Some Dave's You KnowSome Dave's You Know
Voices In Recovery Podcast
Two Daves share a candid conversation about addiction, AA, and what it means to build a recovery that actually fits a person’s life. The episode blends humour, family and grief stories, and reflections on alternative recovery paths beyond traditional 12‑step rooms.
59:03•19 Aug 2026
Some Dave's You Know: Two Daves Talk Real Recovery, AA, and Doing It Your Own Way
Episode Overview
- Recovery can begin in AA and later evolve into a more personal path that fits an individual’s values and life.
- It is possible to feel both grateful for and angry at a programme that helped, and that inner conflict is a valid part of recovery.
- Growing up around heavy drinking and parental alcoholism can deeply shape self-worth, safety and later substance use.
- People have a right to test whether moderation or harm reduction works for them, and adjust goals if it does not.
- Fun, honesty and genuine connection can make conversations about addiction and recovery more bearable and more useful.
“The best way to do this is to find what works for you and then do that.”
What can we learn from those who have battled addiction? This conversation between two Daves offers a relaxed, honest look at recovery that many people with lived experience will recognise straight away. Joining from Toronto, Dave E., a registered psychotherapist (qualifying) and person in recovery of nearly 11 years, talks with host David Lewry about how his life changed through sobriety, and how his work now focuses on walking alongside people affected by addiction.
The chat is loose, funny in places, and deeply human, with both Daves swapping stories about early recovery, AA meetings and the strange mix of gratitude and frustration that can come with 12‑step culture. Dave E. explains how AA probably saved his life, yet also became the one place he no longer felt fully himself.
He describes sitting in meetings near tears, desperate to hear someone say it was okay to need more than one path, and being told over and over that AA was the only way. Hearing a previous "Recovery Talk" episode with David and Steve from Stonewall Recovery was a turning point for him, because, as he says, they were "saying stuff that lives in my head for years" about recovery, anger, and moving beyond rigid ideas.
There’s also raw discussion of growing up in an alcohol‑soaked home, losing close family members, becoming a young father, and using alcohol as the only escape from overwhelming pain. Yet humour bubbles up often, as both Daves joke about AA sayings, dating in the rooms, and trying to keep recovery from becoming all doom and gloom.
If you’re sober, sober‑curious, or working with people in addiction, this episode offers a relatable reminder that the best recovery is the one that actually fits your life. So what might "what works for you" look like today?
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