181 | How to Deal With Difficult Emotions (Without Drinking or Avoiding Them)

Most people don’t drink again because they miss alcohol. They drink again because they don’t know how to deal with difficult emotions.

In this episode of No Alcohol Needed, Julie Miller, Steve Knapp, Matt Shambo, and Sean Rollinson unpack what’s really happening when emotions feel overwhelming - and why trying to escape them actually makes them even harder to deal with.

You’ll learn:

- Why suppressing emotions backfires - How to identify what you’re actually feeling - What it means to “sit with” an emotion (without spiraling) - Practical tools for handling big feelings in sobriety - How emotional intelligence protects long-term sobriety

If you’ve ever thought, “I can stay sober… I just hate how it feels,” this conversation is for you.

Life without alcohol doesn’t have to feel like a fight.

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If you’re new here:

At No Alcohol Needed (formerly Through the Glass Recovery Podcast) we talk about emotional intelligence, self-worth, sobriety, and how to build a life you don’t wish you could escape from.

Learn more about the podcast and the work we do: https://noalcoholneeded.net

Meet our guests: https://noalcoholneeded.net/meet-the-voices/