coaching program, one to one sessions, workbooks and The Virtual Sober retreat, I have had the honor of sharing in the transformation of the women I work with.
Here are just a few examples.
“Gayle Macdonald is an effective, empathetic, and valuable counselor/coach, and she’s very, very good at sharing what she has learned through her own experience and through guiding many other people. I’m one of those people.
Gayle understands deeply the challenges of our relationship with alcohol and, and with the social complexities that surround it. I’ve stopped drinking several times over the years, sometimes for long periods of several years. Then there comes a day when I start to trick myself into thinking that it’s OK again. With Gayle’s help, I stopped drinking again and I feel strong and actually quite at ease.
Gayle understands that society constantly bombards us with images of good times accompanied by lovely glasses of red wine, images of sunlight streaming through amber glasses of bubbly champagne, and ice cold beers on a table surrounded by friends. She can help you see that all of that is just marketing, to entice us to drink that most unhealthy chemical, ethanol (or ethyl alcohol). Life really is better and clearer and healthier without it. And Gayle Macdonald can guide you in the right direction.
Not only does she have regularly-scheduled, wonderful, interesting, deep and wide-ranging zoom calls with you, but she checks in by email and text to see how you’re doing, and she’s available if you need to talk. She provides excellent support and encouragement.
5 stars for Gayle. She’s a gem”
– A
“I’ve been working with Gayle one way or another for nearly two years and this journey has profoundly impacted my life. Life, sober life, has become easier to navigate but more importantly, thanks to Gayle I am much kinder and nicer to myself than I ever have been. And that’s what it’s about: self-love”
– S
“I started working with Gayle at a point in my life when I knew something needed to change with my drinking habits. Gayle’s ability to connect with me from an empathetic, caring, non-judgmental and safe space helped me enormously. Through working with Gayle I began connecting to myself again and have felt so much calmer and at peace in my life. Although the road ahead has had a few challenges, I have felt so supported by Gayle every step of the way and feel very positive about my future. I cannot recommend Gayle highly enough.”
– Natasha Scott
“Your coaching and your gentle approach was exactly what I needed and you literally changed my life”
– Kate
“Thank you Gayle! You are such a wonderful support to me. Your resources are beautiful and fabulous and I really feel like I now have some tools that will help me continue my AF life, which I’m loving thanks to you xx”
– Annie
“I will never forget or regret the day I stumbled across your name. You have changed my path and consequently the lives of my nearest and dearest.
I will never be able to thank you enough.
Sober hugs! And a lifetime of thanks xxx”
– Louise
“You never quite know what will happen when you take alcohol out of the equation…and in my case life fell apart. I couldn’t have asked for a better, wiser or more compassionate companion. Gayle was there every step of the way: big stuff, small stuff, all of it. She’s human and funny. And she taught me to love tea.”
– R
“I feel enormously fortunate that I caught Gayle’s interview talking about her experiences with alcohol. I got in touch with her the following day and signed up for a 3 month one on one coaching course.
It was just what I needed to reframe my mind set, and steer me on the right path. Gayle is knowledgeable, non judgmental, gentle and goes the extra mile. Her website, workbooks, blogs, weekly pod casts, and resources section are so helpful.
I can highly recommend Gayle.”
– Rod
“I am so grateful to have found Gayle. When I first joined I was feeling very sorry for myself and really wasn’t sure what to do. I was so nervous when I hit send on that first email but Gayle was immediately so welcoming. I felt so empowered after my first call and honestly couldn’t stop smiling!
It’s nice to find a safe place where you can speak freely without judgment and the level of support from Gayle and the other members of the group is immense.
Just a lovely place to chat, cry, laugh and bond over cups of tea xx”
– L (six months AF)
I just had a 1 to 1 with Gayle, and reflected on how helpless and hopeless I felt 50 days ago. I felt like there was a dark thunder storm raging inside my head – guilt, shame, physically sick all of the time. Today I said I felt like there were sunbeams coming out of my head (mental, I know, but that’s what it feels like) and there’s so much space and peace.
– K
Highly recommend Transform membership
Gayle is….
Empowering, Gentle, Knowledgeable , Not preachy, Non judgmental, Offers lots of options with several weekly check ins, and what’s up app is fabulous. Can text and with so many women from all over the world- someone is up to respond!
