If you love the holidays, then I’m happy for you, but many of us don’t. If the holidays make you feel tired, jealous, stressed, and resentful, then you came to the right place. In this episode I’ll discuss different mental health challenges that may be coming up for you and I’ll weave in survey data on stress and mental health during the holiday season. We’ll cover things like social media comparison, invisible labor, pressure to be perfect, feeling overlooked, and being around drinking more than usual.

What to listen to next:

E249: Alcohol and Cortisol: Extra Stress and Extra Cravings

Holiday episodes: E255-261

Sober Support:

• Community & Meetings: Living a Sober Powered Life https://www.soberpowered.com/membership
• Weekly emails on Fridays https://www.soberpowered.com/email

 Work with me:

• Sober coaching https://www.soberpowered.com/sober-coaching
• Anger Management Coaching https://www.soberpowered.com/anger

Thank you for supporting this show by supporting my sponsors. Learn more:

https://www.soberpowered.com/sponsors

If you enjoyed this episode please consider buying me a coffee to support my work https://www.buymeacoffee.com/soberpowered

Sources are posted on my website

Disclaimer: all of the information described in this podcast is my interpretation of the research combined with my opinion. This is not medical advice. 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Staying sober during the holidays is difficult, but there are some things that I’ve observed people do that make it even more difficult. In this episode, I’m covering 10 things you may be doing to sabotage your sobriety and how to stop doing them.

What to listen to next:

E211: The Anticipation of a Drink

E255-258 holiday support episodes

Sober Support:

• Community & Meetings: Living a Sober Powered Life https://www.soberpowered.com/membership
• Weekly emails on Fridays https://www.soberpowered.com/email

 Work with me:

• Sober coaching https://www.soberpowered.com/sober-coaching
• Anger Management Coaching https://www.soberpowered.com/anger

Thank you for supporting this show by supporting my sponsors. Learn more:

https://www.soberpowered.com/sponsors

If you enjoyed this episode please consider buying me a coffee to support my work https://www.buymeacoffee.com/soberpowered

Sources are posted on my website

Disclaimer: all of the information described in this podcast is my interpretation of the research combined with my opinion. This is not medical advice. 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Humans are wired to conform—it’s a survival instinct rooted in safety and belonging. That’s why it can feel nearly impossible to resist the pull of doing what everyone else is doing, especially when it comes to drinking. In this episode, you’ll learn about the science behind peer pressure: how your brain processes the need to fit in, the role of automatic mimicry, and the power of mirror neurons. Plus, I’ll share 7 practical strategies to help you push back against the pressure and stay true to your commitment to sobriety.

What to listen to next:

E257: Sober Socializing: Why Alcohol Doesn’t Help

E255: 6 Strategies For Staying Sober Through the Holidays (and Some Holidays Drinking Statistics)

E224: Alcohol Makes Your Brain Stop Working

Sober Support:

• Community & Meetings: Living a Sober Powered Life https://www.soberpowered.com/membership
• Weekly emails on Fridays https://www.soberpowered.com/email

 Work with me:

• Sober coaching https://www.soberpowered.com/sober-coaching
• Anger Management Coaching https://www.soberpowered.com/anger

Thank you for supporting this show by supporting my sponsors. Learn more:

https://www.soberpowered.com/sponsors

If you enjoyed this episode please consider buying me a coffee to support my work https://www.buymeacoffee.com/soberpowered

Sources are posted on my website

Disclaimer: all of the information described in this podcast is my interpretation of the research combined with my opinion. This is not medical advice. 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I know it feels like alcohol is required to socialize, connect with others, and have fun. What if I told you that alcohol makes you feel more relaxed socially, but negatively impacts other people’s perception of you? In this episode you’ll learn why you think you need alcohol, the connection between social anxiety and alcohol use disorder, how our drinking influences how others perceive us, and how to actually connect and socialize after quitting drinking.

What to listen to next:

E255: 6 Strategies For Staying Sober Through the Holidays (and Some Holidays Drinking Statistics)

E211: The Anticipation of the Drink

Sober Support:

• Community & Meetings: Living a Sober Powered Life https://www.soberpowered.com/membership
• Weekly emails on Fridays https://www.soberpowered.com/email

 Work with me:

• Anger Management Coaching https://www.soberpowered.com/anger
• Sober coaching https://www.soberpowered.com/sober-coaching

Thank you for supporting this show by supporting my sponsors. Learn more:

https://www.soberpowered.com/sponsors

If you enjoyed this episode please consider buying me a coffee to support my work https://www.buymeacoffee.com/soberpowered

Sources are posted on my website

Disclaimer: all of the information described in this podcast is my interpretation of the research combined with my opinion. This is not medical advice. 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Your family and how you grew up have a major influence on how difficult it is for you to get sober, do the work, and resist relapse. A dysfunctional family influences our mindset, how many coping skills and resources we have, and how in tune we are with our emotions. Lots of families have an unspoken rule of silence, which impacts how we behave as adults. In this episode I’ll cover the impact of a dysfunctional family, how this influences relapse tendency, and what you can do to move forward and make positive change for yourself.

