# Why Some People Are Pushing Back on Sober Curious w/ Merrilee Burke

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/journey-to-the-sunnyside-mindful-drinking-alcohol-health-6796606/why-some-people-are-pushing-back-on-sober-curious-w-merrilee-burke
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/journey-to-the-sunnyside-mindful-drinking-alcohol-health-6796606/why-some-people-are-pushing-back-on-sober-curious-w-merrilee-burke.md
Podcast: [Journey to the Sunnyside | Mindful Drinking & Alcohol Health](https://stenobird.com/podcast/journey-to-the-sunnyside-mindful-drinking-alcohol-health-6796606)
Published: 2026-03-19T13:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://share.transistor.fm/s/60f51570
Audio file: https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/media.transistor.fm/60f51570/fe9a3cfd.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/journey-to-the-sunnyside-mindful-drinking-alcohol-health-6796606/episodes/why-some-people-are-pushing-back-on-sober-curious-w-merrilee-burke
Duration seconds: 2855

## Resource

Welcome back to Journey to the Sunnyside. Today I’m joined by Merrilee Burke, a licensed marriage and family therapist with over 20 years of experience, specializing in alcohol moderation, trauma, and eating disorder recovery. Merrilee reached out because she’s been noticing a shift with clients lately in how they talk about sober curious and alcohol-free culture. Not some huge backlash, but enough of one to make it worth exploring. So today we talk about what’s changing, why some people may be pushing back, and what they may really be reacting to underneath it all. CONNECT WITH SUNNYSIDE: Listen to Journey to the Sunnyside Podcast: https://bit.ly/4bxCqT3 Subscribe to Sunnyside’s YouTube Channel: https://bit.ly/3zuoID4 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joinsunnyside/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/joinsunnyside/ Twitter: https://x.com/joinsunnyside TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@joinsunnyside ABOUT SUNNYSIDE: Sunnyside is the #1 alcohol health app that helps you drink less without any shame, guilt, or pressure to quit. Optimize your alcohol habits to achieve benefits like sleeping better, losing weight, feeling more energy, and saving money. We know that an all-or-nothing approach doesn’t work for everyone, so we focus on helping you set your own goals, celebrate small wins, and build a lasting system of accountability. As a result, 96.7% of our members see a big drop in their drinking after 90 days. We now offer Sunnyside Med , a new program that provides access to compounded naltrexone, a medication that can reduce alcohol cravings at the brain level, offering a more clinical pathway for people who need it. Sunnyside Med is a complete, holistic approach to help you drink less or quit, including coaching, community, habit change, education, and more to help yo…

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