Encore: Celebrating Recovery and Loving Life with Laura SilvermanEncore: Celebrating Recovery and Loving Life with Laura Silverman
Katherine Arati Maas
Laura Silverman shares her journey from binge drinking and hospitalisations in her early twenties to years of sobriety, mental health treatment, and creative recovery work. The conversation highlights multiple paths to recovery, the link between anxiety and alcohol, and the power of honest storytelling in breaking stigma.
0:00•6 Sept 2016
Loving Life Sober: Laura Silverman on Recovery, Mental Health and Creativity
Episode Overview
- Asking for help with alcohol use and mental health is a sign of strength, not weakness.
- You do not need daily drinking or physical dependence to have a serious problem; binge patterns and blackouts are enough of a warning.
- There are many paths to recovery, including but not limited to 12-step programmes, and each person can build a mix that works for them.
- Strong relationships, therapy, movement, time in nature, and creative outlets can all support long-term sobriety.
- Speaking openly about addiction can reduce stigma and help others feel less alone, while still respecting others’ privacy.
“It is totally a sign of strength to ask for help. It’s not a sign of weakness.”
Curious about how others manage their sobriety journey? This encore conversation with Laura Silverman offers a honest, funny, and very real look at life beyond alcohol and into long-term recovery. Speaking with host Katherine Moss on Coming Clean Radio, Laura shares how her drinking in her early 20s escalated into hospitalisations, blackouts, and one terrifying night in New York that left her barefoot, separated from her belongings, and suddenly aware of how much her behaviour was hurting those she loved.
She explains, “It is totally a sign of strength to ask for help. It’s not a sign of weakness,” and describes how intensive outpatient treatment and early AA meetings gave her structure, even though she later stepped away to build a path that felt authentic to her. You’ll hear about the creation of The Sobriety Collective, a space for creative people in recovery from addiction and mental health challenges.
Laura talks about co‑occurring disorders, saying she lives with anxiety and obsessive compulsive disorder, and how alcohol once felt like a shortcut to confidence and calm but ultimately made everything worse. Instead of romanticising sobriety, she talks honestly about hermiting at the start, cutting out toxic friendships, and slowly building a life based on therapy, meaningful relationships, music, movement, and walks in nature.
The chat even touches on tricky grey areas like kombucha and how seriously she treats any substance that contains alcohol, however small the amount. This episode speaks directly to women in recovery, but Katherine and Laura make it clear that anyone questioning their relationship with alcohol, or trying to understand the link between mental health and drinking, will recognise themselves in these stories.
If you’ve ever thought, “I can’t be an alcoholic, I only drink once or twice a week,” this one might hit close to home. Ready to ask what kind of life might be possible if you gave yourself the chance to live it fully sober?
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