I Love Being Sober

What actually keeps women from walking through the door of a treatment center — and what keeps them from staying once they're in? Tim Westbrook sits down with Dr. Whitney Howzell, a licensed clinical social worker, US Army veteran, certified sexual therapist, and Vice President of Inpatient Operations at Meadows Behavioral Healthcare, for one of the most honest conversations about recovery this podcast has ever had.
Dr. Howzell breaks down why shame is gendered and shows up completely differently for women than for men, why emerging adults struggle to engage in treatment even when the consequences are right in front of them, and why the prefrontal cortex matters more than most treatment programs acknowledge. She talks candidly about digital culture, dopamine, and how recovery has to evolve to meet a generation that was born into the internet age.
The conversation goes deep on intimacy — not the physical kind, but the kind most people in recovery have never learned: eye contact, vulnerability, what it means to let someone actually see you. Dr. Howzell also discusses her work treating sexual trauma, sexual compulsive behavior, and the new Willow Healing Center at Meadows Behavioral Healthcare, a combined women's program that integrates eating disorder treatment with intimacy disorder treatment after clinicians discovered the two were almost always co-occurring.
This episode is for anyone in recovery, anyone who loves someone in recovery, or any clinician who wants to understand why the one-size-fits-all treatment model keeps failing the people who need it most. Recorded live at Camelback Recovery in Scottsdale, Arizona with a live audience of clients and staff.

What if the part of you that wants to drink, use, or self-sabotage isn't the enemy — it's just trying to protect you the only way it knows how?
In this episode of I Love Being Sober, recorded live at Camelback Recovery's outpatient center in Scottsdale, Arizona, host Tim Westbrook sits down with licensed professional counselor and IFS therapist Kristy Crabtree for a deep conversation on trauma, healing, and what it actually means to recover from the inside out.
Kristy breaks down Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy in plain language — explaining why we all have protective "parts," why no part is bad (even the addictive ones), and how to work with your inner world instead of fighting it.
In this episode, you'll learn:
What IFS therapy is and why it works for addiction and trauma

The difference between a "manager" and a "firefighter" — and which one is driving your behavior

Why your addictive urge has a positive intention (and how to redirect it)

How trauma gets stored in the body and blocks spiritual growth

A simple breathwork technique to regulate your nervous system right now

How to begin healing the inner child without becoming overwhelmed

Kristy Crabtree is the founder of Inner Light Counseling in the Phoenix/Scottsdale area and Sacred Revolution, a consciousness expansion practice. She is the author of Sacred Revolution and Reclaiming Eden, and host of the Transcendence Talks podcast.

In this episode of I Love Being Sober, recorded live at Camelback Recovery's outpatient treatment center in Scottsdale, Arizona, host Tim Westbrook sits down with Michael Bernoff — founder of the Human Communications Institute, developer of Human Interaction Technology™, and author of Average Sucks. Michael has been alcohol-free since New Year's Eve 2016, not because he hit a rock bottom, but because he made a clear-eyed decision: there was nothing good about drinking, and he refused to be an influence that pulled anyone else toward it.
This conversation goes deep into the psychology of language and identity in recovery. Michael breaks down why the words 'sober' and 'addict' can quietly keep people stuck, why 'learning to live differently' is a more powerful frame than 'getting sober,' and what it actually means to raise your average when you've been running on empty. The live audience at Camelback Recovery joins in with real questions — and Michael works through them in real time, demonstrating exactly the kind of powerful, in-the-moment coaching that has impacted hundreds of thousands of people worldwide.
Topics covered: the decision to stop drinking, language and identity in recovery, Human Interaction Technology, raising your average, the word 'addict' and why it may be working against you, learning to live differently, self-image, communication strategies, CORE Live event, and what it means to become an example for someone else.
If you're in recovery or considering treatment in the Phoenix or Scottsdale area — or anywhere in the country — this episode will challenge the way you think about sobriety and give you practical tools you can use today.
#ILoveBeingSober #CamelbackRecovery #MichaelBernoff #AverageSucks #SobrietyPodcast #RecoveryPhoenix #RecoveryScottsdale #ArizonaRecovery #LiveDifferently #HumanInteractionTechnology #AddictionRecovery #SoberLife #LanguageMatters #IdentityInRecovery #PersonalDevelopment #OutpatientTreatment #CORElive

What if the substance was never really the problem? In this episode of the I Love Being Sober Podcast, recorded live at Camelback Recovery Treatment Center in Phoenix, Arizona, host Tim Westbrook sits down with Dr. Marcus Earle, Clinical Director of Psychological Counseling Services (PCS) — one of the most respected behavioral health practices in the country.
Dr. Earle has spent over 35 years treating individuals, couples, and families struggling with sexual addiction, trauma, OCD, compulsive behavior, and dual diagnosis mental health issues. The PCS Intensive Program has over 40 years of experience pioneering the week-long intensive therapy model, with a multidisciplinary care team of 25+ clinicians and individualized treatment plans designed to promote lasting growth and change.
In this honest, eye-opening conversation, Tim and Dr. Earle explore:
What sobriety really means in sex addiction recovery — and why it's far more nuanced than abstinence

How unresolved trauma drives addiction, compulsive behavior, and relapse

The connection between OCD, process addiction, and substance use disorder

What dual diagnosis and mental health treatment looks like when you go beneath the surface

Why so many people in addiction recovery are also carrying issues they've never named

What long-term, thriving recovery actually looks like — not just white-knuckling it

Whether you're in recovery from alcohol or drugs, struggling with a process addiction, dealing with trauma or mental health challenges, or loving someone who is — this episode will meet you where you are.
Recorded live in front of clients at Camelback Recovery's Outpatient Treatment Center, this is the I Love Being Sober Podcast — real stories, real healing, real recovery.
🌐 Learn more about the PCS Intensive Treatment Program: www.pcsintensive.com
🌐 Camelback Recovery: www.camelbackrecovery.com
#ILoveBeingSober #AddictionRecovery #SexAddiction #TraumaRecovery #OCD #DualDiagnosis #MentalHealth #SubstanceUseDisorder #SoberLife #RecoveryPodcast #PhoenixArizona #CamelbackRecovery #OutpatientTreatment #PCSIntensive #RealRecovery #SoberPodcast #HealingTrauma #ProcessAddiction #RecoveryIsPossible #OneDayAtATime

At 18 years old, Elijah Kai put a loaded gun in his mouth and pulled the trigger. It didn't fire. What followed was two decades of searching — therapy, religion, hustle, two marriages, a felony, and a life spent building a character convincing enough that nobody, including him, could see the pain underneath.
In this episode of I Love Being Sober, we sit down with spiritual teacher, Divine Architect, and author Elijah Kai to talk about the moment everything changed — and the truth he discovered on the other side of suffering.
Elijah breaks down why the traditional approaches to healing, recovery, and sobriety so often fall short, what recidivism really tells us about identity, and why the peace you've been chasing your entire life has been underneath you this whole time.
If you're in recovery, fighting to stay sober, or simply trying to understand why you keep returning to old patterns — this episode will crack something open in you.
In this episode, we cover:
Why 20 years of therapy, religion, and hustle couldn't fix what wasn't broken

The difference between thought and thinking — and why it matters in recovery

What recidivism reveals about identity and the cycle of relapse

How to remember who you were before the world got its hands on you

The moment Elijah stopped trying to fix himself and found he was already whole

Resources mentioned:
Already Whole by Elijah Kai — available now
elijahkai.com
Belief Theory Institute