Sober Support:

• Community & Meetings: Living a Sober Powered Life https://www.soberpowered.com/membership
• Weekly emails on Fridays https://www.soberpowered.com/email

 Work with me:

• Anger Management Coaching https://www.soberpowered.com/anger
• Sober coaching https://www.soberpowered.com/sober-coaching

Thank you for supporting this show by supporting my sponsors. Learn more:

https://www.soberpowered.com/sponsors

If you enjoyed this episode please consider buying me a coffee to support my work https://www.buymeacoffee.com/soberpowered

Sources are posted on my website

Disclaimer: all of the information described in this podcast is my interpretation of the research combined with my opinion. This is not medical advice. 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s that time of year again. Time for company happy hours, holiday parties, and seeing family. It’s also a time of year when most people drink a lot more than usual. I quit drinking in early November, so I was a little baby sober for my first holiday season. In this episode, I’ll walk you through the strategies that helped me the most during my first year. Plus, I’ll also share some interesting statistics about holiday drinking.

What to listen to next:

E190: Non-Alcoholic Drinks: The Pros and Cons

E245: Want to Stay Sober? You Need to Be Consistent

E248: You Can’t Be Comfortable AND Stay Sober

E250: What Does it Mean to “Be Ready” to Get Sober

Sober Support:

• Community & Meetings: Living a Sober Powered Life https://www.soberpowered.com/membership
• Weekly emails on Fridays https://www.soberpowered.com/email

 Work with me:

• Anger Management Coaching https://www.soberpowered.com/anger
• Sober coaching https://www.soberpowered.com/sober-coaching

Thank you for supporting this show by supporting my sponsors. Learn more:

https://www.soberpowered.com/sponsors

If you enjoyed this episode please consider buying me a coffee to support my work https://www.buymeacoffee.com/soberpowered

Sources are posted on my website

Disclaimer: all of the information described in this podcast is my interpretation of the research combined with my opinion. This is not medical advice. 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The most difficult part of the process of quitting drinking is getting from the point where you realize your drinking is problematic and that you need to quit, to where you actually quit and accept that you are done. That is by far the worst stage and I can't tell you how long that lasts. However, what I would like to tell you in this special episode for my 5 year soberversary is the little micro realizations that I had right before I reached acceptance. I hope in hearing mine, you can start to pay attention to your own.

What to listen to next:

E164: how taking breaks helped me quit drinking for good

E200: my greatest shame

Sober Support:

• Community & Meetings: Living a Sober Powered Life https://www.soberpowered.com/membership
• Weekly emails on Fridays https://www.soberpowered.com/email learn how I keep myself sober and cope with emotions/discomfort

 Work with me:

• Anger Management Coaching https://www.soberpowered.com/anger
• Sober coaching https://www.soberpowered.com/sober-coaching

Thank you for supporting this show by supporting my sponsors. Learn more:

https://www.soberpowered.com/sponsors

If you enjoyed this episode please consider buying me a coffee to support my work https://www.buymeacoffee.com/soberpowered

Sources are posted on my website

Disclaimer: all of the information described in this podcast is my interpretation of the research combined with my opinion. This is not medical advice. 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Have you ever vowed to stop drinking, but then you drink again anyway? It’s a rhetorical question. I know the answer is yes. It’s frustrating when we keep doing this to ourselves and it destroys our belief in ourselves, which is an essential part of staying sober. In this episode I’m discussing instant gratification, the decision making process, and how alcohol alters the way the brain makes decisions to keep us stuck in a loop. 

