About this episode

The episode discusses the difference between understanding the reasons behind drinking and actually changing the behavior associated with it.

There are a few stages that we go through on the path to truly acknowledging our drinking. One of the earlier ones is when drinking feels mysterious, so the “I drank and I don’t know why” or “it’s just a bad habit” person. Another one is getting really into learning and then doing nothing with everything you learn. I got obsessed with the science when I quit drinking. It helped me understand myself and why this happened to me, but learning didn’t help me change what was causing all of my problems. I began shifting this podcast to talk more about behavior change once I noticed the same thing happening with my listeners. Sometimes I’d see people use scientific explanations before looking at the behavior right in front of them. They’d say they drank because PAWS is so hard to deal with, but they were on day 4. You can’t have post-acute withdrawal if you’re still in acute withdrawal. In that moment, the label became a way to explain the behavior without looking at what needed to change. Insight gives us a reason to explain our behavior without having to change it. Work with me: Community & Meetings: Living a Sober Powered Life https://www.soberpowered.com/membership Sober coaching…

People in this episode

Host: Gillian Tietz

Topics covered

• behavior change
• drinking
• self-awareness
• neuroscience
• addiction

Keywords

• drinking habits
• behavior change
• addiction science
• self-understanding
• PAWS
• acute withdrawal

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• E329: What Dabbling Looked Like For Me · July 31, 2026 · 13 min

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