Recovery Elevator

Today we have Becca. She is 35 years old, lives in Delaware County, PA, and she took her last drink of alcohol on August 7th, 2024.
 
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[02:25] Thoughts from Paul:
 
The most important thing that someone has to achieve or overcome if they are to quit drinking is denial. The very convincing inner voice that keeps telling you on repeat that you do not have a problem.
 
This is hard because we build our lives around alcohol and usually this is done unconsciously. The problem is often hiding in plain sight, and you just can't or choose not to see it. It's also hard because marketing is powerful and smart people are paid a lot of money to make you feel like it's a required sidecar to life.
 
So even though the addiction is hiding in plain sight, you also know it is there. You know how alcohol makes you feel. In addition to the voice saying you don't have a problem, there is another voice telling you, "I'll give you 50 more hangovers and then it's time to move on".
 
Next week, we'll talk more about moving on.
 
[06:23] Paul introduces Becca:
 
Becca is 35 years old, lives in Delaware County, PA, has two cats and 12-13 nieces and nephews. For fun, Becca enjoys hiking, music, reading, film, cooking and puzzles. 
 
Becca was one of seven children growing up. Her older siblings liked to party, so Becca followed in their footsteps in her early teens. She drank and smoked pot for a few years before getting introduced to harder drugs when she was around 16. She quickly felt like she had cracked the code for getting through life. Becca says she was really naïve and spending time with bad people.
 
In 2010, Becca was in a car accident that left her badly injured. She was only 19 and says this was the lowest time of her life. She withdrew from opiates but ended up going back out before having a friend take her to rehab where she first attempted recovery and eventually got sober in 2012.
 
Becca dealt with the loss of several friends in 2013, and this is when excessive drinking sneaked into her life. She had another accident and DUI in 2014 and refused to believe that the drinking was a problem. She was able to quit when she went to school and believed that since she could quit for periods of time, that it wasn't an issue for her.
 
Becca believed that she should be able to control her drinking and would beat herself up whenever she wasn't. Her drinking slowed dramatically in 2019 because she was sick of the anxiety and how she was relating to herself. She did end up becoming a workaholic to avoid dealing with anything that was bothering her.
 
After staying sober through the pandemic, Becca began to use drinking as a way to connect with others and not drink by herself. Within a few weeks she was right back into self-loathing and trapped in the cycle of stops and starts for the next several years.
 
In 2024, Becca took a fall at work that has had lasting physical and emotional impacts. She went through another dark time where she wasn't showing up for herself or others and was just sick and tired of being sick and tired.
 
It was after six months of sobriety that Becca joined AA, found the RE podcast, and later joined Café RE. In her previous attempts at quitting, Becca was trying to do it by herself. Being part of community has been life-changing for her in that she feels acceptance and the ability to hear her story in others. This year she has finally started to feel safer in her nervous system, she is more grounded in herself and able to hold space for good things.
 
Becca's parting piece of guidance: Don't get stuck on the fear. Get out of that comfortable pain and embrace something new.
 
Recovery Elevator
We took the elevator down.
We got to take the stairs back up.
We can do this.
 
Café RE
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Today we have Rich. He is from Sacramento, CA, he is 60 years old and took his last drink on August 8th, 2025.
 
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[02:14] Thoughts from Paul:
 
If you are in early sobriety or find yourself on day one, your only job right now is to not drink. It isn't time to fix your whole life or worry about being productive and having it all figured out.
 
By staying honest with your #1 job of not drinking, the body will become incredibly productive in terms of healing. Your dopamine begins to rewire; your sleep system starts to re-balance. All while you are resting.
 
Even though we sometimes know that not drinking is our #1 job, we can still struggle to keep it this simple. The good news is that every day is a new opportunity to perfect the job and by doing so, everything else will fall into place. Trust the process.
 
[06:05] Paul introduces Rich:
 
Rich is 60 years old and lives in Sacramento, CA with his wife of 35 years. They have two grown children and two rat terriers to help fill the empty nest. For work, Rich is a salesman for an equipment company. For fun, Rich enjoys riding his Peloton bike, cooking, and he is an avid sports fan.
 
