Welcome to the podcast! In case you are new here, my name is Arlina Allen and I am the founder of Sober Life School. I have been sober since 4/23/94 (which means I will be celebrating 30 years!) In that time I have been obsessed with self-help, spirituality, psychology, and behavior change. And let’s not get it twisted, I did not do it alone. In fact, I have had many many helpers along the way including mentors, sponsors, professional therapists and lots of loving friends and family. As a way to say thank you to them, I try to be as helpful as I can and pass along what was given to me. That’s ..read more

Today I’ll be joined by Barb Nangle, who is going to give an absolute masterclass on how to recover with co-occuring addictions. We’re going to talk about OA, ACA, Coda, and go over some practices for setting boundaries, building self-worth and finding your true identity.  I’ll just note that Barb does more for her self-care than anyone I’ve ever met, I’m not even kidding. She’s incredible. So if you’re new to recovery, it might sound a little overwhelming, but just know that you don’t have to do everything that we talk about to start feeling better right away. Listen for the practices t ..read more

Welcome to the podcast!  Today I’ll be joined by CEO and Founder Chandler Rogers of the Relay app. He’ll be sharing his story of overcoming addiction to pornography and how it led him to create a highly successful sobriety app to help people connect anonymously. We’re going to talk about how we met, and how after I heard about their project, I decided to partner with them so I could connect with you!  I’m always reachable on social media, but not everyone wants to reach out that way. In fact, a lot of people either want to say anonymous or NEED to be anonymous because of work or fea ..read more

You are going to hear from Angela Pugh today, host of The Addiction Unlimited Podcast and a woman in long term sobriety. In fact she just celebrated 18 years! Before we jump in, I do have a couple of resources for you. For a loooong time… like almost 8 years, I’ve only had group support for women. The good news is now there is a new podcast, called The Self-Help Junkie Podcast. It’s for seekers, dreamers, hustlers and overachievers who want to get focused, take the actions that will help them reach their goals and connect with others, just like you!  We also have biweekly meetings that a ..read more

We have a special guest today, former NBA basketball player, Chris Herren. He will be sharing his story of going from a rising star in his community, to the risks he took in active addiction.  And just a quick note before we jump in. There are so many people I would love to invite onto the podcast that I know you’ll love. The first thing they do to see if this is a good use of their time, is look at the podcast ratings and reviews and check our IG followers.  So if you enjoy this podcast, could I ask you to leave us a 5 star rating and a review on Apple podcasts? It’s a zero cost wa ..read more

There are a couple of resources I have to share in case you just found the podcast… There is a free guide on my website called “How to Quit Drinking: 30 Tips for 30 Days”. After nearly 30 years of being sober myself and helping thousands of people get sober, I created a guide that has practical tips on how to start your sober journey. Everything from how to prepare your home, what to do if you get a craving, how to talk to your friends and family and so much more! It’s my gift to you, just visit, sober life school and you can download it there. If you have any questions, DM on Instagram @arli ..read more

Today’s guest TJ Woodward, has been sober for over 37 years. He has published several books including “Conscious Recovery, A Fresh Perspective On Addiction”. TJ is a featured thought-leader on wholehearted.org along with Dr. Gabor Maté and Marianne Williamson, and was given the honor of being ordained as an Agape minister by Dr. Michael Beckwith. When I listened to the audible version of his book, I was intrigued by some of his ideas that challenged some of my own personal beliefs about 12 step programs. Ideas that imply that a dependency on anything outside ourselves is just another substitut ..read more

We are brought to you today by The SHJ Patreon Membership, where seekers take action. If you have been listening to the podcast, you will have heard me talk about the new podcast that I just launched. It’s not just a podcast, but a community of people who truly want to make changes in their lives.  At the end of the day, we want you to have that feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction that you fulfilled your purpose. Can you imagine how great that will feel?! Well that’s what we’re doing.  We know that the best way to make lasting change is to surround yourself with like minded pe ..read more

If you haven’t met Light Watkins before today, you are in for a special treat. Light is the author of 4 books, the latest being “Travel Light: Spiritual Minimalism to Live a More Fulfilled Life”. I actually found him through listening to The Rich Roll Podcast, and his interview was so compelling I took a chance and invited him to be a guest to talk about how to find your purpose.  He’s also a meditation teacher, which a lot of people have resistance to, but his approach is so simple that it really lowers the bar and makes the experience more attainable and enjoyable.  Before we jump ..read more

Today is going to be a continuation of a new project called The Self-Help Junkie Podcast. I thought about just making it a series on this podcast, but I decided it should be its own thing. I’ll still be publishing episodes here that are focused on addiction recovery, but just feel like after nearly 8 years, there is another podcast format I’d like to explore that has more of a community aspect to it.  That format will be to identify personal development topics like self-esteem, shadow work, manifestation with evidence based practices. We will talk about what they are, why they’re importan ..read more