In this episode of The Internal Shift Show, Debbie Longo speaks with Gina Economopoulos about grief, emotional pain, addiction, faith, loss, self-worth, and the years of internal conflict that shaped her life journey.

Gina shares how the sudden loss of her mother to cancer at 23 years old completely changed the direction of her life and left her searching for meaning, identity, and emotional stability. Struggling with grief and emotional pain, she returned to her Catholic roots and eventually joined a convent, believing that dedicating her life to God would bring healing and peace.

Although Gina spent 12 years as a nun serving others and helping the poor, she explains that she continued experiencing deep internal conflict, emotional pain, rejection, insecurity, and feelings of not belonging. Eventually, she was asked to leave the convent, which created another major emotional turning point and left her questioning her identity, purpose, and future.

After leaving religious life, Gina attempted to rebuild her life while continuing to search for peace, love, and acceptance. She later entered a relationship with a man struggling with alcoholism and addiction, believing they were finally building a future together. After he became sober, the couple planned a new life together, but tragedy struck when he survived a devastating car accident that killed his mother. Shortly after relapsing into alcoholism, he died from the disease, and Gina found him dead just one month before their wedding.

Throughout the conversation, Gina openly discusses grief, emotional pain, enabling behaviors, people-pleasing, addiction, depression, trauma, and the overwhelming hopelessness she experienced after years of repeated loss and disappointment. She explains how alcoholism eventually became part of her own struggle and how entering recovery and working a 12-step program completely transformed her life.

Now celebrating 11 years of sobriety, Gina shares how recovery helped her finally accept herself, process emotions in a healthy way, rebuild her relationship with faith, and discover peace within herself for the first time. She explains that healing did not come from avoiding pain, but from learning how to face it honestly instead of running from it.

This episode explores grief, addiction, recovery, emotional healing, self-worth, trauma, faith, sobriety, resilience, and the importance of learning how to live through painful experiences instead of being destroyed by them. It reinforces the idea that even after years of suffering and internal conflict, healing and peace are still possible.

Contact Debbie Longo, Executive Behavioral Coach:

Website: https://www.debbielongo.com/

Email: debbie@lifeinbloomny.net

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/debbie-longo-life-in-bloom-ny/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/debbie.longo.2025

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/debbie.life.in.bloom.ny/?hl=en

Contact Gina Economopoulos:

Email: briangina67@gmail.com