Recovery coaching with Holly Dyson · Southport and online

Creating a life
worth staying
sober for.

Recovery is not simply about what you leave behind. It is about what you build next. I am a psychology graduate and Recovery Support Worker, three years into my own recovery, coaching people through the part nobody prepares you for.

Book a free 30 minute call Read my story

As featured by

BBC NewsITV NewsThe IndependentOK! MagazineLiverpool Echo

Holly Dyson, recovery coach — Holly Dyson, founder

Psychology degree A grounding in how minds actually change, not just willpower talk.

Level 3 Counselling Skills Trained to listen properly, and to hold hard conversations safely.

Recovery Support Worker Working on the frontline of drug and alcohol recovery every day.

Lived experience Three years in recovery myself. I have sat where you are sitting.

Why I do this

A decadeAlmost ten years living with alcohol addiction

6 monthsWhat doctors told me I had left, in 2023

3 yearsSober, and counting

I was told I was going to die. I believed them.

At my worst I was drinking two litres of gin a day. I could not leave the house without a bottle of wine, split into smaller ones so nobody would see. I went into hospital again and again with severe liver disease, and in 2023 doctors told me that if I carried on, I had about six months left.

Even that did not stop me straight away. That is the part people find hardest to understand, and it is exactly the part I understand best. Shame does not make anybody stop. Being met without judgement does.

I am not the stereotype. Neither are you. The stereotype is the thing that keeps people from asking for help.

Alongside my own recovery I have faced and come through significant mental health challenges, and they shaped my understanding of what lasting change actually takes. I am now three years sober. I work as a Recovery Support Worker, supporting people affected by drug and alcohol use every day, and in April 2026 I ran the London Landmarks Half Marathon for Alcohol Change UK.

I understand the challenges of recovery because I have lived them. I understand evidence based support because I work in it. My coaching brings both together, with psychology, recovery principles and coaching techniques behind it. You do not have to figure it all out alone.

Who this is for

Through my work I have seen that many people get sober, and then find themselves asking:

“What happens now?”

They may feel lost, disconnected, low in confidence, struggling with purpose, relationships, work, or simply adjusting to life without substances. That is where this coaching comes in. It is for people in the early years of recovery who want more than simply staying sober. Together we focus on building a fulfilling, meaningful life through:

Building confidence and self belief
Healthy routines and habits
Goal setting and accountability
Relapse prevention planning
Relationships and boundaries
Purpose and direction
Career, education and development
A positive identity beyond addiction

The programme

The Early Recovery Rebuild Programme

Twelve weeks of structured one to one coaching through the hardest and most important stretch of early recovery. Not a lecture course. A plan we build together, around your life, with support between sessions so you are never holding a bad day alone until next week.

Recovery is not simply about what you leave behind. It is about what you build next.

Sessions run online, with in person options around Southport and Merseyside. Get in touch for current availability and rates.

What's included

Creating a life worth staying sober for

Weekly 60 minute one to one sessions, online
WhatsApp check ins, Monday to Friday
Recovery planning workbook
Goal setting and accountability throughout
Your own personal recovery action plan

Start with a free call

Honest about what this is

Coaching sits alongside treatment, not instead of it.

A coach is not a doctor or a therapist. What I offer is lived experience backed by professional training, practical structure, and someone in your corner between appointments, when it is nine o'clock on a Tuesday and the day feels very long.

What coaching is

Regular, protected time with someone who has been through early recovery
An approach combining psychology, recovery principles and coaching techniques
Practical planning for the hard hours, the triggers and the social occasions
Help rebuilding routine, movement, sleep and the parts of life alcohol took
A space with no judgement, no lectures, and no shock at anything you say

What coaching is not

Medical care, detox, or a substitute for your GP or treatment service
Therapy or a diagnosis of any kind
A crisis or out of hours service. If you are in crisis, please use the numbers below
A promise that it will be easy. It will be worth it, which is a different thing

Important: stopping alcohol suddenly can be dangerous if you are physically dependent. Speak to your GP or a treatment service before you make any change to your drinking.

National press

A story the country has been reading.

Holly has told her story across national television, national newspapers and the local press, because the stigma is the barrier, and every headline chips a piece off it.

Read the article “I was told I was going to die.” The Independent

Read the article From two litres of gin a day to the start line of a half marathon. ITV News

BBC News Holly's recovery from alcohol dependency Read the article → OK! Magazine Holly's turnaround, told to a national magazine audience Read the article → Liverpool Echo The Southport woman told she had six months to live Read the article →

Get in touch

The first message is the hardest one.

You do not need the right words. You do not need to have stopped drinking. If you are ready to create a life worth staying sober for, I would be honoured to support you. I answer every message myself.

Creating a lifeworth stayingsober for.