Podcast Episode Details

Ep 114 Was AA Really That Bad? — Grieving AA Part 1: Denial

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Episode 114

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Welcome to the Grieving AA series — a 6-part journey to untangle from Alcoholics Anonymous and reclaim your emotional freedom.

In this first episode, we unpack denial. What if the group that “saved your life”… was actually harming your mind? What if the thing you thought was spiritual… was a religious cult in disguise?

We’ll explore:

• 🧠 Cognitive dissonance (AA helped me / AA harmed me)
• 🧪 How gaslighting and indoctrination distort your self-trust
• 💔 Why denial makes sense after coercive control
• ✍️ Plus journaling prompts to help you pop out of the fog

Timestamps:

00:00 Grieving AA Denial Intro

05:40 What denial may look like

10:05 Journaling prompts

📝 Journaling Prompts in this Episode:

• What parts of AA still feel helpful or comforting to you, and why?
• Why do you feel loyal to AA if you do, and what does loyalty mean to you?
• Have you ever downplayed your pain or made excuses for what happened in AA?
• If what you experienced happened to a loved one, what would you tell them about it?
• What are you afraid might happen if you fully let yourself question AA?
• What would it mean to trust yourself even just a little bit more right now?

🪩 Get fee tools, community, Zooms and book club to deprogram 12-step ideology 📚

👉 Inside the Deprogram Lounge click here.

💬 Let’s Connect @SobrietyBestie

DM me or comment on any Sobriety Bestie socials. I’m here for the conversation.

Let’s get f*cking free.

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Published on 4 months, 2 weeks ago