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PODCAST

Sober Powered: The Neuroscience of Being Sober

Gillian Tietz, MS, CPRC

Being sober isn"t a punishment. Sober life is not a last resort for weak-willed losers who aren"t strong enough to figure it out. You can be sober without feeling deprived or left out. Millions of people wake up with another hangover and Google, "how do I know if I"m an alcoholic?". We get stuck on the label and the stigma, when instead we should be asking ourselves, "is alcohol making me miserable?" and "would I be happier if I quit drinking?" In the Sober Powered Podcast, Gill, a former biochemist

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All Episodes

18:13

E299: Social Drinking: Drinking to Fit In

Sober Powered: The Neuroscience of Being Sober ·

2025/10/24

Social drinking feels harmless. Everyone does it right? There’s a difference between using alcohol to socialize and using it to force fitting in and feeling comfortable. In this episode you’ll learn more about the motive of drinking to socialize, how this makes it difficult to quit drinking, and some shifts you can make in sobriety to make socializing easier.Work with me: Community & Meetings: Living a Sober Powered Life https://www.soberpowered.com/membership Sober coaching

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18:56

E298: Coping Drinking: Drinking to Feel Less

Sober Powered: The Neuroscience of Being Sober ·

2025/10/17

One of the first things I learned about drinking was that when adults are stressed, they drink, and the stress goes away. As a high stress person, it made perfect sense to me to start drinking every day to manage my stress. This is coping drinking in action. Drinking didn’t help me manage anything. It delayed my problems and allowed them to get worse. In this episode you’ll learn why alcohol is so effective for coping, how long term coping drinking impacts the brain, and what to expect when you

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18:59

E297: Enhancement Drinking: Drinking to Feel More

Sober Powered: The Neuroscience of Being Sober ·

2025/10/10

When we think about quitting drinking one of the first things we think about is the loss of fun, socializing, and drinking on vacation. Drinking to enhance is all about using alcohol to feel more or to make the good vibes last longer. In this episode, I’ll explain why we use alcohol as an enhancer, how the brain adapts, and why this makes regular life feel dull when we try to stay sober. You’ll learn some mindset shifts and things to consider about if alcohol was really as rewarding as you

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17:36

E296: The Science of Why We Drink: An Overview of...

Sober Powered: The Neuroscience of Being Sober ·

2025/10/03

I drink to have fun and socialize, I tell myself as I try to rationalize why I don’t have to quit drinking. Except “fun” and “socializing” looks like getting drunk on the coach with my husband and then staying up alone drinking more. It’s much easier to say I’m a wine connoisseur who enjoys the taste instead of I can’t cope with my emotions. In this episode, I’m discussing drinking motives and why we drink. By the end, you’ll have a better understanding of what alcohol is or was doing for you.What

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3:35

October Trailer

Sober Powered: The Neuroscience of Being Sober ·

2025/09/30

Here's a preview of what I'll be talking about on the podcast this month and what will be going on in the community.Work with me: Community & Meetings: Living a Sober Powered Life https://www.soberpowered.com/membership Sober coaching https://www.soberpowered.com/sober-coaching Weekly email: You’ll hear from me on Fridays https://www.soberpowered.com/email Free resources https://www.soberpowered.com/free Courses: The non-negotiable mindset

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12:01

I Learned to Swim in My 30's!

Sober Powered: The Neuroscience of Being Sober ·

2025/09/26

I took adult swim lessons for the past 2 months and in this episode I'm sharing about why I decided to finally learn how to swim, what it was like, and how pursuing goals changes the longer we stay sober.What to listen to next: E227: My 200 lb Deadlift Work with me: Community & Meetings: Living a Sober Powered Life https://www.soberpowered.com/membership Sober coaching https://www.soberpowered.com/sober-coaching Weekly email: You’ll hear from me on Fridays

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19:37

E295: The Feeling of Lost Time From All the Years We...

