Workshop: Emotional Sobriety - The Next Step (Part 6 of 11)

Workshop: Emotional Sobriety - The Next Step (Part 6 of 11)

What drives someone to seek a life without alcohol? This workshop session on Emotional Sobriety gives a raw, honest look at fear, faith, and relationships, all framed through Alcoholics Anonymous’ Big Book. Here, Dave and Mark unpack how fear can quietly run an entire life, even after the drinking stops.

One of them shares realisations like, “I had been afraid my entire life regardless of what I was projecting… I was paralyzed with fear,” linking years of drinking – and later depression in AA – to deep, unexamined terror. You’ll hear how they use fear inventories, “hit parade” lists of core fears, and the simple question, “What is the fear of death right now that you’re up against?” to expose the ego and reconnect with a higher power.

The tone stays practical and often funny, even while it’s hitting heavy topics. They talk about being “sprinters” who expect instant results in meditation and spiritual work, and about the discipline it takes to keep showing up for Steps 10 and 11. There’s a strong emphasis on shifting from self‑reliance to reliance on God, summed up in the idea that “fear is always the quickest litmus test” for whether self‑will has taken over.

The second half focuses on sex and relationships, not as gossip fodder but as a serious sobriety issue. They explain how the sex inventory and a “sane and sound ideal” can reveal patterns, selfish motives, and unrealistic expectations. Instead of blaming partners, they challenge people to ask what they themselves are willing to bring: fidelity, kindness, spirituality, honesty.

Threaded through everything is a call to move from fear to love – in resentments, in relationships, and in everyday encounters – and to let God “demonstrate through you what God can do.” If fear still feels like it runs the show, this session might give you a new way of seeing it. What would change for you if love, not fear, was running the hit parade?