Best Gillian Tietz Ms Cprc Podcasts (2025)

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E294: Why Stress and Emotions Feel Intolerable Without Alcohol 20:06

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3d ago20:06

20:06

Emotional reactivity is one of the biggest roadblocks to staying sober. For many of us, our brain’s alarm system has been rewired by years of drinking to overreact to even the smallest stressors, making ordinary problems feel like catastrophes. In this episode, we’ll break down the science of why that happens, from amygdala hyperactivity to weakene…

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Why Shame Blocks Change 13:37

4d ago13:37

13:37

Guilt says “I did something wrong.” Shame says “I am wrong.” It feels like proof that you’re a weak-willed loser with no self-control when you keep drinking even though you said you wouldn’t or you drink more than you intended. That’s shame talking. The real truth is it’s proof that you need a different approach and that you’re lacking coping skill…

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E293: Tolerance and the Disappearing Buzz 17:34

17d ago17:34

17:34

Have you ever thought back to the early days of your drinking and remembered how just one or two drinks gave you exactly what you wanted? That light, carefree buzz—the feeling that you were relaxed, loosened up, and maybe even a little funnier. Fast forward a few years, and suddenly those same two drinks barely register. You start chasing it—three,…

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E292: Why One Drink is Never Enough 19:00

24d ago19:00

19:00

Have you ever promised yourself you’d only have one drink? Maybe it was at dinner, or after work—you told yourself, “Just one, that’s it.” But once that drink was gone, something shifted. Instead of feeling satisfied, you found yourself wanting another. And another. It can feel frustrating, even confusing. What’s wrong with me? Why can other people…

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E291: Why You May Still Crave Alcohol Long Term, and Why No Cravings Doesn’t Mean You’re “Cured” 17:36

1M ago17:36

17:36

We tend to think of cravings as the enemy in sobriety. If you still want to drink, it must mean you’re doing something wrong. And on the other side, if the cravings go away, it’s tempting to think you’re finally “cured.” Cravings are not a sign of weakness, and the absence of cravings doesn’t mean you’re going to be a special occasion drinker. They…

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Thinking About Drinking Constantly, Then Thinking About Sobriety Constantly 17:50

1M ago17:50

17:50

Obsessing over our drinking is very frustrating and it takes over our lives. There is so much more to life than worrying about alcohol. When you get sober, it can be equally frustrating to obsess over sobriety. In this episode, I discuss getting space from thinking about it all the time, some reasons why we constantly think about it, and all the co…

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E290: How to Quit Drinking Without Hitting Rock Bottom 17:23

1M ago17:23

17:23

A rock bottom moment isn’t required to get sober, although it obviously helps. We have no control over what will be our rock bottom, and often we stack consequences for a long time before enough is finally enough. In this episode I discuss what to do if you haven’t had a rock bottom yet. You’ll learn about 3 key things I’ve noticed that dabblers do…

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The Most Important Thinking Shift I Made in Sobriety 16:38

2M ago16:38

16:38

Quitting drinking doesn’t automatically change how you think, it just removes the numbing. For many of us, that means we’re left with a mind that defaults to worst-case scenarios, criticism, and hopelessness. Sobriety gives you a chance to rewire negative thought patterns, but only if you’re aware of them and actively work to change them. In this e…

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E289: Emotional Tunnel Vision: When Little Problems are a Big Deal 19:56

2M ago19:56

19:56

In sobriety our brains are still stuck in survival mode. We zoom in on small problems, assume they’re huge, and feel overwhelmed by everyday stressors. Minor stressors make our lives grind to a halt. But with time, our thinking shifts and we learn the skills we need to zoom out. In this episode, I’ll explain where this tunnel vision comes from, wha…

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E288: How to “Sit With It” Without Avoiding, Suppressing, Ruminating, or Escaping 22:47

2M ago22:47

22:47

Learning to manage emotions is one of the most difficult parts of sobriety. Many people don’t think they were drinking to cope, only to find out once they try to quit that they were. When I was drinking and in the first couple of years of sobriety, I used to make things more difficult for myself because I couldn’t manage emotions. I would ruminate,…

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E287: Are You “Strong Enough” or Just Stubborn? (Self-Control & Willpower) 21:07