Sober Powered: The Neuroscience of Being Sober ·

2025/09/19

I’ve been wanting to make this episode for years, but I felt like it would be offensive if I talked about how I struggled with feeling like I wasted years of my life drinking because I quit at 29 and I know most people quit way later. I finally decided to move forward with this because I noticed an interesting trend in the people I work with. In this episode, we’ll talk about why the sense of wasted years hits so hard in early sobriety, how our brains are wired to replay “what if” scenarios, and why

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20:06

E294: Why Stress and Emotions Feel Intolerable...

Sober Powered: The Neuroscience of Being Sober ·

2025/09/12

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 weakened prefrontal regulation, and how alcohol conditions the brain to link stress directly to craving. We’ll also look at why low stress tolerance and poor

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13:37

Why Shame Blocks Change

Sober Powered: The Neuroscience of Being Sober ·

2025/09/05

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 skills and the ability to be flexible in your thinking. In this episode, we’ll explore how that difference shapes recovery, the neuroscience of shame, and how

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17:34

E293: Tolerance and the Disappearing Buzz

Sober Powered: The Neuroscience of Being Sober ·

2025/08/29

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, four, maybe more—and before you know it, the sweet spot is gone. Instead of a gentle buzz, you either feel nothing… or you’re over the line into

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19:00

E292: Why One Drink is Never Enough

Sober Powered: The Neuroscience of Being Sober ·

2025/08/22

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 leave some alcohol behind in their glass and I can’t fathom it?This is one of the most common struggles people face when trying to moderate. And it’s

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17:36

E291: Why You May Still Crave Alcohol Long Term, and...

Sober Powered: The Neuroscience of Being Sober ·

2025/08/15

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’re both just snapshots of what’s happening in your brain at a particular moment in time, not the whole story.In today’s episode, we’re going to look at

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17:50

Thinking About Drinking Constantly, Then Thinking...

Sober Powered: The Neuroscience of Being Sober ·

2025/08/08

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 cool things I've done with my space and mental freedom.What to listen to next: E254: Why You Can’t Make Good Decisions About Your Drinking (or Anything

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17:23

E290: How to Quit Drinking Without Hitting Rock Bottom

Sober Powered: The Neuroscience of Being Sober ·

2025/08/01

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 that prevent them from getting sober for good, and what I would suggest doing if you haven’t hit your enough point yet.What to listen to next: E200:

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16:38

The Most Important Thinking Shift I Made in Sobriety

Sober Powered: The Neuroscience of Being Sober ·

2025/07/25

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 episode I discuss the shift from defaulting to negativity, to being able to reframe, see the whole picture, and find a positive spin on things. This has

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20:56

E289: Emotional Tunnel Vision: When Little Problems...

Sober Powered: The Neuroscience of Being Sober ·

2025/07/18

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, what it looks like while you’re working on this, and how things evolve over time as we stay sober and do “the work”.What to listen to next: E283: Alcohol

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23:47

E288: How to “Sit With It” Without Avoiding,...

Sober Powered: The Neuroscience of Being Sober ·

2025/07/11

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, avoid, or escape with other self-destructive things like sugar, blowing up at people, or feeling completely overwhelmed. Part of being sober is learning

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22:07

E287: Are You “Strong Enough” or Just Stubborn?...

Sober Powered: The Neuroscience of Being Sober ·

2025/07/04

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 getting support, and what you can do differently to make progress. It’s not about convincing yourself of all the bad health effects of alcohol or powering

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33:23

5 Year Podversary Q&A (E286 Part 2)

Sober Powered: The Neuroscience of Being Sober ·

2025/06/27

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 questionsWork with me: Community & Meetings: Living a Sober Powered Life https://www.soberpowered.com/membership Sober coaching https://www.soberpowered.com/sober-coaching Weekly email: You’ll hear from me on Fridays https://www.soberpowered.com/email Free resources

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31:19

E286: How This Podcast Changed My Life (Happy 5 Years...

Sober Powered: The Neuroscience of Being Sober ·

2025/06/27

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 person. These are, addressing my addiction to work, learning to not depend on external validation and recognition, being ok with being misunderstood, and

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