RAW Recovery Podcast

What Does It Mean to Be Restored to Sanity?
Step Two says that we came to believe a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity. But what exactly does that mean for an alcoholic?
Today we’ll talk about the insanity connected to alcoholism—not as an insult, but as the repeated thinking and behavior that kept taking us back to the same destructive place. We’ll also look at what restored sanity can begin to look like: clearer thinking, better decisions, spiritual direction, and a life that is no longer centered around alcohol.
Being restored to sanity does not mean we never make another bad decision. It means we begin living from a different foundation than the one that kept returning us to the drink.
#TheDailyTrudge #StepTwo #RestoredToSanity #AlcoholicsAnonymous #BigBook #AARecovery #Recovery #Sobriety #SpiritualGrowth

My Opinion on Non-Alcoholic Sober Bars and Kava Bars
Sober bars, alcohol-free nightlife, and kava bars are becoming more common—but are they actually helpful for people in recovery?
Today I’m going to share my opinion on these spaces: what I think they may offer, what concerns me about them, and whether recreating the atmosphere of a bar without alcohol supports recovery or keeps us connected to an environment we were trying to leave behind.
This is not about telling anybody where they can or cannot go. It is about looking honestly at what we are seeking, what the environment provides, and whether it strengthens or complicates our recovery.
#TheDailyTrudge #SoberBars #KavaBars #AlcoholFree #Recovery #Sobriety #AlcoholicsAnonymous #SoberLiving

The Family After the Drinking Stops
When the alcoholic gets sober, the drinking may stop—but the family does not automatically return to normal. The Family Afterward talks about the adjustments that can come next: old roles, hurt, expectations, control, fear, resentment, and learning how to live together differently.
Today we’ll talk about what recovery can look like inside the family after alcohol is removed, what may still need healing, and why sobriety changes more than the person who was drinking.
The goal is not to force everyone else to recover. It is to understand that the family may need time to adjust to a life that no longer revolves around alcohol.
#TheDailyTrudge #TheFamilyAfterward #AlcoholicsAnonymous #BigBook #FamilyRecovery #Sobriety #Recovery #AARecovery #Relationships
 
 

Meeting Others Where They Are At
One of the most important things we learn in recovery is that not everybody is going to be where we think they should be. People come in with different experiences, different beliefs, different levels of understanding, and different amounts of readiness.
Today we’ll talk about what it means to meet people where they are instead of where we want them to be, how identification and patience can be more useful than judgment, and why helping another alcoholic often starts with listening before trying to fix anything.
We do not have to lower the message. We just have to learn how to carry it in a way the other person can actually hear.
#TheDailyTrudge #AlcoholicsAnonymous #Recovery #Sobriety #MeetingPeopleWhereTheyAre #Identification #HelpingOthers #AARecovery #Service

There Is A Solution
Alcoholism can leave us believing there is no way out. We try controlling our drinking, changing circumstances, making promises, and relying on our own thinking—only to end up back in the same place.
In There Is a Solution, the Big Book begins showing us something different: alcoholics who once seemed hopeless found a common solution through identification, fellowship, spiritual change, and a Power greater than themselves.
Today we’ll talk about what that solution actually is, why it requires more than simply putting down the drink, and how AA gives us a way of life that can work when our own methods have failed.
#TheDailyTrudge #ThereIsASolution #AlcoholicsAnonymous #BigBook #AARecovery #Recovery #Sobriety #SpiritualRecovery #Fellowship #Hope

The Psychic Change That Makes Step One Possible
In The Doctor’s Opinion, Dr. Silkworth says that without an entire psychic change, there is very little hope of recovery—and that once this change occurs, the alcoholic begins to experience alcohol and recovery differently. AA itself summarizes the psychic change as necessary for recovery.
Today we’ll talk about that change of mind that can happen before we are ready to fully admit Step One. Something shifts. Denial begins to break. The old explanations stop working. We become able to see that alcohol has defeated us and that our lives have become unmanageable.
Step One does not create the psychic change. The psychic change can make us capable of finally seeing and admitting the truth of Step One.
#TheDailyTrudge #PsychicChange #StepOne #AlcoholicsAnonymous #DoctorsOpinion #BigBook #Powerlessness #Recovery #Sobriety #AARecovery
 
 

The Psychic Change That Makes Step One Possible
In The Doctor’s Opinion, Dr. Silkworth says that without an entire psychic change, there is very little hope of recovery—and that once this change occurs, the alcoholic begins to experience alcohol and recovery differently. AA itself summarizes the psychic change as necessary for recovery.
Today we’ll talk about that change of mind that can happen before we are ready to fully admit Step One. Something shifts. Denial begins to break. The old explanations stop working. We become able to see that alcohol has defeated us and that our lives have become unmanageable.
Step One does not create the psychic change. The psychic change can make us capable of finally seeing and admitting the truth of Step One.
#TheDailyTrudge #PsychicChange #StepOne #AlcoholicsAnonymous #DoctorsOpinion #BigBook #Powerlessness #Recovery #Sobriety #AARecovery

Alcoholism and Other Mental Illnesses
The Big Book recognizes that some alcoholics also live with serious emotional and mental disorders—and says that many still recover when they are capable of the rigorous honesty the program demands. That makes an important distinction: alcoholism may not be the only thing we are dealing with, but recovery still requires us to become honest about all of it.
Today we’ll talk about alcoholism alongside conditions such as anxiety, depression, trauma-related disorders, ADHD, and other mental-health challenges. We’ll also include PAWS—post-acute withdrawal syndrome—the term used for withdrawal-related symptoms that can continue beyond the acute withdrawal period, including problems with sleep, mood, concentration, irritability, anxiety, and cravings. The research also notes that PAWS is still an evolving concept without universally agreed diagnostic criteria.
Having more than one problem does not exclude us from recovery. It means we need to understand what we are dealing with, be honest about it, and use the appropriate solutions for each part of our lives.
#TheDailyTrudge #Alcoholism #MentalHealth #PAWS #PostAcuteWithdrawal #AlcoholicsAnonymous #BigBook #RigorousHonesty #Recovery #Sobriety

Healing Defective Relationships
The Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, page 80, points directly at one of the places where recovery can get very real: our relationships. It says that defective relations with other people have often been an immediate cause of our troubles, including our alcoholism.
Today we’ll talk about what happens when we stop looking only at what other people did and begin examining the patterns we brought into our relationships—anger, dishonesty, selfishness, control, neglect, criticism, and the other ways we may have caused physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual harm.
Healing those relationships starts with seeing them clearly, understanding our own part, and changing the way we show up with other people.
#TheDailyTrudge #HealingRelationships #StepEight #TwelveAndTwelve #AlcoholicsAnonymous #AARecovery #Recovery #Sobriety #Relationships #PersonalResponsibility
 
 

Purpose Over Popularity
It is easy to start measuring our value by attention, approval, numbers, or whether people notice what we are doing. But recovery keeps bringing us back to a different question: What is my purpose, and am I staying true to it?
Today we’ll talk about choosing purpose over popularity, putting principles before personalities, being honest about our intentions, and remembering that helping even one person can matter more than being seen by a hundred. The transcript you gave me also comes back to authenticity—being the same person wherever we are instead of changing ourselves just to fit in.
Popularity fades. Purpose gives us direction.
#TheDailyTrudge #PurposeOverPopularity #PrinciplesBeforePersonalities #AlcoholicsAnonymous #Recovery #Sobriety #AARecovery #Purpose #Integrity #Service