2M ago21:07

21:07

When we think about getting sober, most of the focus is on not drinking, but we don’t think about what to start doing to actually rewire the brain and move forward. In this episode, I’ll explain why white-knuckling doesn’t work. You’ll learn about why willpower is not the most important factor for staying sober, how being “strong” prevents us from …

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5 Year Podversary Q&A (E286 Part 2) 32:23

3M ago32:23

32:23

Join me for a special Q&A episode. We talk about my story, my work, my gaming history, book writing, what I've noticed in the sober community, and more! Thanks to everyone who submitted questions Work with me: Community & Meetings: Living a Sober Powered Life https://www.soberpowered.com/membership Sober coaching https://www.soberpowered.com/sober-…

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E286: How This Podcast Changed My Life (Happy 5 Years to Sober Powered) 30:19

3M ago30:19

30:19

On June 25, 2020 I decided to start this podcast. You’ll learn the story of how this podcast started, how it’s changed my sobriety, how it’s changed me professionally, how it’s helped me do my own “work”, and some of the hurtful things people have said to me over the years. I want to share about the shifts I’ve had to make to sustain being a public…

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E285: How Exercise Helps Your Brain and Body Heal From Alcohol (and How to Get Started) 22:45

3M ago22:45

22:45

Besides not drinking, one of the simplest ways to heal the damage left behind from your drinking days is to exercise consistently. In this episode, I’ll explain how exercise helps to heal the body and brain, specific types of exercise that are beneficial, and how exercise can increase the likelihood that you’ll resist cravings and stay sober. You’l…

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E284: Reward Substitution: Healthy vs. Harmful Replacements for Alcohol 19:49

3M ago19:49

19:49

When we quit drinking, it’s pretty common to pick up another crutch or transfer the addiction to something else like food, work, cannabis, shopping, etc. Your brain still wants comfort, relief, stimulation, and escape and it’s easy to use other methods of relief instead of doing the emotional work and not needing relief. In this episode, I discuss …

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E283: Alcohol Shortens Your Perception of Time (Instant Gratification) 18:08

3M ago18:08

18:08

Learning to put effort into our lives, be patient, and not rely on instant gratification is challenging. Alcohol teaches us that we can have what we want immediately and with no effort. Real life doesn’t work that way. In this episode, I explain alcohol myopia, which is how alcohol narrows our focus and prevents us from accurately thinking about th…

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E282: Minimizing, Rationalizing, and the Myth of “I Wasn’t That Bad” 19:11

4M ago19:11

19:11

Maybe your drinking isn’t/wasn’t that bad, but does that mean it’s good? If you don’t truly face what you’re doing, then how can you expect to change and move forward? In this episode, we dig into the psychological tricks we use to protect ourselves from the truth about our drinking- minimizing, rationalizing, and rewriting the past. I explain how …

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E281: Why Your Brain Makes Drinking Look Better Than It Was 18:06

4M ago18:06

18:06

When the sun comes out, so do the memories of “fun” drinking days, but are those memories even accurate? In this episode, I break down how your brain edits the past to make alcohol look better than it really was. I’ll explain how dopamine, emotional memory, and the fading affect bias distort your perception of your drinking life, and why the “good …

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E280: Romanticizing Alcohol: What’s Going on in Your Brain 18:59

4M ago18:59

18:59

Are these harmless thoughts or do they lead to relapse? In this episode you’ll learn what is going on in your brain when you romanticize alcohol, how this can make being sober more challenging, and 3 ways to break the romanticizing loop. I’ll share a story from 4 years ago about when I romanticized alcohol, how I used tools, and what that same situ…

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E279: The Pendulum Effect of Healing 25:10

4M ago25:10

25:10

When we start doing “the work”, it’s normal for your behavior to swing hard in the other direction. Emotions become more intense, old memories flood back, or you may feel like everyone needs to know how they’ve wronged you. This is the pendulum effect. We are learning how to do life without alcohol, and that process takes experimentation. In this e…

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E278: Intrusive Thoughts About Drinking When You’re Already Sober & 3 Ways to Deal 22:10

5M ago22:10

22:10

We’re used to intrusive thoughts about drinking while we’re trying to quit and in the early days, but these thoughts can continue to pop up months or even years later. Does this mean you’re on the path to relapse? In this episode I’ll explain where intrusive thoughts about drinking come from and 3 strategies to deal with them. You’ll learn the 4 mo…

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E277: Being Willing to Start is the Hardest Part (“The Work”) 20:54

