EP 404: Early Days-Sobriety VS Recovery

EP 404: Early Days-Sobriety VS Recovery

How do people find strength in their journey to sobriety? Sobertown’s Early Days series brings that question to life as host Michal chats through some of the most debated words in the recovery space: sobriety, recovery, lapse, and relapse. Instead of throwing around jargon, Michal breaks down what these terms mean to her, grounding everything in her own story.

She explains why she prefers to talk about a "recovery journey" rather than just "sobriety", sharing how she was physically addicted to alcohol before she could legally drink and spent most of her 30s alcohol-free. For her, "I don't think that recovery ends just because you have a slip," even though she’s very clear that being sober means not using mind‑altering substances at all. Things get especially relatable when she talks about the tough years between 2020 and 2024.

She describes periods of binge drinking as "blips on the map" rather than a total collapse, shaped by grief, job loss and isolation. Those slips pushed her back towards new tools – medical support, therapy and fresh approaches to treatment – rather than back into full‑blown addiction. Michal also introduces a helpful language shift she picked up from her therapist: lapse versus relapse.

A lapse, in her words, is when someone drinks or uses but knows it’s temporary and is already thinking about getting back to recovery. A relapse is when old patterns return and recovery isn’t on the radar at all. That distinction, she says, gave her words for something she’d felt for years.

Throughout, the tone stays warm, honest and non‑judgemental, with Michal repeatedly inviting different viewpoints and stressing that "no two recovery journeys look the same, and that's okay." It’s a reassuring listen for anyone in early days, anyone who’s slipped, or anyone who’s ever wondered what their "recovery" actually means. So where do you see yourself in the mix – sober, in recovery, or somewhere in between?