loader from loading.io

410 Managing Intrusive Thoughts, Anxiety, and Depression In Sobriety

Sobriety: The One Day At A Time Recovery Podcast

Release Date: 12/25/2025

How To Find A Higher Power That Makes Sense To You show art How To Find A Higher Power That Makes Sense To You

Sobriety: The One Day At A Time Recovery Podcast

This is the second episode in the step work series with Sonia Kahlon. Co host of the sisters in sobriety podcast and a woman in long term recovery. And I’m tellin you, she is coming in HOT about Step 2! Before we dive in, a quick announcement. The show notes of every episode contain a summary, all the action steps and all the books mentioned in the episode. There is also a resources tab you’ll want to check out with a bunch of free guides like how to have sober fun, 30 tips for your first 30 days, as well as links to the YouTube channel. You can find all of these free resources to enrich...

info_outline From Shame to Strength: Reframing Your Past as Your Greatest Asset show art From Shame to Strength: Reframing Your Past as Your Greatest Asset

Sobriety: The One Day At A Time Recovery Podcast

Today I sit down with Peter Bailey, author of Be Epic: Reframe Your Past to Navigate Your Future, president of the Prouty Project, and a man with 43 years of sobriety. Peter started drinking at 13, got sober at 22 on Block Island, Rhode Island, and has spent decades since helping people in recovery and corporate leadership see their stories through a completely different lens — one rooted in Joseph Campbell's Hero's Journey model. In this episode, you'll learn: How reframing your past can turn shame into your greatest superpower What the Hero's Journey model is and how it maps directly onto...

info_outline 427 The Recovery Principle That Saved Her Business with Diane Prince show art 427 The Recovery Principle That Saved Her Business with Diane Prince

Sobriety: The One Day At A Time Recovery Podcast

What do you do when you’ve had a $28 million business exit — and then watch nearly all of it disappear? If you’re Diane Prince, you eventually find Al-Anon, do the work, and rebuild a life and business that’s more fulfilling than anything you had before. In this episode, Arlina sits down with Diane — entrepreneur, business strategist, and Al-Anon member of 17 years — for one of the most honest conversations about recovery, money, and entrepreneurship we’ve had on this show. The Exploding Doormat Diane didn’t grow up with alcohol in her home. But she grew up with rage — a...

info_outline 426 Addicted to Pain: Breaking the Cycle That’s Blocking Your Success show art 426 Addicted to Pain: Breaking the Cycle That’s Blocking Your Success

Sobriety: The One Day At A Time Recovery Podcast

What if the biggest obstacle to your success isn’t your skill set, your circumstances, or even your past — but your addiction to staying stuck? That’s the central thread of my conversation with Peter Moulton, a 35-year recovery veteran, entrepreneur, and author of UP: A Journey of Intention, Focus, and Execution. Peter has spent nearly three decades coaching entrepreneurs and leaders, and what he’s discovered cuts right through the noise: most of us don’t fail because we lack information. We fail because we’re unwilling to be seen. The Three-Year Prison Peter describes a...

info_outline 425 Raising the Bottom: How to Stop Drinking Before You Hit Rock Bottom show art 425 Raising the Bottom: How to Stop Drinking Before You Hit Rock Bottom

Sobriety: The One Day At A Time Recovery Podcast

You Don’t Have to Lose Everything First: What Step One Really Teaches Us If you’ve ever looked at the 12 steps and thought that’s not for me, you’re not alone. I thought the same thing for years. The God stuff felt like a barrier. The word “powerless” felt insulting. And the idea that my life had to look like a wreck before I qualified? That kept me stuck longer than anything else. This week on the podcast, I sat down with Sonia Kahlon — founder of EverBlume and host of the Sisters in Sobriety podcast — to start working the 12 steps together, live, on air. Sonia has nearly nine...

info_outline 424 The 6 Saboteurs Destroying Your Self-Control (And How to Beat Them) with Eric Zimmer show art 424 The 6 Saboteurs Destroying Your Self-Control (And How to Beat Them) with Eric Zimmer

Sobriety: The One Day At A Time Recovery Podcast

What if the secret to lasting change isn’t a single powerful moment, but thousands of tiny, unremarkable ones? That’s the central idea behind Eric Zimmer’s powerful new book, How a Little Becomes a Lot: The Art of Small Changes for a More Meaningful Life. Eric is the host of The One You Feed podcast and a long-time figure in the recovery community with 26 years of sobriety. In Episode 424, he and I explored why real transformation happens slowly — and why that’s actually good news. The Hammer and the Chisel Eric opens his book with the story of Dasrath Manjhi, an...

info_outline 423 The Sober Founder: How Recovery Principles Built a Business — and a Movement show art 423 The Sober Founder: How Recovery Principles Built a Business — and a Movement

