Alex finds Claritée

This weeks guest who is Alex Clapp – Alcohol took Alex to a very dark place but now he’s 2 years sober and running alcohol free events! In this episode:- Alex started drinking heavily as a teenager within a culture that normalized binge drinking. Like many of us he developed a career in a "work hard, play hard" culture, where drinking was integral to fitting in Alex was drinking heavily anyway but when he was faced with a serious health challenge it ramped up further He experienced significant eye health issues leading to partial blindness Battling with a combination of problematic drinking and depression Alex was beginning to feel suicidal Thankfully his 16 year old son turned this mindset around when he expressed a heartfelt need for his father Alex went to rehab 3 times – an interesting process… First time he treated it as a “break” to prove to himself that he wasn’t an alcohol – a bit like many of us do with Dry January Second time he did some deeper work but then made the mistake of thinking that he had “fixed” his inner problem and would be able to drink normally! Third time it stuck when he finally accepted that he had crossed the line into dependence and would never be able to moderate! Alex spoke of the importance of vulnerability, which is not so easy for men who have often been raised to hide their emotions and fix everything! We agreed on the importance of getting comfortable with being uncomfortable which enables us to create alternative coping mechanisms. We also spoke of the importance of having a project in sobriety and Alex has created Claritee, an organization promoting alcohol-free events for corporate and public settings. Alex believes that his events are challenging social norms and will provide people with alternative choices for fun and connection You can see some beautiful photo of sober people having fun on Alex website which is https://www.clariteegroup.co.uk/ - I’ll put a link in the shownotes Alex advocates giving back to the community through volunteering and helping charities We agreed that donating to a charity actually lights up the same pathways in our brain that alcohol did! So on that basis here is a plug for our Annual Fundraiser which helps underprivileged children here in South Africa Just donate whatever you an afford and in addition to getting a buzz you’ll get online and community support for 30 days of your choosing – any 30 day window that suits you between now and the end of Feb More Info Tribe Sober membership – you can join up HERE. To access our website, click HERE. If you would like a free copy of our “Annual Tracker” or our e-book 66 Days to Sobriety, please email [email protected]. If you would like to come to our Saturday afternoon Zoom Cafe as a guest and meet our community, just email [email protected].   Episode Sponsor This episode is sponsored by the Tribe Sober Membership Program.  If you want to change your relationship with alcohol then sign up today Read more about our program and subscribe here Bootcamp on Demand          To kickstart your alcohol free life check out our Bootcamp on Demand here   Help us to Spread the Word! We made this podcast so that we can reach more people who need our help.  Please subscribe and share. If you enjoyed the podcast, then please leave us a 5-star review on Apple podcasts. Take a screenshot of your review, and DM it to Tribe Sober’s Instagram page – see PS below for instructions. We’ll send you something special to say thank you! We release a podcast episode every Saturday morning. You can follow Tribe Sober on Facebook, Twitter, TikTok and Instagram. You can join our private Facebook group HERE. PS: How to Leave a Rating/Review in Apple Podcasts (on an iOS Device) Open the Podcasts app. EASY. Choose “Search” from the bottom row of icons and enter the name of the show (e.g. Tribe Sober) into the search field. Select the show under Shows (not under Episodes). Scroll down past the first few episodes until you see Ratings & Reviews. Click Write a Review underneath the displayed reviews from other listeners. You’ll then have the option to rate the show on a 5-star scale and write a review (you can rate without writing too but it’s always good to read your experience).