5M ago20:54

20:54

I thought getting sober was the end of the story. I did it, I succeeded, now life will be amazing forever. But the parade never came. Instead, I started to get uncomfortable and notice patterns in my behavior that I didn’t like, and without alcohol around, I couldn’t unsee it. This is where a lot of people fall off. Their work begins to show up, it…

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E276: A Burst of Mental Clarity at 60 Days Sober (Cognitive Healing) 26:25

5M ago26:25

26:25

Many people experience a noticeable shift in mental clarity around 60 days sober. When it happened to me I felt like I was waking up from a long dream and I could finally use my brain again. This may feel like being present, having patience, better focus and attention, improved memory, and reduced mental clutter. In this episode, I’ll explain how a…

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E275: 3 Ways Alcohol Damages the Heart and How to Have Good Heart Health in Sobriety 25:55

5M ago25:55

25:55

Alcohol damages every area of the body, but in this episode we are focusing on the heart. I’ll explain 3 ways that alcohol damages the heart, how the heart heals after we get sober, and 5 things you can do to have good heart health moving forward. What to listen to next: E232: The 3am Wake Up E266: Can You Drink After Taking a Break? E268: Is Moder…

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E274: High Dopamine, Low Effort Behaviors and Making Sobriety Feel Less Hard 27:28

5M ago27:28

27:28

Your brain is wired for quick hits of dopamine, or high-reward, low-effort habits that feel good in the moment but sabotage your long-term goals. Over time, this conditions your brain to expect rewards without effort, making real change feel harder than it actually is. In this episode, I’ll explain how these patterns destroy motivation, fuel incons…

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E273: How the Sober Brain Breaks Down Alcohol Associations (But They’ll Build Back Up if You Drink Again) 33:10

6M ago33:10

33:10

We believe alcohol is required for vacations, unwinding, dealing with stress, celebrating, and socializing. We have built up powerful associations in our brains to reinforce these beliefs through dopamine and repetition. After you get sober, facing life without alcohol can feel impossible. Everything reminds you of alcohol. You start to notice how …

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E272: 6 Habits That Make My Life Better 24:03

6M ago24:03

24:03

When we develop a problem with alcohol, it becomes the center of our lives and most or all decisions are made after taking alcohol into consideration. When you remove alcohol, there’s a big empty hole in your life. You can fill this hole with other substances, sex or relationships, gambling or shopping, sitting around sad, or you can make some chan…

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E271: Alcohol, Career Stress, and the Lie of “I Function Just Fine” 27:28

6M ago27:28

27:28

“I function just fine, it’s not like I’m missing work”, I said until I started missing work. “I have a masters degree, I couldn’t have gotten this far if I was an alcoholic.” Have you ever thought things like this to yourself? Most drinkers are able to function. Most will never reach the stereotypical alcoholic that we think of. High functioning do…

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E270: Cravings Increase After Quitting Drinking and Peak Around 60 Days Sober and 6 Months Sober 28:41

6M ago28:41

28:41

You probably expect that the more sober time you have, the less you crave alcohol. That’s true for some people, but others experience an effect called incubation of craving. This is where cravings build up over time and peak around 60 days, then again around 6 months sober. In this episode, I’ll explain the research on incubation of craving, what y…

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E269: Running on Autopilot Mode 31:11

7M ago31:11

31:11

Regular drinking and early sobriety often feel like living on autopilot, where we are repeating the same routines without conscious awareness. Alcohol changes the brain to increase mindless activity, which can lead to rumination, excessive self-focus, anxiety, and addiction-related thought loops. In this episode, you’ll learn about how alcohol affe…

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Making Friends After Getting Sober (Mini Coaching Call) 33:33

7M ago33:33

33:33

Making new friends as an adult is difficult enough, but when you're sober, it adds an extra layer of difficulty. In this episode, we're talking about how to find friends in sobriety with a focus on what's the block from putting yourself out there, what do we have control over, how much armor do we have up, a fear of rejection, and how we can start …

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E268: Is Moderate Drinking Healthier? Here’s Why So Many Studies Say Yes 26:57

7M ago26:57

26:57

Most people defend moderation. What about all those people in the blue zones? Europeans drink every day, what about the French Paradox? If you do a quick search, then you can find tons of articles telling you how moderation is healthier than not drinking. Drinking a little bit every day will help you live longer and have a healthier heart. This has…

