Love Sober Podcast 122- Guest Ann Dowsett Johnston

Episode 122

This week we had the great honor of talking to one of the early pioneers in the conversation about women and alcohol. Ann Dowsett Johnston she is an award-winning journalist and bestselling author, turned psychotherapist.

Winner of seven National Magazine Awards, she is also the recipient of a Southam Journalism Fellowship and the Atkinson Fellowship in Public Policy. It was for the latter that she prepared a 14-part series on Women and Alcohol in the Toronto Star, looking at the closing gender gap on risky drinking. In 2013, she wrote Drink: The Intimate Relationship Between Women and Alcohol, a book named one of the top 10 of the year by the Washington Post. Part memoir, part journalistic exploration, the book exposes the “pinking” of the alcohol industry. Says Gabor Mate: “The writing is gripping and vivid, the voice personal, the research exacting, the stories revealing if sometimes heartbreaking, the conclusions essential. A triumphant life, a triumphant book.” Since the publication of Drink, she has worked hard to destigmatize mental health and addiction, earning an honorary Doctor of Laws from Queen’s University for her efforts. She is also the recipient of a Transforming Lives award from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), the American Research Society on Addiction’s Media Award, plus the T. A. Sweet Award from the Ontario Psychiatric Association for helping address stigma related to mental health and addiction. In 2017, she decided to follow her heart, applying to the Master’s of Social Work program at Smith College in Northampton, Mass. What this represents is the fulfillment of a decades-old dream: to become a psychotherapist. Writing remains a significant part of her life, and she is  hard at work on her second book. She also has recently started a writing group and workshops https://www.anndowsettjohnston.com/workshops .

In this interview Ann talks openly about her mental health and drinking. Her recovery and finding purpose in her writing to change the conversation around alcohol in society and especially how it is marketed to women. Such a great conversation, we might have been a little over excited! Grab a cuppa and let's chat. Love K & M xxx