Shows / Emotional Sobriety: The Next Step in Recovery
Emotional Sobriety: The Next Step in Recovery
Bill Wilson, co-founder of Alcoholic's Anonymous, wrote in 1952, "If we examine every disturbance we have, great or small, we will find at the root some unhealthy dependence and its consequent demand." Wilson suggested that if we could identify and continually surrender these unrealistic and unrecognizable demands, that we may then be able to accomplish what he imagined to be recovery's next frontier - something he called emotional sobriety. Flash forward 70 years, and join psychotherapists and…
Episodes
- Emotional Sobriety: The Next Step in Recovery
Overcoming Disappointments
How we react to the disappointments we face in our relationships, in ourselves, and our politics is at the heart of emotional sobriety, because of how they…
- Emotional Sobriety: The Next Step in Recovery
Integrating Role Models
From parents to found families to George Washington, Thom and Allen delve into lessons learned from various mentors throughout their lives to discuss how…
- Emotional Sobriety: The Next Step in Recovery
Nihilism and Perfectionism are "Kissing Cousins"
We cannot deal with the suffocation of our interrelated nihilism and perfectionism without confronting our self-hate. Allen brings in the work of Dr. Karen…
- Emotional Sobriety: The Next Step in Recovery
Defeating Nihilism
With the savage political climate bearing down on Patrick and the weight of alcoholism and various other -isms contributing to a prevalent pessimistic chorus…
- Emotional Sobriety: The Next Step in Recovery
Finding Inner Peace
Allen, Thom, and Patrick reflect on their first time meeting in person since the show’s inception. Follow us on social media. Twitter: @EmSobrietyPod…
- Emotional Sobriety: The Next Step in Recovery
Bonding with Dad
Today we observe the ways we can practice these principles to accept our differences with our parents, find richer connections with them, or deal with the…
- Emotional Sobriety: The Next Step in Recovery
Adding Self to Intimate Relationships
How do we handle disruptions in our closest relationships with this new mentality of emotional balance and greater “differentiation?” With Patrick as this…
- Emotional Sobriety: The Next Step in Recovery
Love vs. Dependency
Having recently returned from his brother’s funeral, Thom reflects on the role Emotional Sobriety has played in his personal growth after a 23 year separation…
- Emotional Sobriety: The Next Step in Recovery
Milestones in Early Recovery
On this Memorial Day producer Patrick, coming up on his fourth year of continuous sobriety, chats with Allen about the role his relationships, step work, and…
- Emotional Sobriety: The Next Step in Recovery
Grief and Flexibility
Following the sudden passing of Thom’s older brother Mike, we discuss the grief and reflection that accompanies tragedy through an emotionally sober lens…
- Emotional Sobriety: The Next Step in Recovery
Mother's Day
This holiday we observe cooperating rather than compromising with our loved ones in gift giving and receiving. For those with good or bad experiences with…
- Emotional Sobriety: The Next Step in Recovery
Navigating Marriage (Part One)
“The truth will set you free, but only if you have the courage to live it.” After a check-in about upcoming workshops and events, Allen digs deep into his own…
- Emotional Sobriety: The Next Step in Recovery
Showing Up for Ourselves
Allen returns along with therapist Brian Lutz to expand on our chat with Thom last week about recovery and Gestalt therapy. To overcome obstacles in our…
- Emotional Sobriety: The Next Step in Recovery
Therapeutic Improv with Brian Lutz
Psychotherapist, Brian Lutz, joins Thom and Producer Patrick for a discussion about our INTRApersonal worlds. In discussing the ideas behind Brian's and Thom's…
- Emotional Sobriety: The Next Step in Recovery
Conflict Resolution: Taking Emotional Sobriety into Traffic
Producer Patrick Newman and Thom Rutledge have a conversation about having conversations --- specifically about having difficult conversations in new improved…
- Emotional Sobriety: The Next Step in Recovery