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E267: Resources vs Support: Are You Setting Yourself Up for Success? 26:53

7M ago26:53

26:53

This is the biggest mistake I see people make. There’s one pattern I’ve noticed with people where they want to be sober, but they approach it in a way that makes them less likely to actually achieve sobriety. In this episode I’m going to explain how you can set yourself up for success, how to build an effective support system, and how support can h…

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E266: Can You Drink After Taking a Break? 34:38

8M ago34:38

34:38

So you’ve taken a break from alcohol and now you’re wondering do you stay sober or do you go back to drinking? In this episode I’ll discuss your options, when the best benefits from a break are, whether it’s possible for some people to moderate their drinking after a break, and how to know if you really have a problem and need to be sober or not. W…

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E265: Rewiring Your Reward System After Getting Sober 28:10

8M ago28:10

28:10

When will being sober feel rewarding? When does it get easier? When does the boredom go away? In this episode you’ll learn about the process of recalibrating your reward system after quitting drinking. I’ll explain how alcohol messes up the reward system, the process of recalibration that occurs during the first year, what happens if you relapse, a…

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E264: Here’s Why You Have Mood Swings After Quitting Drinking 28:32

8M ago28:32

28:32

Are you cranky AF after getting sober? Is your mood volatile and unpredictable? Are the little things setting you off? This is a normal part of the sober experience, so congrats on getting started. In this episode, I’ll explain why we have mood swings after quitting drinking. You’ll learn what’s going on in the brain, when it should start to ease u…

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E263: Sugar Cravings After Quitting Drinking 22:27

8M ago22:27

22:27

Did you go from never wanting dessert to now never skipping it? Are you craving sugar constantly now that you’ve quit drinking? Sugar cravings in sobriety are very normal and in this episode I’ll explain a few reasons why we crave sugar after getting sober and how you can start managing your sugar cravings moving forward. What to listen to next: E1…

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Alcohol and Cancer Risk (Surgeon General Warning Explained) 14:55

8M ago14:55

14:55

The Surgeon General just recommended that cancer warning labels be included on alcohol bottles. However, the link between cancer and alcohol is old news. A recent study from the National Cancer Institute found that only 50% of Americans are aware that alcohol causes cancer, so in this episode you'll learn how alcohol causes cancer, alcohol and canc…

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E262: 31 Tips to Quit Drinking in Dry January 37:09

8M ago37:09

37:09

Are you trying to quit drinking for Dry January? A sober month is a good opportunity to learn more about your drinking and get experience handling your life without alcohol. I know it’s scary in the beginning and you may not know what to do. In this episode I’ll share some research about Dry January and how to be successful this month, then we’ll c…

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E261: The Psychology of New Year's Resolutions (Willpower and Goal Setting) 22:46

9M ago22:46

22:46

2025 can be your year. Most of us set goals to quit drinking or lose weight, and then we don’t achieve it. In this episode, I’m going to explain 3 things that make us less likely to meet our goals. Most people think lack of willpower or self-discipline is the reason why we don’t succeed, and I’ll explain why that’s not the case. You’ll also learn 4…

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E260: 5 Holiday Mental Health Challenges 23:17

9M ago23:17

23:17

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 se…

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E259: 10 Things You Might Be Doing to Sabotage Your Sobriety During the Holidays 19:56

9M ago19:56

19:56

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 Supp…

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E258: The Science of Peer Pressure to Drink and 7 Strategies to Resist 27:47

9M ago27:47

27:47

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 au…

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E257: Sober Socializing: Why Alcohol Doesn’t Help 25:51

10M ago25:51

25:51

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 …

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E256: Dealing With Your Dysfunctional Family Without Drinking 27:55

10M ago27:55

27:55

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 …

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E255: 6 Strategies For Staying Sober Through the Holidays (and Some Holidays Drinking Statistics) 27:07

10M ago27:07

27:07

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 fi…

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I'm 5 Years Sober: Here's How I Reached Acceptance 14:15

10M ago14:15

14:15

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 episo…

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E254: Why You Can’t Make Good Decisions About Your Drinking (or Anything Else) 26:45

10M ago26:45

26:45

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, an…

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E253: 5 Common Mistakes in Early Sobriety and How to Avoid Them 23:04

11M ago23:04

23:04

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…

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E252: How Many Attempts Does it Take to Quit Drinking for Good 29:40

11M ago29:40

29:40

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 y…