The Alcohol ReThink Podcast

This week on The Alcohol ReThink podcast Patrick was joined by Denita Bremer.

Denita is a shame and trauma coach for latter-day saint women.

Denita was born to teen parents who had struggles with drugs and alcohol. In response to the trauma in her upbringing Denita developed a coping mechanism which was to be a ‘good learner’.

In this episode we discuss the impact of being brought up by parents with addiction, how she survived, the impact that had later in life and how she healed those traumas which led her to create the work she does in the world now. 

Some of the cool things they talk about in this episode are:

- Underage drinking & having conversations around it

- How our upbringing influences our own parenting styles (positively and negatively)

- The importance of connection and the impact of being emotionally absent

- How we form (false) beliefs in childhood that play out in later life

- “The strengths that got you here are now holding you back”

- How we use alcohol and drugs as an attempt to self-soothe and regulate

- Working through trauma

- Cultivating compassion for yourself and your past

- Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional 

Connect with Denita:

Do you want your festive period to look a little less boozy this year?

Do you find yourself going into 'holiday mode' where all the normal rules of life are abandoned during the festive season?

In this week's episode of The Alcohol ReThink podcast, Patrick shares his definition of 'holiday mode'.

That mode you go into during the holidays season when excessive drinking and eating are often in abundance.

With a little bit of science, experience and education, Patrick shows you how to create awareness around your version of 'holiday mode' and how you can go about changing it.

Some of the cool things he talks about in this episode are:

- Festive season associations and expectations

- The motivational triad

- Why thinking differently creates different results

- Creating new habits, rituals and traditions

- How alcohol is deeply intertwined into celebrations

- Looking for new experiences

Connect with Patrick:

This week on The Alcohol ReThink podcast Patrick was joined by Michele Demetriou.

Michele is a Life Coach for high achievers and one-percenters. She helps them to manage their mindset and create lives that feel as good as they look.

In this episode, Patrick and Michele discuss what it takes to have a high achievers mindset and some of the unique challenges they can face along the way.

A fascinating interview that helps to remind us that we are all human no matter what and support is essential in any walk of life.

Some of the cool things they cover in this episode are:

- The difference between being good and great

- The pressures of social media

- The importance of having a solid support network around you

- Stackable wins

- Turning challenges into games

- Desire to belong

- Negative self-talk and unhelpful coping strategies

- Learning how to 'count on yourself' and 'have your own back'

- Why managing your mind is essential

Contact Michele

This week on The Alcohol ReThink podcast Patrick was joined by Nigel Jones.

Nigel is the founder of the health and wellness channel 9KM BY 9AM, the 9KM BY 9AM CHALLENGE, he's an accredited Sober & Life Coach and author of “WALKING BACK TO HAPPINESS – THE SECRET TO ALCOHOL-FREE LIVING & WELL-BEING.”

In this episode Nigel shares his journey to sobriety and how walking played a pivotal part in becoming alcohol-free.

This episode is full of amazing tips, facts and experiences to help you start rethinking alcohol in your life.

Some of the cool things they discuss are:

- Leaving the alcohol drinkers tribe and joining the alcohol-free tribe

- Uncovering what you believe about alcohol and your ability to stop

- Intentions lead to deeds, deeds lead to habits,

- The mind of the beginner is full of possibility, the mind of the expert is not

- Alcohol is sweetened-up poison

- The data around the impact has on your physical and mental health doesn't lie

- The real cost of drinking and everything that comes with it

- Finding the space between your thoughts

- The R-A-I-N method

Resources Mentioned

Are you worried about telling your mates you’re not drinking or taking a break?

Do you come up with every reason under the sun for not drinking except for the real one?

In this week’s episode of The Alcohol ReThink podcast, Patrick is discussing ‘how to tell your mates you’re stopping or taking a break from alcohol.’

You can expect to discover some of the fears that can hold you back and what can happen when you finally open up about your decision.

He also shares why he thinks speaking your truth and letting others be wrong about you and your choices is important.

Some of the cool things he shares are:

- People can’t argue with your truth

- Sobriety is a beautiful journey of self-discovery

- Write down your fears about telling your mates

- The clearer you are on why you’re stopping the easier it’ll be to have conversations

- How people react to your decision says more about them than you

- Life is never about being perfect

- Failure leads to success…. If you let it

Resources mentioned:

Menace to Sobriety Podcast Interview:

On this week's episode of The Alcohol ReThink podcast, Patrick was joined by sober life coach, Tony Richardson.

Tony’s relationship with alcohol started when he joined the Royal Australian airforce at just 16 years old. Brought up in a culture where alcohol was the norm, Tony found himself slipping into addiction.

Tony began recognising the signs that he might have a problem with alcohol and after a particularly horrendous hangover, he knew something had to change.

For 8 years Tony managed to stop drinking using willpower and some of the AA philosophy. He spent those years constantly battling with himself about whether he could drink or not.

After hearing about the loss of a good friend, overcome with grief, the willpower Tony had been using was no more.

Tony's alcohol use soon went back to it's previous levels and after a few years a chance encounter with a book called This Naked Mind changed his life.

