Wisdom with Allen HiblerWisdom with Allen Hibler
Addict II Athlete Podcast
Coach Blu Robinson talks with dentist-turned-athlete Allen Hibler about his history of drug misuse, professional loss, faith, and long-term recovery. Their conversation touches on family damage, 12‑step work, sexual addiction meetings, and the unexpected creativity Allen found in sobriety.
1:08:25•22 Apr 2019
From Dentist to Distance Runner: Allen Hibler’s Hard-Won Wisdom on Addiction
Episode Overview
- Substances often start as a way to feel "normal" or fill an emotional void, not just to party.
- Professional access to medications and sedatives can quietly fuel addiction if left unchecked.
- The belief of being "different" or smarter than other addicts can block sobriety for years.
- Ignoring red flags in relationships, work, finances, and spirituality eventually leads to serious loss.
- Building a relationship with a higher power and addressing character defects are central to long-term recovery.
“If something I said or did can bring just one person out there anywhere, one person, to look at himself and change his life, I will feel happy.”
Curious about how others manage their sobriety journey? This conversation between Coach Blu Robinson and athlete Allen Hibler offers a raw, honest look at addiction, professional pressure, and second chances. Allen shares his story of growing up in what he later recognised as a dysfunctional home, finding drugs and alcohol in his teens, and using substances not to party, but because they made him feel "normal".
As a dentist with easy access to prescriptions and nitrous oxide, he explains how professional privilege fed his addiction: signing for powerful medications felt like a dangerous kind of euphoria, and nitrous became, in his words, "probably one of the best drugs that I have ever taken in my life"—until a terrifying hallucination of Satan jolted him into stopping. You’ll hear how Allen’s addiction cost him dearly: his dental practice, over $2 million, his marriage, and relationships within his family.
He talks openly about denial, rationalising behaviour, and the dangerous belief that he was "different" from other addicts, a mindset that kept him away from sobriety for years. The episode also touches on his involvement with Alcoholics Anonymous, early treatment centres, and his later work with professional licensing boards and the Latter-day Saint 12‑step programme. Allen stresses the importance of step four, character defects, and recognising "red flags" in your life before everything collapses.
Alongside this, he shares his role in starting sexual addiction meetings, the stigma those groups still face, and his belief that addiction sits firmly within mental health. Listeners also get a lighter glimpse of Allen’s later-life passion for sculpting, proving recovery can reopen creative doors you never expected.
As Allen puts it, "If something I said or did can bring just one person out there anywhere, one person, to look at himself and change his life, I will feel happy." It might have you asking: what red flags in your own life are quietly asking for attention?
Do you want to link to this podcast?
Get the buttons here!
More From This Show
The latest episodes from the same podcast.