This week on The Sober Edge Podcast, I’m joined by the wise and wonderful Nancy McKay, whose journey through addiction and healing has shaped a unique and powerful approach to recovery.
Nancy combines lived experience with professional expertise as a Life
Coach, Equus Coach® Master Facilitator, and SHE RECOVERS® Coach. Her unique background allows her to blend trauma-informed recovery work with the deep intuition of horses. As a woman who found her footing through AA — Nancy’s story is one of courage, surrender, and rediscovering self-trust. Her work now helps others move beyond surviving into a life of empowered authenticity.
Through her program, The BRAVE Recovery Method, Nancy developed the BRAVE framework, a powerful roadmap for lasting recovery and personal transformation:
B – Believe: Cultivate unshakable belief in your capacity for lasting recovery.
R – Resilience: Build tools to help you stay grounded and self-regulated through life’s challenges.
A – Authenticity: Reconnect with your true self — not the person trauma made you become.
V – Voice: Reclaim your right to express your needs, set boundaries, and speak your truth.
E – Empowerment: Move from surviving to thriving with newfound purpose and confidence.
In our conversation, Nancy shares how horses help humans heal by reflecting our emotions back to us without judgment. They sense inner discord— when our inside doesn’t match our outside — and invite us to realign with honesty and compassion.
For anyone on the alcohol-free path, Nancy’s message is both grounding and inspiring: we don’t have to go it alone, and healing can be a deeply embodied, even joyful experience.
Discover how being BRAVE means leading with belief, truth, and heart — one authentic step at a time.
