124. This Will Change How You Think About Recovery with Jeanne Foot124. This Will Change How You Think About Recovery with Jeanne Foot
Together S.O.B.E.R.
Louise Barnett talks with Jeanne Foot about why recovery is about far more than simply stopping substances, stressing emotional sobriety, trauma healing and self-compassion. Jeanne shares her personal story and holistic approach, challenging shame-based models and encouraging a more flexible, human view of getting well.
53:16•29 Jun 2026
Rethinking Recovery: Why Abstinence Isn’t the Whole Story with Jeanne Foot
Episode Overview
- Recovery is presented as a broader human journey where emotional sobriety, purpose and flourishing matter as much as abstinence.
- Unaddressed trauma and shame can make traditional, mind-only approaches to recovery feel ineffective or even harmful.
- Somatic practices like kundalini yoga, along with nervous system regulation, can create powerful shifts that talking alone cannot.
- Self-compassion and small daily acts of kindness towards yourself gradually quieten the inner critic and build genuine self-worth.
- Digital overload can hijack the brain and recovery; intentional periods of switching off are framed as essential, not optional.
“I don’t believe abstinence equals good recovery.”
How do people cope with the challenges of staying sober? This conversation between host Louise Barnett and recovery specialist Jeanne Foot is aimed squarely at anyone who’s tired of being told to “just try harder” and wants a more human, less shaming view of recovery.
Jeanne shares a lifetime of lived experience: generations of mental illness in her family, childhood grief and sexual abuse, early numbing with substances, and then a seemingly “successful” adult life that hid deep depression and self‑loathing. She talks about reaching seven years sober and still feeling like she didn’t want to be here, which pushed her to ask a bigger question: how do people actually get well? You’ll hear her frank critique of traditional approaches, especially where trauma is ignored.
She recalls disclosing abuse in early rehab days and being met with silence: “This is before trauma was trendy… before anybody even knew what trauma informed was.” Jeanne questions the idea that abstinence alone equals recovery, saying, “I don’t believe abstinence equals good recovery,” and argues that emotional sobriety, self‑compassion, and skills for living matter just as much as putting the drink or drug down.
The chat ranges from kundalini yoga and somatic work to parenting a suicidal teenager, stigma in hospitals and families, and the need to unplug from digital overwhelm. Jeanne explains how intuition, nervous system regulation, and simple daily “drops in the bucket” of kindness towards yourself can gradually change how you feel in your own skin.
The tone is honest, occasionally funny in that dark, ‘if you don’t laugh you’ll cry’ way, and deeply validating for anyone who’s ever felt broken by addiction, mental health struggles, or both. If you’ve ever thought, “Why isn’t this working for me?” this might be the conversation that helps you see recovery as a flexible, deeply personal human journey rather than a one‑size‑fits‑all programme. What would your recovery look like if you aimed for flourishing, not just surviving?
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