Rich reflects that a lot of his drinking came from his inability to control his emotions. He says his home life growing up was great, but there was no discussion or expression of emotions. He was bullied often when he was in junior high but didn't feel comfortable telling anyone about it.
 
On a few occasions throughout high school and college, Rich realized that alcohol helped him become the life of the party and be able to talk to people he wasn't normally friendly with. He learned that if he drank, he would be accepted and have friends.
 
After graduating college, Rich was working in the restaurant business as a bartender in a small beach town. He said he had a lot of fun, made a lot of money and met his wife there. After getting married, they started a restaurant that they ran together for several years. Rich says his drinking wasn't an issue at that point because the restaurant did not have a focus on alcohol.
 
Alcohol began becoming an issue for Rich in 2018 when he transitioned from a management position to a sales position that involved a lot of traveling and entertaining customers. Over time he was basing where he would stay on the location's proximity to a liquor store and would drink before and after meetings with customers.
 
After a while, Rich started recognizing that the bottle he bought at the beginning of the trips weren't lasting as long. He would try to moderate and quickly realized it was a problem doing so especially when COVID lockdown had him concerned that liquor stores were going to be closed. At this point, Rich says a lot of his drinking happened in isolation. He was withdrawing from friends and family and trying to hide how much he was drinking from his wife.
 
Rich was confronted by his wife a few times and always promised to work on his drinking with little luck. He attempted moderation with the help of an app but didn't make much success and says trying to moderate made him think about alcohol more. Eventually his wife called in reinforcements with their daughter, and Rich knew it was time to stop, but wasn't sure what that looked like.
 
Rich was able to quit that day. The detox symptoms were hard, but after 10 days, he began to feel better and sleep better. Rich began reading quit lit and utilizing apps and its resources. After six months, Rich's wife encouraged him to find community. As a listener of the RE podcast, Rich heard about Café RE and decided to join. Rich credits his family as being a valuable resource and motivation to stay sober.
 
Recovery Elevator
You took the elevator down; you've got to take the stairs back up.
You, WE, can do this.
 
Café RE
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Sobriety Tracker iTunes 
RE YouTube

Today we have Eric. He is 55 years old, lives in Columbus, OH and took his last drink on February 14th, 2008.
 
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[04:52] Thoughts from Paul:
 
The most important person in the rooms of recovery is not the person with 40 years of sobriety spouting off all the wisdom compiled over the years. It is the newcomer. The person in the room who shares the most truth, is the person who has the least amount of time from their last drink. To the new listener, the newcomer, we want to hear from you. Paul shares a personal experience where a newcomer gave him some of the best motivation he ever received.
 
The newcomer is also the most important person in the room because a core foundation of recovery is helping others. People in recovery want to help, and we encourage you to accept that help.
 
There are many other reasons why the newcomer is the most important. And if you're a new listener to Recovery Elevator, we are happy to have you. Stick around.
 
[08:38] Paul introduces Eric:
 
Eric is the podcast host of The One You Feed. He is 55 years old and lives in Columbus, Ohio with his partner of 10 years. He has one adult son who is a wildland firefighter. For fun, Eric enjoys playing guitar, walking, hiking, and reading.
 
Eric started drinking as a teenager, but it didn't really take off until he was around eighteen. Over the next seven years, Eric says he was rarely sober. He was just drinking alcohol initially, but his drug use progressed to where he says he was a homeless heroin addict facing 50 years in prison and weighed only 100 pounds.
 
Eric was sober for about eight years but ended up drinking again and leaving the recovery community. Eric says his brain told him that he could do it this time and it would be ok because he was different now. But he wasn't. The next rock bottom wasn't as bad as the first, but he was out of control just like before. After a five-day binge that left him feeling scared and sick, he went back to a 12-step meeting.
 