A member since last January and with her help, support and tools sober over a year now.
Can go on and on about how wonderful this is. A blessing in my journey to a new happy me.
– Dawn
“I have tried to drink less or not at all for many years. That took a lot of strength and unfortunately I was often not successful. With the group behind me it is different for me. I still have to do it on my own, but I am not alone anymore. For that I am deeply grateful to Gayle and all the wonderful sober ladies.”
– G
“Gayle’s course is so empowering and having her support is invaluable and I’m so grateful to her and the other ladies in the group. I know I wouldn’t be nearly 100 days alcohol free without it”.
– L
“Since working with Gayle I’ve been able to discover in a deeper way the truth about my relationship with alcohol and how it’s impacting my life. Gayle never judges, is always encouraging and holds the space for sobriety in a gentle, loving way. It’s given me the freedom to be mindful rather than having a struggle between drinking/not drinking.
I love the accountability and inspiration, it’s helped me to experience the benefits of sober living and the more I experience it,the more of it I want. Thank you Gayle for helping to open my eyes and see what’s possible.”
– Sarah S
“If I’m being honest it’s just hard so it really helped to have something to keep me accountable. I truly don’t think I would have made it a few days let alone 15, not a lot but HUGE for me, had I not done the virtual seven day sober retreat.”
– Jennifer Marie
“Through a stroke of luck and/or synchronicity, I came across Gayle and Sober Bliss on the Internet many months ago, when I had been thinking about stopping drinking for a long time but hadn’t managed to do so. I am a woman in her early 60s who drank a bottle of white wine every night, on and off, but mainly on, for 18 years. I subscribed to Gayle’s Sober Bliss newsletter, and then read everything she sent with interest, with a growing sense that Gayle would be a great asset in helping me ditch the booze. When I signed up for her Transform program in April 2020, I was determined to become alcohol-free. It took me 3 more months of working with her before I was successful, but I am now firmly on a sober path, and I truly believe that I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for Gayle.
The support on her Transform program has been phenomenal, and includes beautifully produced and useful resources to read and journal about, providing many tips and tools for redefining one’s relationship to alcohol, stopping drinking, and remaining alcohol-free, and invited guests who are expert in a variety of different fields and who share their knowledge and provide more useful tools. One of the most helpful components of the program was the regular personal contact I had with Gayle. We had a live Zoom meeting at least once a week, another live weekly session on the Transform Facebook group, and daily check-in emails.
Despite the 9-hour time difference between us, she was always accessible and available at times that were convenient for me. I have accomplished what I set out to do – finally stop drinking. Gayle was absolutely indispensable in helping me to achieve my goal, and I will be forever grateful to her. I highly recommend that you also take advantage of her wonderful Transform program if you find yourself wondering whether you need to change your relationship with alcohol, or if you know you should stop drinking but have found that to be as difficult as it was for me.”
– Isabelle
“I have finished your retreat and found it very useful, I am happy to say that I haven’t had a drink at all for a week, that hasn’t happened for about a year! The most useful thing was actually speaking to you”
– Anna
“Gayle, you are so lovely!.”, you inspired me! I was scared but because I committed to you I would do it – I have, so thank you xx”
– Rachel
“Gayle helped me recognise how my drinking habits were harming me and made me realise I needed to stop. It was hard at first and I didn’t think I’d be able to do it! But her gentle nurturing approach really made me feel like I could Her supportive coaching style is non-judgemental and non-preachy;
Gayle really understands the challenges that come with stopping drinking. I can honestly say that since giving up my habitual weekend drinking, I feel so much freer and gained more clarity in my business too – an added bonus!”
– Suzannah B
“I have been working with Gayle for nearly a month now. I started after 10 years of having on off struggles with my relationship with alcohol, which has become toxic over the last year. It has left me feeling exhausted, unappreciated, unloved and honestly… just broken.
I came across Gayle’s posts on facebook and from the moment I received the first enquiry reply, I felt that there was hope. Gayle has given me so much support and her non-judgemental, gentle approach without rules has opened a door to a whole new life for me. Within a month I have started to embrace new habits and a new way of living and through this I am starting to actually see my worth.
Gayle, I cannot wait to see how much further I can go over the next two months of this journey with Soberbliss. Your continuous daily support and the knowledge that you are always there, even though this is online, means the world to me. Thank you for giving me hope!”
