My Battle with the Booze - a Doctor's Story

Tribe Sober - inspiring an alcohol-free life!

My guest this week is Dr Stephan Neff - a German who is living in New Zealand

Stephan began to drink heavily at university and carried on into his twenties and thirties

The medical profession was demanding and he used alcohol to cope with stress

 

In this Episode

At the age of 35 Stephan realised that his drinking was becoming problematic but pushed it to the back of his mind

Alcohol was numbing the pain and giving him a temporary respite from the stress

His wife also drank a lot - they were both A type personalities - striving to succeed - using alcohol to relax

Stephan's wife managed to stop drinking and then began to urge him to make a change but with no success

He was getting worse and worse - not enough alcohol to numb the pain

Stephan hit rock bottom one night and was found crying in his garage - his wife arranged for him to go to rehab two days later

She issued him an ultimatum - he would lose his family if he didn't go to rehab - he felt relieved but also full of shame

Not everybody has to hit "rock bottom" before they make a change - get some help and join tribe sober

Rehab was life changing for Stephan - in the bubble of rehab for 4 weeks - everything changed 

The staff were great - many of the staff were ex-addicts who were clean and thriving - they inspired him

Stephan felt that he was being "listened to" and could "speak his truth" finally

We offer a complimentary recovery coaching session to our members so they can experience the power of being listened to

As part of his treatment he wrote a letter which was full of grievances - to help him deal with his resentment and anger

Coming out of rehab was a bit of an anti-climax - nobody was that interested - he had to "walk the talk" to show he had changed

Stephan has learned to avoid HALT - being Hungry, Angry, Lonely or Tired - which is could trigger him 

He talked about the difference between a "lapse" and a full blown "relapse"- after a lapse we need to "get curious"

Our annual trackers help our members to get stay on track after a lapse - if you'd like an annual tracker - [email protected]

In his book "Steps to Sobriety" he goes into details about relapses and what causes them - often a lack of self care

Stephan has a podcast called "Into the Light" and a You Tube channel

Treat a craving as a wave in the ocean - surf it rather than let it drown you!

More info

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          This episode is sponsored by the Tribe Sober Membership Program.  If you want to change your relationship with alcohol then 
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Thank you for listening! 

Till Next Week

Janet x