Eric says it was a gradual process getting sober the second time. He knew he was out of control because he would be saying "I'm not going to drink today" and then gets hammered, or "I'm only going to have two" and then gets hammered. He was not on board with going back into a 12-step program, so he joined the Moderation Management program and tried to control his drinking. What he learned was that trying to control his drinking was miserable.
 
Eric's life looked completely different on his second sobriety attempt. The first time he went into treatment after burning his life to the ground. This time he had a job, a child, and while he went to a meeting every day, he couldn't give his whole life to recovery like before. It was a little bit harder but soon cool things began to happen for Eric.
 
It has been 18 years since Eric had his last drink. He no longer thinks about drugs or alcohol at all and can easily be around it all without a thought. Recovery for him meant he needed to learn to understand how his mind and emotions worked and how to use them both more skillfully.
 
In this disconnected world, Eric shares several things he does that help him stay connected. Working on his podcast helps because he having conversations with others 2-4 times each week. He makes himself leave the house regularly and spend time with friends. He plans walks with friends and he also does coaching work.
 
Eric has recently published a book called How a Little Becomes a Lot: The Art of Small Changes for a More Meaningful Life.
 
Recovery Elevator
It all starts from the inside out.
I love you guys.
 
Café RE
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Sobriety Tracker iTunes 
RE YouTube

Today we have Camille. She is 36 years old, lives in Montreal, Canada and she took her last drink on April 20th, 2026.
 
This episode is brought to you by:
 
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If you're wondering what you can expect in your first seven days alcohol free, check out our FREE 7-day guide.
 
[03:19] Thoughts from Paul:
 
Paul shares with us that his beloved dog Ben has passed away. He credits Ben with not only being a major catalyst for his recovery, but also for saving his life. Ben was a member of the staff at Recovery Elevator retreats and touched many people over the 12 years he was Paul's companion.
 
Paul says his thinking mind has tried to figure out where Ben is now, and after countless thoughts and tears, he always lands in a place of gratitude for the 12 incredible years he was able to share with his dog.
 
The opposite of addiction is connection, and we generally think of other humans when we hear this. But the quote is infinite and definitely includes our connection with animals.
 
[08:18] Paul introduces Camille:
 
Camille is 36 years old and lives in Montreal, Canada. She is a graphic designer for a software company. She lives with her partner, and he has a 9-year-old daughter who they see often. For fun, Camille enjoys sports climbing, crochet, crafting and DIY projects.
 
Camille had her first drink when she was 13 while at boarding school. Her roommate who was 14 was already struggling with alcoholism. In spite of being a "goody two shoes", Camille was occasionally binge drinking with friends. There were several hints that things were getting precarious with her drinking.
 
What sealed the deal Camille says is when she started working at a bar in her early 20s. She worked there for six years. While she did have some fun and met some great people, Camille says she was constantly either drinking or combatting a hangover. Towards the end of her studying, she was getting tired and looking forward to getting out of that scene but wasn't ready to moderate while she was still there. She was good at keeping up the appearance that her drinking wasn't out of control.
 
Even after trading the bartending in for a graphic design job, Camille would still find herself binge drinking to get drunk. She says it was hard to consider it a problem when everyone around her drank too. Gradually the drinking increased to a daily occurrence by the time she was 33. She was just drinking to take the edge off, and Camille began wishing that alcohol was not part of her daily life. She would journal about not wanting to drink for the day but would find herself doing it anyways. It was frustrating feeling so powerless and shameful.
 
Camille first quit drinking in 2025 after running a 5k and recognizing that she was pouring poison into a body that she had just asked to complete a strenuous activity. This stuck with her and she was able to stop drinking for two months. The moderation and exploration of self-awareness began at this point. She attempted to moderate for the rest of 2025. It was after three days of heavy drinking at an all-inclusive vacation that Camille finally said enough is enough.
 