– Amari
My journey with alcohol started in my early 20’s with wine at dinner, then wine on nights out, champagne to celebrate literally anything. Oh how sophisticated I thought I was!
After I got married and had my son, playdates started to include a bottle of wine as we sipped and tried to relieve the stress, tiredness and frustration of giving up a career and being a mother.
Of course the wine got opened as I cooked dinner after all “I deserved it” and “it relaxed me” and the bottle got finished off each night in front of Netflix. I generally kept my life together, perhaps being short with my husband and occasionally losing patience with my son. Nothing major. Totally functional.
What I hated was the way I looked – 15kg overweight and fat faced to prove it. Every time I looked in the mirror, I hated what I saw and I began to hate getting my photo taken. I knew drinking was bad for my health and knew that the bottle of wine I was drinking every day would eventually do some irreversible liver damage.
I got a personal trainer to help me lose weight but nothing happened, no amount of exercise could keep up with the extra calories the wine provided. So in the end I gave up. I also didn’t care about what I ate. I had a such a negative view, “What is the point if I am just going to drink?”
I read some great quit lit books – they gave me the science on why we drink, the conditioning we have around thinking drinking alcohol is associated with success and why drinking makes you think it relieves stress (hint: it creates it!). However none of these books could keep my hand from reaching for the wine at wine o”clock for a glass to shut the wine witch up.
Then by chance I met Gayle. Her story resonated with me far more than joining AA. I could never bring myself to say “My name is Rebecca and I am an alcoholic!”
An alcoholic is a homeless person sitting in the high street begging for money right?!! Not me an educated business owner, fully functional middle-class wife and mother!
But I knew I needed something to help me stop destroying my health and get my weight under control.
So I bit the bullet and bought Gayle’s coaching. I thought with money comes commitment. I hate the thought of wasting money.
I have now been alcohol free for 8 weeks. Apart from pregnancy, I’ve never been AF for longer than 10 days.
Gayle has been kind, gentle and supportive. Her workbooks guide you on your journey to stop drinking (or change your relationship). She helps you identify the reasons you drink and why you wish to stop. She is never judgemental and her support has been amazing.
My final words are that if every day you wake up thinking,“Oh why did I drink last night? I won’t drink today” then it really is time to get some help. It is HARD to do on your own. Let’s face it, if what you’re currently doing to manage your alcohol intake was working, you wouldn’t be reading this right now.
Gayle has got your back, she has walked the path and she is holding your hand.
These are some of the benefits I’ve found:
- In the first week I lost 2kg.
- I now exercise at least three times a week with friends
- I am eating much better
- I no longer think about how much wine is in the house and that I need to pop to the shop to get it daily
- I am sleeping much better, not waking at 4 am not being able to get back to sleep as I piece together my evening
- I have time for reading and I’m enjoying the enrichment it is giving me. I’m no longer a slave to Netflix.
- I no longer have an anxious feeling all day – I didn’t know I had this until I stopped drinking
- I am way more patient with my son
- I am a better mother and have more time for my son
- My son will never remember seeing his mummy drunk (he’s only 7)
- I am way more patient with my husband which has improved our relationship
- My brain is clear and my business income has doubled
- I have saved more money from not drinking than I have spent on Gayle’s coaching
- I have bought a new wardrobe of clothes
- I’ve made new friends. Intelligent, kind women who have enriched my life and business
- I now practice self care with me time, massages and facials (and can afford to do it)
- The most amazing side effect has been my breasts are no longer sore. I have suffered PMT for 20 years with excruciating painful breasts – first cycle AF and they are 95% better.
- I can now look in the mirror and like who I see. A fat-faced middle aged woman no longer stares back at me with hatred for what my drinking has done to her.
– Rebecca, 42 UK
“Doing the retreat with Gayle has been a really inspiring experience in connecting with myself and my needs and desires which when given space to see with “real-eyes” that it is not alcohol that I desire but connection with self in a loving and tender way- had I not done the retreat I would plough through my day without consideration for self and fallen into the same evening ritual of looking for something outside myself to sooth my discontentment. Thank you Gayle for leading a new way xx”
– Sarah .C
What would it be like if drinking never got in the way of your life again?
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You can quit drinking and I’m here to support you.
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