386 Healing After Narcissistic Parenting: From Survival Mode to Self-Love
Sobriety: The One Day At A Time Recovery Podcast
Release Date: 07/30/2025
411 The Neuroscience of Anxiety, Addiction, Over Eating, And How To Break The Habit Loop With Dr Jud Brewer
Sobriety: The One Day At A Time Recovery Podcast
Anxiety Isn’t the Problem — It’s the Habit Loop Behind It I recently had a conversation with psychiatrist and neuroscientist Jud Brewer that stopped me in my tracks — not because it was abstract or inspirational, but because it finally explained something I’ve lived with for decades. Even in long-term sobriety. Even with years of self-work, therapy, meetings, journaling, and personal development. That thing is anxiety — and more specifically, how anxiety quietly turns into habits like worrying, overthinking, scrolling, information hoarding, procrastinating, and self-judgment. What...
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410 Managing Intrusive Thoughts, Anxiety, and Depression In Sobriety
Sobriety: The One Day At A Time Recovery Podcast
One of the biggest takeaways from this conversation with Emma is that anxiety, depression, and burnout aren’t character flaws—they’re nervous system responses to feeling unsafe. We talked about how depression often mirrors the nervous system’s shutdown response, and how anxiety shows up as fight-or-flight. When your body feels overwhelmed for too long, it doesn’t motivate you—it protects you. Why Worry Keeps You Stuck Emma explained that worry is actually reinforced behavior. When we worry and nothing bad happens, our brain learns, “That worked—do it again.” Over time, worry...
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409 From Elite Athlete to Inmate: The Wake-Up Call That Changed His Life
Sobriety: The One Day At A Time Recovery Podcast
Choosing Yourself Isn’t Selfish — It’s Necessary In this episode of The One Day at a Time Recovery Podcast, I sit down with Hakeem to talk about what happens when performance, substances, and distractions can no longer protect us from unresolved pain. Hakeem shares how the death of his younger brother, years of buried grief, elite athletics, addiction, and eventually incarceration led him to a moment of total reckoning. Sitting alone in a jail cell — without substances, screens, or distractions — he was finally forced to face himself. What stood out to me most is Hakeem’s belief...
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408 Overcoming Betrayal And Suicidal Depression In Sobriety
Sobriety: The One Day At A Time Recovery Podcast
How Journaling, Community & Self-Compassion Can Transform Recovery: A Conversation with Sonia In this episode, Sonia from Sisters in Sobriety joins us for a deeply honest conversation about recovery, journaling, trauma, and rebuilding life after addiction. Sonia shares how her drinking escalated from teenage experimentation to daily wine-drinking as a high-functioning professional. While she never had the “traditional” external bottom, she described being emotionally bottomed out — chronically ill, blacking out, and unable to imagine a future. What finally shifted? A moment of...
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407 The Brutal Truth About Why You Stay Stuck And How To Break Free With Brett Eaton
Sobriety: The One Day At A Time Recovery Podcast
Today I am joined by Brett Eaton, who is a motivational speaker, high performance coach, and the best selling author of "Uncomfortable Either Way: The Blueprint For Building Confidence Through Discomfort”. You might think that he doesn’t fit the typical guest profile, but Brett’s expertise on building confidence, behavior change, identity shifts, and building momentum - are the foundational building blocks of sobriety. In this episode we talk about: ✅ How accepting discomfort leads to change ✅ The importance of micro-commitments ✅ Why focusing on the wins is critical...
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406 The Midlife Unraveling: How Julie Rebuilt Her Life After Addiction, PTSD & Burnout
Sobriety: The One Day At A Time Recovery Podcast
In today’s episode, I sit down with my dear friend Julie Bloom - She’s a coach, mental health trainer, multilingual communicator, and survivor of childhood abuse, and severe workplace trauma. Julie shares her remarkable story of navigating PTSD, burnout, trauma, addiction, and a complete midlife unraveling… and how she rebuilt her identity through emotional regulation, nonviolent communication, and deep personal healing. Together we explore: ✨ Why emotional regulation is the foundation of all healing ✨ What actually happens in the brain during triggers ✨ How to respond...
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405 Breaking Generational Trauma and Finding Recovery With David Shamszad
Sobriety: The One Day At A Time Recovery Podcast
In this powerful and deeply honest conversation, I sit down with David Shamszad, author of I Am Someone You Know: The Fight for Recovery and Mental Health, to talk about the hidden pain behind high-functioning addiction, growing up in an alcoholic home, and the courage it takes to heal. David shares his journey through childhood trauma, undiagnosed bipolar disorder, suicidal ideation, and eventual recovery, revealing how vulnerability and self-care became his path to freedom. We explore the power of telling your story, breaking cycles of generational trauma, and how choosing courage—moment...