Now in his second and final spell of sobriety, Tony is no longe drinking and no longer has the battle or desire too.

Join us in this episode to find out how to go from using willpower to completely rewiring your brain.

Some of the cool things they talk about

- Unhelpful beliefs about not drinking

- Willpower is not the enemy

- Discovering why you drink instead of shaming yourself

- The patriarchy trap

- Finding ways to talk as men

- Secret drinking

- Finding the courage to say you need support

- Redefining failure

“Alcohol’s the problem, not you” - Tony Richardson

Connect with Tony Richardson:

On this week's episode of The Alcohol ReThink podcast, Patrick was joined by RJ Zimmerman.

RJ is a life coach and host of the Untapped Keg podcast. He helps guide his clients to become a friend with the person they see in the mirror.

Connect with RJ Zimmerman:

On this week's episode of The Alcohol ReThink podcast, Patrick was joined by Andrew Casselton.

Andrew stopped drinking over 15 years ago and shares his journey to sobriety and more importantly, what it has created for him since.  

Some of the cool things he covers are:

- How alcohol is socially expected at university in the UK

- The impact of alcohol on productivity, risky behaviour and physical pain

- Existing and not living

- The power of mindfulness and meditation

- Managing anxiety after addiction

- Beliefs we create in childhood that play out as adults

- Developing a practice of self-care, mindfulness and being kind to yourself

Connect with Andrew:

Do you think that you can stop drinking? Why or why not?

Our beliefs are powerful, especially when they’ve gone unquestioned and practised for many years.

By uncovering what you believe about alcohol, you’ll uncover why you feel so motivated to drink.

Once you know why, you can begin to create new beliefs that will contradict and challenge your old belief systems.

In this week’s episode of The Alcohol ReThink podcast, join Patrick as he shares 3 beliefs that helped him to radically rethink his relationship with alcohol and ultimately stop for good. 

Some of the cool things he covers are:

- The happiness loan shark

- Beliefs and confirmation bias

- 3 beliefs that helped Patrick stop drinking

- The thought - feeling - act cycle

- Unlearning the associations and desire you’ve created for alcohol

- Practising believing new things 

Connect with Patrick:

Drinking doesn't just happen. There are a number of reasons that contribute towards taking that action.

In this week’s episode of The Alcohol ReThink podcast, Patrick shares 5 ways to unlearn your desire to drink.

Patrick shares the importance of having a vision and deciding what to do once you achieve it.

He talks about how your identity is driving your desire to drink, the beliefs you create to keep drinking, the emotions you’ve associated with drinking and understanding your social conditioning.

Some of the cool things he covers are:

- Pineapple progress

- Recognising the identity of yourself that you're feeding

- Learning how to recognise where you have a choice

- Emotion finds a way out 

Connect with Patrick:

How do you treat yourself when you drink when you say you don’t want to?

Harsh? Critical? Outright abusive?

There are so many ways and words that we use to describe not achieving a desired result. Many of them are self-defeating.

In this week's episode of The Alcohol ReThink Podcast Patrick shares how you can overcome any setbacks and failures you experience along the way on your journey to sobriety.

He offers some tools and mindset shifts that can help you reframe your experiences instead of beating yourself up about them.

Some of the cool things he covers are:

- The importance of how you label an experience

- Why the brain focuses on the negative

- Why the brain wants pleasure

- The positives we can find from setbacks 

- 10 questions to reframe and rethink your experience

Connect with Patrick:

Have you ever wondered what happens when you stop drinking alcohol?

Patrick shares how he would religiously check on the googles what would happen for him when he stopped drinking.

He walks you through what to expect in the first week, month and year of stopping drinking and shares his experience along the way.

Some of the cool things he covers are:

- Living life in the edges

- What to expect from the first few days, weeks and months

- ALL the benefits of stopping that you can and can’t see

- The crazy ways Patrick would try to prevent problems caused by alcohol

- The incredible liver (actually has over 500 vital functions, he said 200)

- Alcohol shrinks the brain and the awesome reversal effect that takes place when you stop

Connect with Patrick:

In this week's episode of The Alcohol Rethink podcast, join Patrick as he shares how you can give yourself permission to have fun sober.

Connect with Patrick:

This week I am joined by an awesome guest whose journey to sobriety is nothing short of incredible.

After being given his first alcoholic drink at the age of 5, and being brought up in a home and culture that celebrated and normalised alcohol, Anthony has had to overcome some staggering circumstances in life.

A story that involves a heart attack at 41, followed by a cardiac arrest a few months later, being in a coma, having his heart stop for 8 minutes, and then a night where he wanted to end it all due to alcohol and drug use.

Anthony brings his real, raw and authentic self in an interview that is pure inspiration for anyone wanting to stop drinking.

You won’t want to miss it.

Some of the other topics they cover in this episode are:

- Exploring what beliefs he had learnt and inherited about alcohol from a young age

- Creating a sober picture diary

- The incredible support of his wife through it all

- How his once paranoid state when drinking and using disappeared in sobriety

- How having an understanding of his brain helped him to create new choices

- The sober me identity

- New habits and routines he has created since stopping

- Being thankful for each day he wakes up sober

- A willingness to prove himself wrong

- The sober toolkit he developed and what the first couple of months of sobriety have been like.

