PodcastsEducationSober Powered: The Neuroscience of Being Sober

Sober Powered: The Neuroscience of Being Sober

Gillian Tietz, MS, CPRC
Sober Powered: The Neuroscience of Being Sober
Latest episode

344 episodes

  • Sober Powered: The Neuroscience of Being Sober

    E313: The Nervous System in Sobriety: Why You Feel Wired, Exhausted, or Overwhelmed, and How Regulation Returns

    03/13/2026 | 20 mins.
    A lot of people quit drinking expecting to feel calmer. You think sobriety is going to reduce anxiety, improve sleep, and make life feel more stable. It does… eventually. But for a while, many people experience the opposite. You feel on edge for no clear reason. Small things overwhelm you. You’re exhausted but can’t fully relax. Your sleep is inconsistent, your emotions are intense, and stress hits harder than it used to.

    And this is where people start to wonder if something is wrong, or worse, if alcohol was actually helping. Years of drinking trained your body to live in a constant state of stress. In this episode, we’re going to talk about what alcohol actually does to the nervous system, why sobriety can feel so dysregulating at first, and how your brain and body relearn safety over time.

    Work with me:


    Community & Meetings: Living a Sober Powered Life https://www.soberpowered.com/membership


    Skills library https://community.soberpowered.com/checkout/lessons


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

    Weekly email:


    You’ll hear from me on Fridays 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
  • Sober Powered: The Neuroscience of Being Sober

    E312: Ambivalence in Early and Long Term Sobriety

    03/06/2026 | 20 mins.
    You can know alcohol is hurting you. You can want to quit. You can be exhausted by the consequences. And then still drink. In this episode, we’re talking about ambivalence: what it actually is in the brain, why negative consequences don’t always make us change, and how drinking shifts decision-making from intentional to automatic. I’ll also discuss how ambivalence can creep back in long after you’ve made the decision and result in the slow drift back to drinking.

    What to listen to next:

    E269: Autopilot mode

    Work with me:


    Community & Meetings: Living a Sober Powered Life https://www.soberpowered.com/membership


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

    Course


    Pickled. Why Moderation is Impossible https://www.soberpowered.com/pickled

    Weekly email:


    You’ll hear from me on Fridays 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
  • Sober Powered: The Neuroscience of Being Sober

    Cravings Increase After Quitting Drinking and Peak Around 60 Days Sober and 6 Months Sober (Replay)

    02/27/2026 | 28 mins.
    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 you might experience, why this happens, and what you can do to stay sober.

    Work with me:


    Community & Meetings: Living a Sober Powered Life https://www.soberpowered.com/membership


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

    Course


    Pickled. Why Moderation is Impossible https://www.soberpowered.com/pickled

    Weekly email:


    You’ll hear from me on Fridays 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
  • Sober Powered: The Neuroscience of Being Sober

    E311: Sugar Cravings in Sobriety: When Comfort Becomes a Crutch

    02/20/2026 | 16 mins.
    Sugar cravings in early sobriety make sense. What many of us don’t expect is still needing something sweet months or even years later. In this episode, we’re going to unpack why that happens, what sugar is really doing for your nervous system, and why this phase has less to do with food and more to do with healing.

    Work with me:


    Community & Meetings: Living a Sober Powered Life https://www.soberpowered.com/membership


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

    Course


    Pickled. Why Moderation is Impossible https://www.soberpowered.com/pickled

    Weekly email:


    You’ll hear from me on Fridays 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
  • Sober Powered: The Neuroscience of Being Sober

    E310: Emotional Sobriety: Why Quitting Drinking Isn’t Enough

    02/13/2026 | 23 mins.
    When I quit drinking, I didn’t realize how emotionally immature I was, or how much alcohol had been doing for me behind the scenes. In this episode, I talk about why removing alcohol can make emotions feel (more) unbearable at first, how years of emotional avoidance catch up to us in sobriety, and why this phase puts people at risk for relapse. We’ll also talk about what emotional sobriety actually means, and why learning to tolerate discomfort is what makes sobriety sustainable.

    Work with me:


    Community & Meetings: Living a Sober Powered Life https://www.soberpowered.com/membership


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

    Course


    Pickled. Why Moderation is Impossible https://www.soberpowered.com/pickled

    Weekly email:


    You’ll hear from me on Fridays 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

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About 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
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