Sober Powered: The Neuroscience of Being Sober

High Dopamine, Low Effort Behaviors and Making Sobriety Feel Less Hard (Replay)

Your brain is wired for quick hits of dopamine, or high-reward, low-effort habits that feel good in the moment but sabotage your long-term goals. Over time, this conditio

E332: “Am I Bad Enough?”

When you're thinking about your relationship with alcohol you may stay stuck in, "am I bad enough?" for years before taking the next step. This episode is a way to think

E331: Wanting to Quit Isn’t the Same as Being Willing to Quit

There’s a difference between wanting the pain to stop and being willing to change the pattern, between wanting the benefits of sobriety and being willing to accept what s

E330: How to Stop Dabbling and Start Doing the Work

This is where I think people misunderstand what “doing the work” actually means. Doing the work is not just listening to sobriety content, understanding the science, or l

How Many Attempts Does it Take to Quit Drinking for Good (Replay)

I'm working hard on the last part of the dabbling series, but it's delayed by 1 week because I've been sick. Please enjoy this popular replay about how many times it take

E329: What Dabbling Looked Like For Me

Story time. In the last episode, I talked about the difference between dabbling in sobriety and actually committing to it. In the next episode, I’m going to talk more abo

E328: Why Dabbling Keeps You Stuck in the Drinking Cycle

Dabbling is when you stay close enough to sobriety to feel like you’re doing something, but not close enough for sobriety to actually change you. You listen to podcasts,

Self-Care is NOT Temporarily Turning Off Your Brain (Replay)

We think that turning off our brain with alcohol at the end of the day is “me time” and it’s the only way to get a break. This isn’t self-care, it’s called being depleted

E327: The “Maybe It’ll Be Different This Time” Fantasy

One of the sneakiest thoughts in sobriety is, “Maybe I could drink differently now.” This fantasy so convincing because it uses your progress as evidence. It says, “You’r

E326: Why Alcohol Looks Better in Your Memory Than It Was In Reality

Romanticizing alcohol can be one of the most confusing parts of sobriety because logically, you know what alcohol did to you, but your brain still makes it sound appealin

E325: When the courage to quit shows up, don’t assume it will still be there tomorrow

A lot of people treat quitting drinking like it’s something they can start whenever they want. They think, “I’ll quit after this trip.” “I’ll quit after the summer.” “I’l

Running on Autopilot Mode (Replay)

Regular drinking and early sobriety often feel like living on autopilot, where we are repeating the same routines without conscious awareness. Alcohol changes the brain t

E324: Going to a Drinking Party 6 Years Sober: 5 Things I Noticed

I went to a drinking party over the weekend with my in-laws. The family party was by the Jersey Shore, which is a 6 hour drive from my house. I’ve described these parties

E323: Long Term Sobriety: One Tool to Use & One Trap to Look Out For

Long-term sobriety can be a strange phase because from the outside, things might look pretty good. But internally, you might still have this feeling of, “Is this it?” An

E322: Middle Sobriety: One Tool to Use & One Trap to Look Out For

Middle sobriety can be a really confusing phase because you’re not in the chaos of early sobriety anymore, but you also may not feel the way you expected to feel by now.

E321: Early Sobriety: One Tool to Use & One Trap to Look Out For

When you’re in early sobriety, it can feel like you’re overthinking everything. You’re thinking about what you’re going to drink, what you’re going to say, whether you sh

E320: No Rock Bottom? Try This Instead

Not everyone has a rock bottom moment and you can't control if and when it happens for you. In this episode, I share how you can make the decision final without waiting f

E319: Why “Not Right Now” Keeps You Stuck and “Forever” Sets You Free

If you feel like you’re doing well for a while and then suddenly find yourself questioning whether you can drink again, this episode will help you understand why that kee

The Geographical Cure: If Only X Would Change, Then I Wouldn’t Have to Drink So Much

A short story about how I learned what "the work" is. Work with me: Community & Meetings: Living a Sober Powered Life https://www.soberpowered.com/membership Cont

ADHD and Alcohol Use Disorder: Understanding the Link (Replay)

There are a lot of people in the sober community getting adult ADHD diagnoses, so what’s going on here? There is a strong link between struggling with ADHD and developing