This is a truly inspirational story that proves that anyone can rethink the role of alcohol in their lives.

Resources mentioned:

If you want to start thinking about alcohol differently, then this episode is for you.

In this weeks episode of The Alcohol ReThink Podcast, Patrick shares the power of a reframe.

He gives you three steps that you can start implementing today to help you rethink the role of alcohol in your life.

Connect with Patrick:

Are your reasons for stopping drinking or taking a break compelling?

Do your reasons continue to create motivation once you’ve stopped?

This week on The Alcohol ReThink podcast, Patrick shares his concept of ‘beyond the why’.

Knowing why you want to stop is important.

Knowing why you want to stop beyond reaching the goal of stopping is even more important.

Listen to this episode now to start planning and creating your life without alcohol.

Some of the cool things he talks about are:

- Know your reasons for stopping

- Identifying your identity

- The ‘5 Whys’ tool

- Go to bed and wake up thinking about who you will be and what you’ll do - Who you are now was not predetermined

- Give yourself space to think about your future

Connect with Patrick:

What were you taught to believe about alcohol?

What were the promises you were sold about what it does for you?

And do you still think they are valid?

This week on The Alcohol ReThink podcast, Patrick shares with you 7 false promises you were fed about how alcohol helps you.

He talks about how alcohol can't actually promise you anything and that the answer to that question lies elsewhere in your belief systems.

Connect with Patrick:

Have you ever wondered how working with a coach could help you to stop drinking?

This week on The Alcohol ReThink podcast, I was joined by an awesome dude called James Bell.

James started working with Patrick at the end of a self-proclaimed ‘heavy’ drinking summer in 2022.

After numerous attempts to stop, James had had enough and reached out to Patrick to see how he could change this unhealthy habit for good.

Some of the cool things they discussed in this episode:

- The stop-start cycle of rethinking alcohol

- The value of taking a break while exploring why you drink

- Beliefs that kept him drinking

- What’s alcohol giving you vs what’s alcohol taking away from you?

- The paradox of alcohol

- Fears around stopping drinking

- A willingness to feel self-conscious in the beginning of your sobriety

- Some of the coaching tools and exercises that helped him the most

- Having compassion for your past self

- The power of a conversation

- ‘Get out of your head’

- What’s changed for James since stopping drinking

- Giving your sobriety purpose 

Connect with Patrick:

Are you ready to say goodbye to alcohol for good?

In this week's episode of The Alcohol ReThink podcast, join Patrick as he shares how and why giving yourself space to grieve alcohol can be so transformative.

Some of the things he covers are:

- What grieving alcohol means

- The 5 stages of grief

- Exercises to help you let go of alcohol

Connect with Patrick:

Do you ever feel like you have to be someone else in order to fit in? Do feel like you have to hide what you really love in life?

Then have a listen to this week's episode of The Alcohol ReThink podcast where I was joined by the awesome Nathan Gallagher.

He founded the Love Jam community, which specialises in sober parties and festivals. After spending much of his late teens and early 20s in what he describes as a 'stereotypical binge drinking brit', his love of music and a journey of self-discovery led him to create LoveJam.

Cool things we discuss in this episode:

- The masks we wear

- The power of breathwork, mediation and self-love

- Acceptance, authenticity and self expression

- Getting comfortable with ALL of your emotions

- The importance of where you place importance and value

- The way you start and finish your day is essential to your daily experience

- Cultivating a willingness to experiment

- Opportunities in your sobriety

- There’s growth in our pain

Connect with Nathan:

This week discover 5 ways that you can ‘let go’ of using in your life:

1. Romancing Sobriety

2. Taking Responsibility

3. Switch Up Your Environment

4. New Identity

5. Overcoming fear of social judgements or stigmas

6. Unrealistic expectations of change (BONUS way)

Connect with Patrick:

This week discover 5 ways that you may be unintentionally holding yourself back from rethinking alcohol in your life and creating that lasting change you want.

In this week’s episode of The Alcohol ReThink podcast, Patrick shares 5 ways that you may be holding yourself back from stopping drinking.

By giving yourself some time to reflect and investigate how you may be holding yourself back, you’ll open yourself up to a whole new plethora of opportunities to change.

Listen now to hear more about the 5 ways that you ‘hold on’ to alcohol in your life:

1. Romanticising alcohol

2. Blame mindset

3. Environment

4. Identity

5. Fear of social judgements or stigmas

6. Unrealistic expectations of change (BONUS way)

Questions to ask yourself to help rethink the role of alcohol in your life:

Who am I without alcohol in my life?

Where or what are you holding on to as you rethink alcohol?

Do you love those reasons?

What’s stopping you from letting go?

Is holding on, helping or hurting you?

Connect with Patrick:

Do you know why you think you need a drink? Are you aware of what societal or cultural expectations you've unknowingly agreed to and taken on?