Sobriety: The One Day At A Time Recovery Podcast

When Nothing Goes According to Plan — and That's the Point Andrew Lassise didn't get sober because he wanted to. He got sober because a judge gave him a choice: jail or rehab. He chose rehab. And as he'll tell you, that was the best decision he never really made. Andrew's story is the kind that makes you laugh out loud and then quietly reassess your own life. At 16, he was blacking out at parties. By college, it was a daily habit. By his mid-twenties, he had a 0.24 BAC DUI, three failed breathalyzer readings on his own car-mounted device, and a pocket breathalyzer he'd purchased on eBay to...

info_outline 422 From Trauma to Freedom: How Letting Go Changed Everything show art 422 From Trauma to Freedom: How Letting Go Changed Everything

Sobriety: The One Day At A Time Recovery Podcast

What if your energy was like a bag of Skittles? That’s the metaphor Anne uses in this conversation, and once you hear it, you can’t unsee it. Every day you wake up with a limited number of Skittles. Each one represents your energy — mentally, emotionally, and physically. The problem? Most of us are throwing our Skittles away without even realizing it. We spend them worrying about things we can’t control, replaying conversations in our heads, arguing on social media, or saying yes to things we don’t actually want to do. Before we know it, our energy is gone. And we’re left feeling...

info_outline 421 The Hidden Beliefs That Control Your Behavior With Nir Eyal show art 421 The Hidden Beliefs That Control Your Behavior With Nir Eyal

Sobriety: The One Day At A Time Recovery Podcast

The Beliefs That Shape Our Behavior One of the most frustrating experiences in life is knowing exactly what to do, but still not doing it. If you’ve ever tried to quit drinking, build a new habit, improve your health, or pursue a goal and found yourself slipping back into old patterns, you’re not alone. In this episode, I talk with behavioral design expert and bestselling author Nir Eyal about why this happens. The answer isn’t a lack of knowledge. It’s BELIEF. The Motivation Triangle Nir explains that motivation isn’t just about wanting something. It’s actually built on three...

info_outline 420 The Root Cause of Emotional Eating In Sobriety show art 420 The Root Cause of Emotional Eating In Sobriety

Sobriety: The One Day At A Time Recovery Podcast

The Root Cause of Emotional Eating In Sobriety There’s something we don’t talk about enough. You quit drinking. You do the work. You go to meetings. You build a life you’re proud of. And then… You find yourself standing in the kitchen at 9pm. Again. Maybe it’s sugar. Maybe it’s “just a little snack.” Maybe it’s eating in secret. Maybe it’s feeling out of control around food in a way that feels eerily familiar. A lot of people in recovery don’t want to admit this part. But it’s common. Very common. In this week’s conversation with Ali Shapiro, we unpacked something...

info_outline
 
More Episodes

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 becomes automatic.

This is why telling yourself to “just stop worrying” never works.

One Tool That Can Reduce Anxiety by Up to 80%

One of the most practical tools we discussed is Scheduled Worry:

Instead of worrying all day, you train your brain to worry at a specific time—usually 10–15 minutes in the afternoon. Outside of that window, you gently remind yourself, “I’ll deal with this at 5pm.”

This retrains the brain instead of fighting it.

Burnout and Fear-Based Fuel

Emma shared how she burned out after years of pushing herself—weekly YouTube videos, pregnancy, parenting, and running a business. What stood out most was this idea:

Fear is a dirty fuel source.

When we’re driven by fear—of failure, not being enough, or letting others down—we eventually crash. Healing often means switching fuel sources to trust, values, and self-permission to slow down.

✅ Action Steps for Listeners

  1. Set a daily check-in alarm (once an hour) to notice:

    • What am I thinking?

    • What am I feeling?

    • What’s happening in my body?

  2. Practice willingness instead of avoidance
    Let the feeling exist without trying to fix it.

  3. Try Scheduled Worry for 7 days
    10–15 minutes/day, written out.

  4. Clarify your locus of control
    Separate what you can control from what you can’t.

  5. Choose one value-aligned action
    Small, doable, and grounded—not fear-driven.

🔗 Resources Mentioned

  • Therapy in a Nutshell (YouTube)

  • Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT)

  • Burnout by Emily Nagoski

  • Slow Productivity by Cal Newport

  • The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry

 

Guest Contact Info: https://therapyinanutshell.com/

👊🏼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

☎️Private Coaching: Make Sobriety Stick

https://www.makesobrietystick.com

Subscribe So You Don’t Miss New Episodes!

 

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Amazon Music, or you can stream it from my website HERE. You can also watch the interview on YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/@theonedayatatimepodcast?sub_confirmation=1

 

 

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-one-day-at-a-time-recovery-podcast/id1212504521

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4I23r7DBTpT8XwUUwHRNpB

Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/a8eb438c-5af1-493b-99c1-f218e5553aff/the-one-day-at-a-time-recovery-podcast