179 | Personal Growth In Relationships: How Healthy Love Supports an Alcohol Free Life

You can be doing everything “right” in your relationships - showing up, being agreeable, staying committed - and still feel deeply lonely.

In this episode of No Alcohol Needed, hosts Julie Miller and Steve Knapp are joined by Mike Coyne and Christen Miller for an honest conversation about why relationships often feel empty even after you’ve stopped drinking and started working on yourself.

This isn’t a conversation about fixing your partner or trying harder. It’s about the patterns many of us learned early on - performing, people-pleasing, staying quiet, avoiding conflict - and how those habits quietly block real connection.

Together, they explore:

• Why effort doesn’t automatically create intimacy
• How performative relationships keep us feeling unseen
• The difference between being partnered and being connected
• Why vulnerability feels so risky - and why it matters
• How healthier relationships support emotional stability and happiness

This episode is for anyone who is emotionally aware, doing the work, and still wondering, “Is this really as good as it gets?”

---

If this conversation resonates and you’re feeling stuck in “emotionally aware but still lonely,” you’re not alone.

You can explore more episodes and resources here: https://noalcoholneeded.net