SHAIR 191: The Recovery Bubble with Mat DochertySHAIR 191: The Recovery Bubble with Mat Docherty
The SHAIR Recovery Podcast
Mat Docherty shares how he stopped drinking without traditional meetings, using podcasts, an online sponsor and a strong daily routine. His story contrasts decades of heavy drinking with over two years of spiritually grounded, fitness-supported sobriety.
1:28:53•9 Oct 2018
From Wine Cellar to Recovery Bubble: Mat Docherty’s Online Sobriety Journey
Episode Overview
- Online communities and podcasts can provide all the support needed to get and stay sober, even when local meetings are limited.
- A structured daily routine of prayer, movement, reading and reflection can stabilise early recovery and boost emotional wellbeing.
- Working the 12 Steps with a sponsor, even entirely online, can shift life from merely functioning to genuinely thriving.
- Listening to intuition and setting healthy boundaries, including the ability to say no, helps protect sobriety.
- You don’t have to drink; choosing not to is a personal decision, regardless of social pressure or family patterns.
“"Enjoy recovery. Enjoy it. You are doing it. Stop beating yourself up and enjoy what you've worked for."”
How do people find strength in their journey to sobriety? This conversation with long-time SHAIR community member Mat Docherty (often heard called “just a common bloke with a common addiction”) gives a clear, down-to-earth example. Mat shares how his drinking began at 13 with super-strong beer and rum, grew into hotel-bar culture as a travelling engineer, and eventually turned into nightly bottles of wine and a mind constantly occupied with alcohol.
One story sums it up: faced with walking through a graveyard after several drinks, he jumped off a 10–12 foot wall with a bottle in hand, badly injuring his leg. Waking up unable to trust himself was a major turning point. What makes this episode stand out is that Mat didn’t use traditional meetings. Living in Austria with limited local options, his entire recovery happened online.
He started binge-listening recovery podcasts, joined the SHAIR Recovery Network on Facebook, and asked for help. A sponsor he met there walked him through the 12 Steps online: “12 steps in 12 weeks,” as he puts it. Now over two years alcohol-free, Mat describes life as moving “from surviving to thriving”. His daily routine includes early morning prayer on his knees, yoga, reading, dog walks by the river, and evening reflection.
He talks about listening all day to his higher power through intuition and setting healthy boundaries, including the freedom to say no. Two pieces of advice from the episode really land. From his sponsor: “Enjoy recovery. Enjoy it… stop beating yourself up and enjoy what you’ve worked for.” And Mat’s own message to anyone struggling: “You don’t have to drink.
It’s your life, it’s your body.” If you’re curious whether an online “recovery bubble” could be enough, this story gives plenty to think about. So, what small step could you take today to start building your own version of that bubble?
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