Practical Solutions to Challenging Perfectionism
To try and push back against our self-defeating perfectionist urges, we see that voice as a distinct part of our consciousness, not “the one in charge.”…
- Emotional Sobriety: The Next Step in Recovery
Episode Forty-Five: Perfectionism is a Destructive Belief System
For many of us, defeating our crushing sense of perfectionism is the crux of our struggle towards living a more peaceful, emotionally balanced life. In the…
- Emotional Sobriety: The Next Step in Recovery
Episode Forty-Four: Emotional Sobriety as Philosophy (Part Two)
Thom shares further thoughts on psychology and philosophy, which Allen relates to existentialism. All have a useful context in our journey towards greater…
- Emotional Sobriety: The Next Step in Recovery
Episode Forty-Three: Emotional Sobriety as Philosophy (Part One)
The practice of emotional sobriety ultimately requires that we live in congruence with a personal value system. In order to do that, we must examine our…
- Emotional Sobriety: The Next Step in Recovery
Episode Forty-Two: Summarizing “12 Essential Insights for Emotional Sobriety”
This week Allen rejoins us to do a final wrap-up of his book, revisiting concepts of differentiation and equating emotional sobriety with emotional freedom…
- Emotional Sobriety: The Next Step in Recovery
Episode Forty-One: Busting Shame with Dr. Shawn Horn
Thom has a wide-ranging discussion this week with shame busting psychologist, author, and TEDx speaker Dr. Shawn Horn. Revisiting the multiplicity of thought…
- Emotional Sobriety: The Next Step in Recovery
Episode Forty: Paddling Your Own Canoe
Here we begin our discussion of the final chapter in Allen’s book, which uses the metaphor of navigating troubled waters in a canoe to explore the struggle for…
- Emotional Sobriety: The Next Step in Recovery
Episode Thirty-Nine: Jefferson Ross and "Southern Currency"
Thom and Producer Patrick are joined by Jefferson Ross, artist/singer/songwriter to talk about emotional sobriety. Also includes some stories from the old days…
- Emotional Sobriety: The Next Step in Recovery
Episode Thirty-Eight: Holding Onto Ourselves in Relationships (Part Two)
Continuing discussion of the 14th chapter of Allen’s 12 Essential Insights for Emotional Sobriety. This week we explore the roles self-differentiation…
- Emotional Sobriety: The Next Step in Recovery
Episode Thirty-Seven: Holding Onto Ourselves in Relationships (Part One)
Saving the toughest insight for last, here we discuss holding onto ourselves in contexts that involve other people and unpredictable circumstances. Emotional…
- Emotional Sobriety: The Next Step in Recovery
Episode Thirty-Six: Allen’s Sponsor (Part Two)
Concluding our in-depth conversation with Tom M., Allen’s sponsor of 50 years. In this episode he tells some spectacular stories about 12-step calls in Hawaii…
- Emotional Sobriety: The Next Step in Recovery
Episode Thirty-Five: Allen’s Sponsor (Part One)
The first part of a longer conversation with Tom M., Allen’s sponsor of 50 years. Tom breaks down his journey from addiction towards getting into a place of…
- Emotional Sobriety: The Next Step in Recovery
Episode Thirty-Four: Living a Purposeful Life (Part Two)
Emotional Sobriety offers us the opportunity to leave the tricks and tools of manipulation behind to make our gifts and talents real in the world through…
- Emotional Sobriety: The Next Step in Recovery
Episode Thirty-Three: Living a Purposeful Life (Part One)
Just in time for the end of the year, we arrive at the closing stretch of Allen’s 12 Essential Insights for Emotional Sobriety. Finding our purpose, meaning…
- Emotional Sobriety: The Next Step in Recovery
Episode Thirty-Two: Healing Through Forgiveness (Part Two)
How can we release ourselves from our own attachment to our pain? This week we clarify a practical and useful definition for forgiveness, touching on grief…
- Emotional Sobriety: The Next Step in Recovery
Episode Thirty-One: Brian Cuban on Recovery & Self-Hate
Today we welcome returning guest Carol Carter and bestselling author and attorney Brian Cuban to discuss Brian's new book “The Ambulance Chaser.” Through a…