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Sober Powered: The Neuroscience of Being Sober — Health & Fitness
Sober Powered: The Neuroscience of Being Sober

Why do some people stay sober and others relapse back and forth? Getting sober isn’t about restriction, it’s about rewiring your brain to function without intensity, chaos, dopamine spikes, and avoidance.

Hosted by Gill Tietz, a former biochemist turned sober coach, this show dives into the neuroscience of long-term sobriety — why some people relapse, why others stay free, and how to build the kind of brain that can handle life without alcohol.

Each episode blends science, psychology, and real experience to help you strengthen the four pillars of neuro-resilience:

1. Neural Recovery – healing your brain’s reward and stress systems after alcohol.

2. Emotional Regulation – calming reactivity and learning to feel without escaping.

3. Cognitive Rewiring – changing the thought patterns that pull you backward.

4. Behavioral Integration – designing routines and habits that make being sober your default.

Whether you’re newly sober or years in, you’ll learn research-backed tools and mindset shifts so sobriety stops feeling like something you’re trying to want and starts feeling like who you are.

This is hard work. If you want my support, then check out my online sober community or my 1:1 work.

Website: www.soberpowered.com

Copyright: © 2025 Sober Powered by Gillian Tietz

Latest Episodes:

Running on Autopilot Mode (Replay) Jun 19, 2026

Show notes

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 affects the brain and puts us on autopilot, how this keeps us stuck, and when this recovers in sobriety. Many people mistake life stress as the main source of overwhelm, but a lot of it actually comes from how alcohol disrupts brain function.

What to listen to next:

E220: The Hippocampus and Alcohol: Blackouts, Memory Deficits, and Learned Associations

E191: Going Back and Forth Makes Your Cravings Stronger

E238: Why Moderation Doesn't Work

Sober Support:

Community & Meetings: Living a Sober Powered Life ⁠https://www.soberpowered.com/membership⁠
Weekly emails on Fridays ⁠https://www.soberpowered.com/email⁠

Work with me:

Sober coaching ⁠https://www.soberpowered.com/sober-coaching⁠

Courses:

The non-negotiable mindset ⁠https://www.soberpowered.com/mindset-course⁠
Sober milestones: what to expect when you quit drinking ⁠https://sobermilestones.supercast.com/⁠
Anger Management ⁠https://www.soberpowered.com/anger⁠

Thank you for supporting this show by supporting my sponsors. Learn more:

⁠https://www.soberpowered.com/sponsors⁠

If you enjoyed this episode please consider buying me a coffee to support all the research and effort that goes into this podcast. This is a one woman show!⁠ https://www.buymeacoffee.com/soberpowered⁠

Sources are posted on my website

Disclaimer: all of the information described in this podcast is my interpretation of the research combined with my opinion. This is not medical advice.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

E324: Going to a Drinking Party 6 Years Sober: 5 Things I Noticed Jun 11, 2026

Show notes

I went to a drinking party over the weekend with my in-laws. The family party was by the Jersey Shore, which is a 6 hour drive from my house. I’ve described these parties in the past as marathon drinking parties, because the drinking lasts so many hours. This one was 4 hours at a restaurant, then 4 hours at someone’s house.

I think people assume that being sober around drunk people is always hard because you want what they have. They assume the challenge is temptation. Like you’re standing there staring at everyone’s wine glass thinking, “Poor me, I can’t have that.” But that was not my experience at all.

I’m over 6 years sober, and being at this party did not make me want to drink or feel deprived. When you’re drinking, you are inside the experience, but when you’re sober and everyone else is drinking, you’re not inside that illusion. You’re watching what alcohol actually does.

Because from the inside, alcohol can feel like connection, confidence, fun, freedom, and relief. From the outside, it can look like people getting louder, closer, less aware, more repetitive, more intrusive, and less connected to the actual person in front of them.

So this episode is not about how to white-knuckle your way through a drinking event. It’s not about how to survive a party while secretly wishing you could drink. It’s about what happens when you’re far enough away from alcohol that you can see it without the fantasy.

Work with me:

Community & Meetings: Living a Sober Powered Life https://www.soberpowered.com/membership
Content only membership https://community.soberpowered.com/checkout/lessons
Sober coaching https://www.soberpowered.com/sober-coaching

Weekly email:

You’ll hear from me every week-ish https://www.soberpowered.com/email

Support the show:

If you enjoyed this episode please consider buying me a coffee to support all the research and effort that goes into this podcast https://www.buymeacoffee.com/soberpowered
Thank you for supporting this show by supporting my sponsors https://www.soberpowered.com/sponsors

Sources are posted on my website

Disclaimer: all of the information described in this podcast is my interpretation of the research combined with my opinion. This is not medical advice.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

E323: Long Term Sobriety: One Tool to Use & One Trap to Look Out For Jun 05, 2026

Show notes

Long-term sobriety can be a strange phase because from the outside, things might look pretty good. But internally, you might still have this feeling of, “Is this it?”

