RR 224: Escaping Porn Addiction with Eli Nash and Staying Sober.RR 224: Escaping Porn Addiction with Eli Nash and Staying Sober.
The SHAIR Recovery Podcast
Entrepreneur Eli Nash talks candidly about his history of sex and porn addiction, childhood abuse, and the practical tools that helped him stay sexually sober. Host Omar Pinto and Eli focus on shame, spirituality, and the power of stories to give meaning to pain and support recovery.
1:44:02•28 May 2019
Finding Meaning in Porn Addiction Recovery with Eli Nash
Episode Overview
- Sex addiction is compared to food addiction: sobriety is defined with a sponsor and focuses on a healthy sexual relationship rather than total abstinence.
- Eli links his addiction to early sexual abuse and explains how porn and online access rapidly escalated his behaviour.
- Locking down devices, attending frequent meetings, and practising rigorous honesty were crucial for achieving and maintaining sexual sobriety.
- Letting go of religious guilt and the belief that God is punishing someone for their addiction is presented as essential for real recovery.
- Sharing personal stories, even when they feel ordinary or shameful, can shift someone else’s perspective and offer vital hope.
“Stories are everything. It's the meaning we give to facts. There are facts that happen and the story is the dots that we connect.”
How do people find strength in their journey to sobriety? This episode of The SHAIR Recovery Podcast follows entrepreneur Eli Nash as he talks openly about his recovery from sex and porn addiction, and how staying sober from these compulsions has reshaped his life. The conversation has a relaxed, honest feel, with host Omar Pinto asking the questions many people are too shy to voice.
Before Eli’s story, there’s a brief chat with Benny Schoenfeld about his talk, *Empowered Parenting in the Porn Age*, aimed at parents of children aged eight and up who want practical tools to face the reality of online porn. Eli shares how childhood sexual abuse, early exposure to catalogues and then internet pornography, and the rise of high-speed internet all fed into an escalating addiction.
He explains the complexity of sex addiction, comparing it to food addiction: you can’t simply cut sex out, so sobriety is carefully defined with a sponsor rather than total abstinence. He’s clear that sex addiction and sex offending are not the same thing, and challenges the heavy shame that stops many from seeking help.
He talks about meetings, sponsoring, locking down all his devices, and the sheer terror of realising that certain sexual experiences “stopped working” for him, pushing him towards recovery. Eli also speaks about confronting his abuser, redefining his beliefs about weakness, and learning to give his struggle meaning by helping others. Omar brings humour and warmth as he relates addiction patterns across substances, behaviours and thoughts, especially around the “dopamine hit” of anticipation.
The two men keep circling back to stories: the ones we tell ourselves, and the ones we share to help others. As Eli puts it, “share your story” – you never know who needs to hear it. What story might you be ready to rewrite today?
Do you want to link to this podcast?
Get the buttons here!
More From This Show
The latest episodes from the same podcast.