Have you ever caught yourself spinning on a decision — looping between “what if” and “maybe not”? You’re not alone.

In this episode, I’m sharing 5 powerful ways to stop second-guessing yourself, especially if you’re leaving AA, deconstructing 12-step ideology, or just learning to trust your own thinking again.

By the end of this video, you’ll understand:

• Why second-guessing happens
• How to spot cognitive dissonance in real time
• A simple move to get unstuck fast

This is for anyone who’s been taught to doubt themselves — by society, religion, recovery programs, or high-control groups — and is now reclaiming their critical thinking, intuition, and freedom.

Timestamps:

00:00 Stop Second Guessing Yourself in Recovery intro

00:59 Why I Was Second Guessing Myself After Leaving AA

03:30 1 - Cognitive Dissonance

11:32 2 - Fear of Mistakes or Regrets

16:45 3- Conditioning and Authority

23:36 4 - Perfectionism and Control

29:08 5 - Threat Mode Biology

38:55 Recap 5 Ways to Stop Second Guessing Yourself

🌀 Deprogram AA Course

📚 Deprogram Book List

🪩 Get free tools, community, Zooms and book club to deprogram 12-step ideology 📚

👉 Inside the Deprogram Lounge click here

Let’s get f*cking free.

Six months ago I finally hit publish on my first video about leaving AA—and it changed everything.

What started as fear turned into freedom, growth, and a whole new life. In this episode I reflect on six months of dissenting out loud, what I’ve learned from deconstructing Alcoholics Anonymous, and why this work matters so much. From 123 videos to playlists on AA mind control, cult comparisons, grieving, and alternatives, we’ve built a massive resource for anyone ready to get AA out of their head (playlists linked below)

Playlists:

AA Mind Control

AA Is A Cult

AA Culty Comments

Leaving AA Conversations

Deprogramming Books

Grieving AA

AA Alternatives

AA Propaganda

Escape Stories

Addiction Science

Now, as I move from deconstruction into critical thinking and reconstruction, I’m inviting you to keep evolving with me. Team Freedom—let’s keep getting free together.

🌀 Deprogram AA Course

📚 Deprogram Book List

🪩 Get free tools, community, Zooms and book club to deprogram 12-step ideology 📚

👉 Inside the Deprogram Lounge click here.

💬 Let’s Connect @SobrietyBestie

DM me or comment on any Sobriety Bestie socials. I’m here for the conversation.

Let’s get f*cking free.

Victor from Quackaholics Anonymous shares his powerful journey of breaking free from Alcoholics Anonymous and finding the power to quit drinking on his own.

In this candid conversation, Victor opens up about being branded a “chronic relapser” in AA, feeling isolated and hopeless, and how leaving the program set him free. From realizing AA was a scam, to rebuilding life on his own terms, to starting one of the first dissenting AA YouTube channels — this is his story of reclaiming self-esteem, critical thinking, and true sobriety.

Whether you loved AA, hated it, or are just questioning it, this interview shines light on what life after AA can look like.

Quackaholics Anonymous YouTube Channel

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro Quackaholics Anonymous

03:48 Deprogramming Out Loud, Online

05:28 First Leaving Alcoholics Anonymous

10:24 Seeing Old Timers "True Colors"

13:58 DUI + Getting Back On Your Feet

16:57 Feeling Empty After Leaving AA

19:31 Deciding To Leave AA

24:35 Finding The Power To Stop Drinking Without AA

28:14 Realizing AA Is A Scam

35:17 Starting A Dissenting + Deprogramming AA YouTube Channel

47:33 The Mindset That Got Him Sober Without AA

54:20 Rebuilding Life After AA

1:03:13 Deconstructing AA Martyrdom + Self Sacrafice

1:11:58 Best Part About AA Dissenting

1:23:20 AA Disables Critical Thinking + Self Esteem

1:28:14 AA Friendships After Leaving AA?

1:34:00 Commenting With Trolls, Haters + AA Lovers

🪩 Get fee tools, community, Zooms and book club to deprogram 12-step ideology 📚

👉 Inside the Deprogram Lounge click here.

💬 Let’s Connect @SobrietyBestie

DM me or comment on any Sobriety Bestie socials. I’m here for the conversation.

Let’s get f*cking free.

In this episode of the Sobriety Bestie Podcast, I’m unpacking a culty comment that accuses my podcast of being “alcoholic thinking and behaving at its finest.”

🚫 Here’s the truth: there is no such thing as “alcoholic thinking” or “alcoholic behavior” outside of literally drinking alcohol.

These terms were invented and weaponized by AA to control the narrative, sell the disease model, and funnel people toward God as the supposed solution.

We’ll break down:

• How Bill W. used Dr. Silkworth’s “fatal disease” pitch to sell God
• Why terms like “alcoholic thinking” are propaganda, not science
• How attacking the messenger distracts from the real issue: the harmful ideology
• How critical thinking is a path to freedom

🪩 Get fee tools, community, Zooms and book club to deprogram 12-step ideology 📚

👉 Inside the Deprogram Lounge click here.

💬 Let’s Connect @SobrietyBestie

DM me or comment on any Sobriety Bestie socials. I’m here for the conversation.

Let’s get f*cking free.