And that can be really confusing because you did it. You made it past the constant cravings, the social anxiety, the awkward firsts, the nights where you had to white-knuckle your way through. So when you get a couple years in and you still feel restless, bored, unfulfilled, or like something is missing, it can make you start questioning the whole thing.

You might think, “Maybe sobriety isn’t enough.” Or, “Maybe I did all this work and my life still feels kind of flat.” Or, “I thought I’d be happier by now.”

And this is where people can get tripped up, because they interpret that dissatisfaction as a sobriety problem. They think the issue is that sobriety didn’t deliver enough. But that’s not usually what’s happening.

Early sobriety is about protection. Middle sobriety is about understanding your patterns. But long-term sobriety is about expansion. It’s about asking, “Now that I’m not drinking, what am I actually building?” It’s about making sure the life you built is worth staying present for.

Work with me:

Community & Meetings: Living a Sober Powered Life https://www.soberpowered.com/membership
Content only membership https://community.soberpowered.com/checkout/lessons
Sober coaching https://www.soberpowered.com/sober-coaching

Weekly email:

You’ll hear from me every week-ish https://www.soberpowered.com/email

Support the show:

If you enjoyed this episode please consider buying me a coffee to support all the research and effort that goes into this podcast https://www.buymeacoffee.com/soberpowered
Thank you for supporting this show by supporting my sponsors https://www.soberpowered.com/sponsors

Sources are posted on my website

Disclaimer: all of the information described in this podcast is my interpretation of the research combined with my opinion. This is not medical advice.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

E322: Middle Sobriety: One Tool to Use & One Trap to Look Out For May 29, 2026

Show notes

Middle sobriety can be a really confusing phase because you’re not in the chaos of early sobriety anymore, but you also may not feel the way you expected to feel by now. Maybe you start thinking, “Why am I still like this?” or “Why does everyone else seem so much happier than me?” or “if sobriety is supposed to make my life better, why do I still feel bad?”

This is where a lot of people get discouraged because they think feeling better physically means they should be doing better emotionally. They think if the cravings are quieter, the hard part should be over. But that’s not really how this works.

Early sobriety is mostly about not drinking. It’s about getting through the day, planning your time, avoiding obvious triggers, and creating enough structure that you don’t go back to alcohol.

Middle sobriety is different. This is the stage where you start to see what alcohol was actually helping you avoid.

So if you’re somewhere between a few months and a couple years sober and you’re thinking, “Why am I still struggling?” this episode is going to help you understand that stage more clearly.

Work with me:

Community & Meetings: Living a Sober Powered Life https://www.soberpowered.com/membership
Content only membership https://community.soberpowered.com/checkout/lessons
Sober coaching https://www.soberpowered.com/sober-coaching

Weekly email:

You’ll hear from me every week-ish https://www.soberpowered.com/email

Support the show:

If you enjoyed this episode please consider buying me a coffee to support all the research and effort that goes into this podcast https://www.buymeacoffee.com/soberpowered
Thank you for supporting this show by supporting my sponsors https://www.soberpowered.com/sponsors

Sources are posted on my website

Disclaimer: all of the information described in this podcast is my interpretation of the research combined with my opinion. This is not medical advice.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

E321: Early Sobriety: One Tool to Use & One Trap to Look Out For May 22, 2026

Show notes

When you’re in early sobriety, it can feel like you’re overthinking everything. You’re thinking about what you’re going to drink, what you’re going to say, whether you should even go to something, how you’re going to get through the night, the weekend, the next event. It can feel excessive, like you’re putting way too much thought into situations that used to feel automatic.

Your brain still sees alcohol as important. Your decision isn’t fully stabilized yet. So it’s trying to protect you by scanning ahead, predicting situations, and figuring out how to handle them before you get there. It’s not trying to make your life harder, it’s trying to keep you safe in a situation where things still feel uncertain.

I know it can feel frustrating to have to think about sobriety so much and like this is going to be your life forever, but this phase is about learning how to use that thinking in a way that actually supports you instead of fighting against it.

Work with me:

Community & Meetings: Living a Sober Powered Life https://www.soberpowered.com/membership
Content only membership https://community.soberpowered.com/checkout/lessons
Sober coaching https://www.soberpowered.com/sober-coaching

Weekly email:

You’ll hear from me every week-ish https://www.soberpowered.com/email

Support the show:

If you enjoyed this episode please consider buying me a coffee to support all the research and effort that goes into this podcast https://www.buymeacoffee.com/soberpowered
Thank you for supporting this show by supporting my sponsors https://www.soberpowered.com/sponsors

Sources are posted on my website

Disclaimer: all of the information described in this podcast is my interpretation of the research combined with my opinion. This is not medical advice.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

E320: No Rock Bottom? Try This Instead May 15, 2026

Show notes

Not everyone has a rock bottom moment and you can't control if and when it happens for you. In this episode, I share how you can make the decision final without waiting for it to be "that bad".

