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- Sober Powered: The Neuroscience of Being Sober
20 episodes
Sober Powered: The Neuroscience of Being Sober
by Gillian Tietz, MS, CPRC · English
Why do some people stay sober and others relapse back and forth? Getting sober isn’t about restriction, it’s about rewiring your brain to function without intensity, chaos, dopamine spikes, and avoidance. Hosted by Gill Tietz, a former biochemist turned sober coach, this show dives into the neuroscience of long-term sobriety — why some people relapse, why others stay free, and how to build the kind of brain that can handle life without alcohol. Each episode blends science, psychology, and real experience to help you strengthen the four pillars of neuro-resilience: 1. Neural Recovery – healing your brain’s reward and stress systems after alcohol. 2. Emotional Regulation – calming reactivity and learning to feel without escaping. 3. Cognitive Rewiring – changing the thought patterns that pull you backward. 4. Behavioral Integration – designing routines and habits that make being sober your default. Whether you’re newly sober or years in, you’ll learn research-backed tools and mindset shifts so sobriety stops feeling like something you’re trying to want and starts feeling like who you are. This is hard work. If you want my support, then check out my online sober community or my 1:1 work. Website: www.soberpowered.com
Latest episodes
All episodes
E340: Why Being the Only One Not Drinking Feels So Uncomfortable
Why being the only sober person at parties feels awkward—especially when others ask “why aren’t you drinking?”—and how to handle stigma, belonging, and social pressure without over-explaining.
13 Nov 2026 · 18m · 5 chaptersE339: “I Should Be Past This”: Understanding Alcohol Cravings
How alcohol cravings after sobriety work—why a craving doesn’t mean you’re failing, how “wanting” turns into bargaining, and what to do differently during triggers like holiday dinners; includes…
6 Nov 2026 · 15m · 4 chaptersE338: Why You Become More Irritable When You Quit Drinking
Why people often become more irritable after quitting drinking, and how to recognize contributing factors and track progress over time.
30 Oct 2026 · 15m · 4 chaptersE337: How Your Nervous System Adjusts to Life Without Alcohol
How the nervous system adapts after stopping alcohol—why anxiety, irritability, insomnia, and intense emotions can increase at first, and how recovery unfolds on different timelines (including…
23 Oct 2026 · 18m · 8 chaptersWhat it Means to Use Alcohol to Escape (a replay)
Drinking to escape—using alcohol to “turn off” self-awareness, avoid unpleasant emotions/problems, and disengage from reality.
16 Oct 2026 · 21m · 8 chaptersE336: Why You Feel Like You Need Alcohol to Relax (Alcohol and Stress)
Why alcohol feels like it’s needed to relax after a stressful day, and how research shows repeated drinking changes the brain/body stress system and craving over time.
9 Oct 2026 · 25m · 7 chapters
How the Sober Brain Breaks Down Alcohol Associations (But They’ll Build Back Up if You Drink Again- A Replay)
How alcohol use disorder forms brain “associations” via dopamine and repetition, why they intensify during repeated quit-and-relapse cycles, and how sobriety can weaken them (though not fully erase…
2 Oct 2026 · 31m · 11 chapters
E335: Convincing Yourself You Can Drink Again: 2 Reasons This Happens
Why people convince themselves they can drink again after sobriety, and the two main mechanisms behind that loop: (1) the belief that the problem was only past circumstances/identity and (2) brain…
25 Sep 2026 · 16m · 7 chapters
E334: Why We Resist Sobriety and What Acceptance Looks Like at Every Stage
The episode explains why people may “know” they need sobriety but resist “accepting” it, and how resistance/acceptance change across sobriety stages (sober curious, early sobriety, long-term).
18 Sep 2026 · 23m · 5 chapters
E333: Understanding the Problem Isn’t the Same as Changing It
The episode argues that insight about why you drink (science, trigger labels, nervous-system explanations) can reduce shame but may also become a “hiding place” if it replaces real behavior change.
11 Sep 2026 · 12m · 4 chapters
High Dopamine, Low Effort Behaviors and Making Sobriety Feel Less Hard (Replay)
How “high dopamine, low-effort” behaviors (especially alcohol) train the brain to expect quick rewards, making sobriety and meaningful effort feel harder; includes three mindset shifts to make…
4 Sep 2026 · 25m · 10 chaptersE332: “Am I Bad Enough?”
The episode challenges the “am I bad enough?” standard for quitting alcohol, arguing that comparing yourself to worse drinkers keeps alcohol’s grip and delays change.
28 Aug 2026 · 11m · 7 chapters
E331: Wanting to Quit Isn’t the Same as Being Willing to Quit
The episode distinguishes “wanting to quit” from “being willing to quit” in alcohol recovery.
21 Aug 2026 · 16m · 8 chapters
E330: How to Stop Dabbling and Start Doing the Work
The episode argues that “doing the work” for sobriety isn’t just learning facts or attending meetings; it’s identifying the thoughts, emotions, body sensations, excuses, resentments, permissions, and…
14 Aug 2026 · 16m · 8 chapters
How Many Attempts Does it Take to Quit Drinking for Good (Replay)
How many quit attempts it takes to quit drinking for good, using relapse and “quit attempt” statistics; what drives relapse risk; and what counts as a “real” quit attempt.
7 Aug 2026 · 27m · 11 chapters
E329: What Dabbling Looked Like For Me
The episode explains “dabbling” versus real sobriety commitment, using a personal story to show how changing only the drink fails when the environment and social dynamics stay the same.
31 Jul 2026 · 11m · 3 chaptersE328: Why Dabbling Keeps You Stuck in the Drinking Cycle
Defines “dabbling” in sobriety as staying close to recovery (listening, reading, lurking, day-one posts, occasional meetings) to feel productive or relieved emotionally, without consistent…
24 Jul 2026 · 16m · 6 chapters
Self-Care is NOT Temporarily Turning Off Your Brain (Replay)
The episode argues that “self-care” in sobriety is not temporarily turning off your brain with alcohol or other avoidant behaviors; it’s delayed gratification that prevents depletion and reduces…
17 Jul 2026 · 11m · 5 chaptersE327: The “Maybe It’ll Be Different This Time” Fantasy
The episode warns against the “maybe I can drink differently now” fantasy in sobriety—how early improvements can trick the brain into rationalizing a return to alcohol, and why “distance” from…
10 Jul 2026 · 10m · 4 chapters
E326: Why Alcohol Looks Better in Your Memory Than It Was In Reality
Explains why sobriety often brings “alcohol looks better in my memory” thoughts, arguing they’re memory distortions driven by brain state-change learning, cue associations, and…
3 Jul 2026 · 17m · 7 chaptersWe use cookies.They keep VO running smoothly and help us improve it. Privacy policy