What to listen to next:

E224: alcohol simplifies the brain

E211: the anticipation of a drink

Sober Support:

• Community & Meetings: Living a Sober Powered Life https://www.soberpowered.com/membership
• Weekly emails on Fridays https://www.soberpowered.com/email

 Work with me:

• Anger Management Coaching https://www.soberpowered.com/anger
• Sober coaching https://www.soberpowered.com/sober-coaching

Thank you for supporting this show by supporting my sponsors. Learn more:

https://www.soberpowered.com/sponsors

If you enjoyed this episode please consider buying me a coffee to support my work https://www.buymeacoffee.com/soberpowered

Sources are posted on my website

Disclaimer: all of the information described in this podcast is my interpretation of the research combined with my opinion. This is not medical advice. 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Are you making being sober harder for yourself? I had no idea what I was doing when I first quit drinking and maybe you feel the same way. Over the years there are things that I’ve noticed people tend to do that makes their sobriety journey more difficult and in this episode I’m going to explain them. If you’ve been doing any of these things then I hope this episode helps ease the unnecessary burden you’re putting on yourself.

What to listen to next:

E195: When Does Sobriety Get Better?

E202: WTF is “The Work”

E240: Post-Acute Withdrawal Syndrome (PAWS)

E196: How the Brain Recovers After Quitting Drinking

E248: You Can’t Be Comfortable AND Stay Sober

E245: Want to Stay Sober? You Need to Be Consistent

E252: How Many Attempts Does it Take to Quit Drinking

E213: Self-Care is NOT Temporarily Turning Off Your Brain

Sober Support:

• Community & Meetings: Living a Sober Powered Life https://www.soberpowered.com/membership
• Weekly emails on Fridays https://www.soberpowered.com/email

 Work with me:

• Anger Management Coaching https://www.soberpowered.com/anger
• Sober coaching https://www.soberpowered.com/sober-coaching

Thank you for supporting this show by supporting my sponsors. Learn more:

https://www.soberpowered.com/sponsors

If you enjoyed this episode please consider buying me a coffee to support my work https://www.buymeacoffee.com/soberpowered

Sources are posted on my website

Disclaimer: all of the information described in this podcast is my interpretation of the research combined with my opinion. This is not medical advice. 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Multiple quit attempts are common when you are trying to get sober, but how many tries does it take before it finally sticks? In this episode I’ll cover the statistics on relapse rates and share all the data I’ve found on the number of quit attempts it takes to stay sober for good. You’ll learn about what makes sobriety more challenging, and what you can do to make this quit attempt your final try.

What to listen to next:

E249: Alcohol and Cortisol: Extra Stress and Extra Cravings

E248: You Can’t Be Comfortable AND Stay Sober

E238: Why Moderation Doesn’t Work

E197: Making the DECISION to Quit Drinking

Sober Support:

• Community & Meetings: Living a Sober Powered Life https://www.soberpowered.com/membership
• Weekly emails on Fridays https://www.soberpowered.com/email

 Work with me:

• Anger Management Coaching https://www.soberpowered.com/anger
• Sober coaching https://www.soberpowered.com/sober-coaching

Thank you for supporting this show by supporting my sponsors. Learn more:

https://www.soberpowered.com/sponsors

If you enjoyed this episode please consider buying me a coffee to support my work https://www.buymeacoffee.com/soberpowered

Sources are posted on my website

Disclaimer: all of the information described in this podcast is my interpretation of the research combined with my opinion. This is not medical advice. 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The intensity of our emotions determines how we deal with them. If the intensity gets too much and we become overwhelmed, we can use avoidance coping mechanisms, like drinking, but avoiding emotions just increases their intensity. In this episode, I’ll explain why some of us have more intense emotions than others, what the window of tolerance is and how this relates to your drinking, and how your brain interprets things to lead to these intense emotions. Our perception is in our control, so I’ll leave you with some mindset shifts on how to manage your emotions better and reduce overwhelm.

What to listen to next:

E248: You Can’t Be Comfortable AND Stay Sober

E216: 4 Types of Impulsivity: Which One Are You?

E213: Self-Care is NOT Temporarily Turning Off Your Brain (Getting "Me Time")

E212: Why Some People Get Sober and Others Don’t (Resilience and Epigenetics)

Sober Support:

• Community & Meetings: Living a Sober Powered Life https://www.soberpowered.com/membership
• Weekly emails on Fridays https://www.soberpowered.com/email

 Work with me:

• Anger Management Coaching https://www.soberpowered.com/anger
• Sober coaching https://www.soberpowered.com/sober-coaching

Thank you for supporting this show by supporting my sponsors. Learn more:

https://www.soberpowered.com/sponsors

If you enjoyed this episode please consider buying me a coffee to support my work https://www.buymeacoffee.com/soberpowered

Sources are posted on my website

Disclaimer: all of the information described in this podcast is my interpretation of the research combined with my opinion. This is not medical advice. 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices