158: From Last Call to High Calling - Dr. Ashley Amundson

Ashley Amundson: From Bartending & Alcohol Withdrawal to 10 Years Sober, COO & Therapist | Rock Bottom with RyanOn Rock Bottom with Ryan, Ashley Amundson shares growing up in San Diego in a complex military family with six siblings and a live-in nanny, feeling like she didn’t belong in school, and using alcohol as a tool for confidence that became a crutch. After entering the bar industry at 21, drinking escalated from after-work shots to on-the-job use, leading to physical dependence, repeated hospitalizations, DT hallucinations, and a doctor warning she might not live to 35 due to organ failure and alcoholic hepatitis. Ashley chose rehab, built early sobriety through structured sober living and testing, and transitioned from bartending to working in a women’s-only holistic rehab. She earned a master’s, became a therapist in 2020, completed a doctorate in behavioral health, rose to COO, and discusses trauma-informed modalities like somatic work, breathwork, Reiki, EMDR, and brain spotting.00:00 High School Awkwardness01:10 Rock Bottom Intro01:34 Sponsor Message02:58 Meet Ashley03:16 Recovery Basics04:54 Military Family Roots08:16 Nanny and Attachment10:50 Teen Identity Struggles14:37 First Drinks and Confidence18:37 Skipping School and College22:35 Bar Industry Begins25:14 Dating and Boundaries28:41 Drinking Culture Escalates31:55 Naivety and Masking35:10 Alcohol Takes Over39:02 Hallucinations and Fallout39:36 ER Withdrawal Stigma42:00 Doctor Wake Up Call47:47 Underdog Motivation49:14 Early Sobriety Blueprint52:40 From Tech to COO58:15 Holistic Trauma Modalities01:02:35 Therapist Mindset and Burnout01:08:37 Advice and Compassion01:14:00 Closing Quote and Wrap