Sarah Shares Her Struggles With Addiction Pt. 1

Inner Archeology with Sarah Turner & Emily Pennystone

Between us, there are two big struggles, religious trauma and addiction. These conversations are not easy, but we’ve created an environment where it’s possible to hold space for one another, and today we want to share that with you. Today, Sarah shares her story of addiction and recovery, sharing the intimate details of her journey with the goal to bring hope to struggling listeners. She recalls a low point in her journey when she sought out the stories of successful alcoholics, to find an overwhelming bias towards the stories of celebrities and men. A pivotal figure in her recovery was a female mentor in Bali, and she shares the story of how this person turned her towards the resource she needed to change her life - the twelve steps she had vehemently been avoiding. Join us today to hear a story of hope, connection, and success shared between friends.

Key Points From This Episode:

• Our two respective struggles: religious trauma and addiction.
• Why it can be more painful when people ignore your pain than when they address it.
• The misconception that you are reminding people of their pain.
• Emily’s story of addiction in early college.
• Why interventions absolutely don’t work for an addict.
• How her drinking escalated when she went through her divorce.
• The story of how she went to rehab and realized she needed support.
• Where addiction sits: outside of how you usually rationalize and intellectualize.
• Why you have to let your loved ones struggling with addiction reach their own rock bottom.
• How her childhood trauma and abuse led to addiction in adulthood.
• The realization that resentment and anger were at the root of her struggles.
• How underlying trauma and a disconnect from the world around you leads to addiction.
• Why it is so essential to take it one day at a time when you are in recovery.
• The importance of looking beyond yourself to imagine the addict in your life’s experience.
• Owning your shit is an important step in recovery.
• How believing in a future version of herself helped Sarah to recover.
• Stories of successful alcoholics and how Sarah found a mentor in Bali who brought her back to AA.
• Emily’s gratitude that Sarah is still here.

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Inner Archeology Email

Sarah Turner on Instagram

Emily Pennystone on Instagram