My Journey to Break Free

I lived a lie for so many years. A lie I told myself. Every day, I dragged myself into a job that drained the life out of me, a job that filled me with nothing but stress and exhaustion. For 20 years, I worked in the NHS, feeling trapped in a world that didn’t make me happy, where every part of my life felt weighed down by this deep unhappiness.

For years, all I wanted was to escape—to leave that life behind and pursue something that brought me joy, something that made me feel whole. So I began retraining, pouring myself into holistic therapies: acupuncture, aromatherapy. Every second of it felt like coming alive again. My dream was clear—to one day leave and start my own business. But addiction had other plans for me.

It’s so easy, so accepted, to have a drink after a hard day. “Just a glass or two,” they’d say. And it became normal. I’d go to work, laugh about it with everyone else, while deep down, I was suffocating. It felt like self-harm, but I couldn’t stop. Every morning, I’d wake up with the promise: I won’t drink tonight. But by the end of another soul-crushing day at a job I despised, the first thing I wanted was a drink. My husband was the same, and our addictions fed off one another.

I found myself asking, How can I heal others when I can't even heal myself? And it crushed me.

My marriage was crumbling, my life was at a breaking point. Then, we found Break Free. Both my husband, Phil, and I joined. That decision started a cascade of change in our lives. It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done, but also the most rewarding. Here I am, 11 months later, living a life I used to only dream about.

• I’ve left the NHS.
• I have my own shop.
• I’m healthy.
• I’m happy.
• And I love my husband more now than I ever thought possible.