Welcome to our sobriety birthday party podcast. Today September 29th I'm 16 years sober and Carrie (here's her Substack) turned 26 years sober on September 17th, the day we recorded this. You're in for a fun treat as we unpack all the sobriety birthday and sober time things.

In this candid convo, Carrie and I unpack the status game around sober time, the shame of “starting over,” why slips don’t erase growth, and what feels actually worth celebrating now.

If you’ve ever felt weird about chips, countdowns, or announcing your sobriety date, this one’s for you.

We explore:

• What sobriety dates measure—and what they don’t
• The difference between early-days momentum vs. long-term identity
• How purity culture sneaks into recovery language
• Alternative markers of progress (health, boundaries, critical thinking, purpose)
• Harm-reduction openness and letting people choose what works for them

00:00 Intro deconstructing sobriety birthdays and AA sober time

1:04 Carrie's sobriety birthday feels

06:26 Rethinking slips, relapses and changing sobriety date

10:36 AA conference slipped alcohol

16:02 Rigidity around sobriety birthday announcements

21:39 What does a sobriety birthday actually measure?

23:04 Does drinking actually "erase" sobriety time?

31:04 Why anchor to an old bad habit?

36:59 Sobriety date becomes new birthday

40:18 Sobriety birthday parties

47:37 How long does it take to deprogram?

55:18 Sobriety time "status" game

57:27 Coerced into marketing AA via sobriety chips

1:07:52 What feels relevant to celebrate now?

1:17:22 Do sobriety birthdays matter?

1:24:20 Sober time hierarchy + countdowns

Carrie's Substack: https://carrieengland.substack.com/

🪩 Get fee tools, community, Zooms and book club to deprogram 12-step ideology 📚

👉 Inside the Deprogram Lounge click here.

💬 Let’s Connect @SobrietyBestie

DM me or comment on any Sobriety Bestie socials. I’m here for the conversation.

Let’s get f*cking free.

In today’s Culty Comments episode of the Sobriety Bestie Podcast, we’re breaking down a classic AA defender argument: “You got sober in the wrong country — AA is different elsewhere.”

I’ve been to meetings across the U.S., Australia, Bali, India, Nepal, and Europe — and here’s the truth: no matter the culture, no matter the meeting format, it all comes back to the same book and the same controlling ideology.

👉 In this episode we’ll cover:

• Attacking the messenger instead of the message
• My firsthand experiences in Australia AA
• How AA’s “Big Book” is inherently controlling
• Why the 12 Steps are always the same path

🪩 Get fee tools, community, Zooms and book club to deprogram 12-step ideology 📚

👉 Inside the Deprogram Lounge click here.

💬 Let’s Connect @SobrietyBestie

DM me or comment on any Sobriety Bestie socials. I’m here for the conversation.

Let’s get f*cking free.

Charlie Sheen has been one of the most outspoken celebrities about his relationship with Alcoholics Anonymous and sobriety.

From his infamous “winning” era in 2011 to creating his own Sober Valley Lodge, to now approaching 8 years sober, Charlie has been refreshingly candid about what worked—and what didn’t—for him.

In this video, we react to Charlie Sheen’s recent appearance on the Joe Rogan podcast, dive into his brand-new book The Book of Sheen (2025), and unpack his raw thoughts on AA, interventions, sponsorship, and making the decision to quit drinking on his own terms.

2011 Charlie Sheen Interview

Joe Rogan Podcast with Charlie Sheen

The Book of Sheen

Timestamps:

00:00 How Charlie Sheen Got Sober Intro

01:37 Charlie Sheen on Joe Rogan Podcast

05:26 Charlie Sheen's Intervention

07:33 How Charlie Sheen Got Sober (this time)

14:32 Making A Decision + Sticking To It

18:21 Charlie Sheen On AA's Indoctrination Process

24:51 Charlie Sheen Got Sober On His Own

🪩 Get fee tools, community, Zooms and book club to deprogram 12-step ideology 📚

👉 Inside the Deprogram Lounge click here.

💬 Let’s Connect @SobrietyBestie

DM me or comment on any Sobriety Bestie socials. I’m here for the conversation.

Let’s get f*cking free.

Alan Carr flips the script on alcohol. Instead of using willpower to fight cravings, he shows how to remove the desire to drink altogether. 🎉

In this episode, I review Allen Carr’s Easy Way to Quit Drinking Without Willpower and share how the method connected with my own journey—both quitting cigarettes and alcohol.

Whether you’re looking for an AA alternative, rethinking your relationship with alcohol, or just curious about habit change, this perspective shift might blow your mind.

Get the book here.

Timestamps:

00:00 Allen Carr's Easy Way to Quit Drinking Intro

02:35 How I Quit Smoking Cigarettes

09:07 All Brains Can Become Addicted

10:46 Brainwashed Quitting is Hard

13:46 Brainwashed into Drinking Trap

15:45 Little Monster (Withdrawal) + Big Monster (Desire to Drink)

21:08 New Attitude on Sobriety

23:07 Addictive Personality Mythology

27:01 Alcohol Does Not Cause Pleasure

29:56 Don't Drink Poison Ever

🪩 Get fee tools, community, Zooms and book club to deprogram 12-step ideology 📚

👉 Inside the Deprogram Lounge click here.

💬 Let’s Connect @SobrietyBestie

DM me or comment on any Sobriety Bestie socials. I’m here for the conversation.

Let’s get f*cking free.