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404 Healing After Tragic Loss Addiction and Public Shame
Sobriety: The One Day At A Time Recovery Podcast
When Ashley Jo’s world fell apart—the death of her young son, the collapse of her marriage, and the depths of addiction—she turned her pain into purpose. In this raw and emotional conversation, Ashley shares how she survived unimaginable grief, overcame suicidal thoughts, and found healing through sobriety, grace, and faith. We talk about: The devastating diagnosis and loss of her son What it’s really like to grieve and feel relief at the same time How shame and secrecy fuel addiction Why her affair was actually an “exit affair” The spiral that led to her rock bottom...
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403 Sean Dadashi On Not Belonging, Suicidal Depression, and Tools For Healing
Sobriety: The One Day At A Time Recovery Podcast
At sixteen, Sean typed “how to end my life” into Google. What he found that night set him on a path of healing, spirituality, and eventually — the creation of Rosebud, an AI-powered journaling app that helps people process pain and grow. In this raw and honest conversation, Sean and Arlina explore depression, men’s mental health, and how AI can actually become a compassionate mirror for self-awareness. If you’ve ever felt hopeless or alone, this episode will remind you: your pain can become your purpose. Download The Rosebud App Here: https://www.rosebud.app/ 👊🏼Need help...
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402 Recognizing and Escaping Toxic Friendships
Sobriety: The One Day At A Time Recovery Podcast
Today I am joined by my dear friend Michelle Ferriss, a licensed marriage family therapist. She’s been on the podcast two other times because she’s awesome! Her area of expertise is on dealing with codependency, how to escape narcissistic relationships and overcoming anger issues. In this episode, we’re going to talk about toxic friendships, how to know if you’re in one, ways to improve them, and steps to take to escape them. This is such an important topic because as we grow, evolve and change, so do the relationships we have. And with people feeling more disconnected and...
info_outlineHi Friend, If you’re new to the podcast, my name is Arlina, I’ve been sober for 31 years, I’m a recovery coach, a bestselling author, and I’ll be your host.
If you’re a long time listener, you may have noticed I recently enabled ads at the beginning of each episode. Something I haven’t done before in the 9 years that I’ve been hosting the podcast.
With the growing expenses of hosting, and the podcast production team, combined with a decrease in donations, I decided to give ads a try.
If you would like to hear ad free episodes, you can join my YouTube membership for as little as $1.99 per month. I will also have an additional membership level that includes private community chat rooms, live stream Q&A and Recovery Coaching with me, so you can overcome obstacles, keep you motivated, and on track. Just visit my youtube channel “the One Day At A Time Recovery Podcast” or you can find a link in the show notes at odaatchat.com
So, what happens when you grow up with an alcoholic father and a narcissistic mother—and no safe adult in sight?
In this powerful and revealing conversation with Pi Venus, we explore what it’s like to grow up in a home where you’re told, in words or in silence, that your needs are a burden. My guest shares her story of early emotional abandonment, internalized shame, and the moment she poured her first drink at age 12… and the long road to reclaiming her power, identity, and joy.
We talk about the real root causes of addiction, why recovery doesn’t stop at quitting substances, and how to reparent the parts of ourselves that still carry fear, shame, and longing. She shares what it’s like to heal from narcissistic abuse—first from her mother, then from a romantic partner who mirrored her childhood patterns—and the tools that helped her finally feel safe in her own skin.
You'll also hear about:
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The subtle signs of covert and overt narcissistic abuse
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Her "spontaneous sobriety" moment and what made it stick
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How losing everything became a path to finding her true self
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Why peace can feel boring—and how to get comfortable with it
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The role of daily ritual, play, and myth in deep healing
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Her book Mother Medusa and how ancient stories help us rewrite our own
This one is for anyone healing from dysfunctional family systems, narcissistic abuse, or unresolved childhood trauma. It’s vulnerable, validating, and ultimately empowering.
So without further delay, please enjoy this episode, and let me know what you think!
👊🏼Need help applying this information to your own life?
Here are 3 ways to get started:
🎁Free Guide: 30 Tips for Your First 30 Days - With a printable PDF checklist
Grab your copy here: https://www.soberlifeschool.com
🎁Free Journaling Exercise: How To Get Unstuck, Be Consistent & Reach Your Goals
Download Here: https://www.innercompassprogram.com
☎️Private Coaching: Make Sobriety Stick
https://www.makesobrietystick.com
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