#124 – Martha Jones: XXV#124 – Martha Jones: XXV
Recovery Survey
Martha Jones reflects on 25 years of sobriety, from a chaotic upbringing and heavy drinking to using recovery tools to face devastating family abuse. The conversation focuses on genetics in alcoholism, the power of AA community, and practical hope for people at the start of their sober journey.
29:37•10 Aug 2022
Martha Jones on 25 Years Sober, Family Secrets and Finding Safety in Recovery
Episode Overview
- Alcoholism can run strongly in families, and accepting the genetic side helped Martha take her problem seriously.
- AA became a lifeline after years of failed attempts, with 90 meetings in 90 days and getting a sponsor as key early steps.
- The care and concern from people in recovery rooms are genuine, especially valuable for those with deep trust issues.
- Long-term sobriety gave Martha the stability to report her father’s abuse and support her son through specialised PTSD therapy.
- You don’t get perfect when you get sober, but you gain the tools and community to face even the hardest events without drinking.
“We love you and we're here for you. And just please have faith.”
How do people find strength in their journey to sobriety? This conversation with Martha Jones offers a raw, honest look at what long-term recovery can hold – the joy, the grief, and the courage to face unthinkable truths without picking up a drink. Martha, a self-described "city girl in the country", marks 25 years of sobriety after growing up as the child of two professional Alcoholics and living through extreme abuse.
She talks frankly about drinking three bottles of wine a day, dangerous blackouts, and years of thinking she was just a "wine connoisseur" rather than an alcoholic. Her story will hit home for anyone from a drinking household.
She shares why she’s convinced alcoholism is a family disease, how early sips at church and at home shaped her relationship with alcohol, and why statistics – and her family tree – pushed her to accept that "booze is booze and a drug is a drug".
What really stands out is how sobriety carried her through the darkest chapter of her life: discovering her respected paediatrician father was a paedophile, learning he abused her son, and choosing to report him to the police.
She talks about the horror, the guilt, the ongoing therapy, and how recovery has kept her steady: "I'm grateful to this program that I'm able to get through this because this is really horrible." For anyone new or sober-curious, her message is simple and warm: do 90 meetings in 90 days, let people in, and accept that the rooms genuinely care.
As she puts it, "We love you and we're here for you… you got sober, you didn't get perfect." If you're wondering whether sobriety can hold you through your own worst moments, this candid chat might be exactly what you need to hear right now.
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