Work with me:

Community & Meetings: Living a Sober Powered Life https://www.soberpowered.com/membership
Content only membership https://community.soberpowered.com/checkout/lessons
Sober coaching https://www.soberpowered.com/sober-coaching

Weekly email:

You’ll hear from me every week-ish https://www.soberpowered.com/email

Support the show:

If you enjoyed this episode please consider buying me a coffee to support all the research and effort that goes into this podcast https://www.buymeacoffee.com/soberpowered
Thank you for supporting this show by supporting my sponsors https://www.soberpowered.com/sponsors

Sources are posted on my website

Disclaimer: all of the information described in this podcast is my interpretation of the research combined with my opinion. This is not medical advice.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

E319: Why “Not Right Now” Keeps You Stuck and “Forever” Sets You Free May 08, 2026

Show notes

If you feel like you’re doing well for a while and then suddenly find yourself questioning whether you can drink again, this episode will help you understand why that keeps happening. We’re going to look at how “not right now” thinking keeps alcohol relevant in your brain and how that creates mental fatigue over time. I’ll also explain why the idea of “forever” feels so uncomfortable, but is actually what makes things easier.

Work with me:

Community & Meetings: Living a Sober Powered Life https://www.soberpowered.com/membership
Content only membership https://community.soberpowered.com/checkout/lessons
Sober coaching https://www.soberpowered.com/sober-coaching

Weekly email:

You’ll hear from me every week-ish https://www.soberpowered.com/email

Support the show:

If you enjoyed this episode please consider buying me a coffee to support all the research and effort that goes into this podcast https://www.buymeacoffee.com/soberpowered
Thank you for supporting this show by supporting my sponsors https://www.soberpowered.com/sponsors

Disclaimer: all of the information described in this podcast is my interpretation of the research combined with my opinion. This is not medical advice.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Geographical Cure: If Only X Would Change, Then I Wouldn’t Have to Drink So Much May 01, 2026

Show notes

A short story about how I learned what "the work" is.

Work with me:

Community & Meetings: Living a Sober Powered Life https://www.soberpowered.com/membership
Content only membership https://community.soberpowered.com/checkout/lessons
Sober coaching https://www.soberpowered.com/sober-coaching

Weekly email:

You’ll hear from me every week-ish https://www.soberpowered.com/email

Support the show:

If you enjoyed this episode please consider buying me a coffee to support all the research and effort that goes into this podcast https://www.buymeacoffee.com/soberpowered
Thank you for supporting this show by supporting my sponsors https://www.soberpowered.com/sponsors

Sources are posted on my website

Disclaimer: all of the information described in this podcast is my interpretation of the research combined with my opinion. This is not medical advice.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

ADHD and Alcohol Use Disorder: Understanding the Link (Replay) Apr 24, 2026

Show notes

There are a lot of people in the sober community getting adult ADHD diagnoses, so what’s going on here? There is a strong link between struggling with ADHD and developing a problem with alcohol because just like with anxiety, trauma, or depression, alcohol can be used to self-medicate the symptoms of ADHD. In this episode you’ll learn why alcohol and ADHD are linked, what is going on in the brain’s of people with ADHD, and how having ADHD makes it harder to stop drinking once you start.

Work with me:

Community & Meetings: Living a Sober Powered Life https://www.soberpowered.com/membership
Content only membership https://community.soberpowered.com/checkout/lessons
Sober coaching https://www.soberpowered.com/sober-coaching

Weekly email:

You’ll hear from me every week-ish https://www.soberpowered.com/email

Support the show:

If you enjoyed this episode please consider buying me a coffee to support all the research and effort that goes into this podcast https://www.buymeacoffee.com/soberpowered
Thank you for supporting this show by supporting my sponsors https://www.soberpowered.com/sponsors

Sources are posted on my website

Disclaimer: all of the information described in this podcast is my interpretation of the research combined with my opinion. This is not medical advice.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

E318: Why Your Commitment to Sobriety Keeps Disappearing Apr 17, 2026

Show notes

Have you ever been completely sure you’re done drinking, and then a few hours or days later it suddenly doesn’t feel like a big deal anymore? That shift can feel confusing, even scary, like you’ve lost your commitment or changed your mind. In this episode, I’m breaking down what’s actually happening in your brain in those moments, why your thinking changes, and why it feels so real when it does. Once you understand this pattern, you’ll see why trying harder hasn’t worked, and what actually makes your commitment hold.

What to listen to next: E283

Work with me:

Community & Meetings: Living a Sober Powered Life https://www.soberpowered.com/membership
Content only membership https://community.soberpowered.com/checkout/lessons
Sober coaching https://www.soberpowered.com/sober-coaching

Weekly email:

You’ll hear from me every week-ish https://www.soberpowered.com/email

Support the show:

If you enjoyed this episode please consider buying me a coffee to support all the research and effort that goes into this podcast https://www.buymeacoffee.com/soberpowered
Thank you for supporting this show by supporting my sponsors https://www.soberpowered.com/sponsors

Sources are posted on my website

Disclaimer: all of the information described in this podcast is my interpretation of the research combined with my opinion. This is not medical advice.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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