Camille joined a local support group but has not attended AA. She says it helped her feel less alone and believes that the reason we feel that way is because having a problem with alcohol is so shameful that we don't want speak about it. Camille says her drinking stemmed from a lot of desire to be polished and perform well so the alcohol helped her turn it off. Going forward Camille is planning to continue taking actions to solidify her commitment to being alcohol free. She is going to focus on existing as she is and accepting the human experience without covering it up with booze.
 
Camille's parting piece of guidance: You can do this and be forgiving with yourself, be tolerant, give yourself grace.
 
Recovery Elevator
You took the elevator down.
You've got to take the stairs back up.
We can do this.
 
Café RE
RE Instagram
Sobriety Tracker iTunes 
RE YouTube

Today we have Lauren. She is 39 years old from Chicago, IL and took her last drink on November 22nd, 2019.
 
This episode is brought to you by:
 
Sign up and get 10% off: Better Help
 
Bozeman 2026 – August 12th-16th, 2026
 
Stay tuned here for some upcoming travel opportunities in 2027-2028
 
If you're wondering what you can expect in your first seven days alcohol free, check out our FREE 7-day guide.
 
[02:58] Thoughts from Paul:
 
This week, Paul talks about GLP-1s and the growing evidence that these medications can help with cravings for opioids, cigarettes and alcohol in addition to their effectiveness' in assisting with weight loss and diabetes.  
 
The research is in the initial phases, but there have been studies showing that GLP-1s can lower alcohol cravings. Researchers found that GLP-1 plus therapy can reduce heavy drinking. And a clinical trial published in JAMA Psychiatry found that GLP-1s significantly reduced weekly alcohol cravings compared to placebo.
 
This may not be the magical cure for alcoholism that we've been looking for, but it could give the jump start we may need. Since the drinking problem is more like the canary in the mine saying something in your life is out of balance, a GLP-1 will not fix that.
 
We've always said at RE that there is no one-size-fits-all path to sobriety. For some people it's AA. For some it's therapy. For some it's community, nature, spirituality, movement. Maybe for some people, the path starts with a GLP-1.
 
[11:29] Paul introduces Lauren:
 
Lauren lives in Chicago, she is single, and she lives close to her family. She is a director of business processes for car wash equipment manufacturing. For fun, Lauren is a member of multiple clubs and enjoys taking painting classes.
 
Lauren says the first time she drank was while on a date when she was 16. She recalls that she blacked out and that blacking out was common for her throughout her drinking career. In college, Lauren was in sorority where they hosted a lot of drinking activities. This continued after she graduated and got a job. Drinking on the weekends, after work and at work events was common for Lauren.
 
Lauren's drinking got bad in 2018 when she began traveling often for work. When she wasn't traveling, she found herself drinking more frequently, often early in the day. She was driving while in blackouts, damaging her car and waking up the next day not knowing what happened. Over time Lauren realized she needed to quit. She began watching YouTube videos about quitting drinking and concluded that she needed to get off the road and find a job that was more stable if she was going to be able to quit.
 
Lauren tried moderation and it rarely worked. She was letting people down and not following through on commitments. She finally broke down with her sister on the phone on the morning after a blackout and told her she had a drinking problem. Lauren says this was when she surrendered. She said a prayer, vowed that she would try to quit and if she was successful, she would help others.
 
Lauren didn't know anyone that was sober, so she Googled sober podcasts and found RE. She began listening to episodes while walking. Lauren began to notice the similarities in everyone's' stories, instead of the differences. Lauren thought to herself "one day I'm going to be on this podcast". In addition to listening to the podcast, Lauren started practicing cognitive behavioral therapy. She is a member of Café RE and a local group in Chicago that meets every week.
 
The first few years were hard for Lauren. She reflects that maybe it was because she wasn't connected to a community at the time. As time has gone on, she has got more involved and is giving back to communities by hosting meetings and started her own coaching business called Sober Professional Club.
 
Lauren's parting piece of guidance: Don't wait. Do it today. Do it right now. You could have your last drink right now.
 
Recovery Elevator
You took the elevator down.
You've got to take the stairs back up.
We can do this.