Doing Zoom IOP With Beer In The Closet Behind Me w/ Sean Couper | The Hopeaholics Podcast #343

Chad and Natalie sit down with Sean Couper, a personal trainer and 4.5 year sober alcoholic who spent three decades functioning at a high level in corporate healthcare. Sean covers his full story: growing up between Florida and California without a real father figure, a first drink at five years old, thirty years of high-functioning alcoholism that nearly ended with liver and kidney failure, three DUIs exactly a decade apart, his mom dying on Christmas Day 2019, and the long road from watching HIV patients' livers shut down at work to eventually watching his own body do the same. He talks about hiding bottles from his family, drinking through Zoom IOP sessions, and the moment with his daughter that finally forced his hand. He did 28 days at Cumberland Heights and walked out wanting to help people immediately. Now he does exactly that. #TheHopeaholics #redemption #recovery #AlcoholAddiction #AddictionRecovery #wedorecover #SobrietyJourney #MyStory #Hope #wedorecover #treatmentcenter #natalieevamarieJoin our patreon to get access to an EXTRA EPISODE every week of ‘Off the Record’, exclusive content, a thriving recovery community, and opportunities to be featured on the podcast. https://patreon.com/TheHopeaholics Go to www.Wolfpak.com today and support our sponsors. Don't forget to use code: HOPEAHOLICSPODCAST for 10% off!Follow the Hopeaholics on our Socials:https://www.instagram.com/thehopeaholics https://linktr.ee/thehopeaholicsBuy Merch: https://thehopeaholics.myshopify.comVisit our Treatment Centers: https://www.hopebythesea.comIf you or a loved one needs help, please call or text 949-615-8588. We have the resources to treat mental health and addiction. Sponsored by the Infiniti Group LLC:https://www.infinitigroupllc.com Timestamps: 0:00 - Cold Open0:23 - Intro1:07 - Meet Sean Couper / Nashville2:23 - Growing Up: Saint Pete and North Hollywood5:02 - First Drink at 5 Years Old5:51 - First Real Drunk at 138:35 - Finding Out His Real Father Wasn't His Dad10:16 - Moving Out at 18 / Healthcare Career11:24 - Compound Pharmacy: Mixing Meds for HIV Patients13:20 - 30 Years as a Functioning Alcoholic14:10 - Marriage and Family15:45 - The Bachelorette Party Incident19:18 - First Marriage Ends: His Ex-Wife's Pill Addiction21:41 - Single Father, Bottle a Night22:44 - Mom Dies Christmas 2019 / Three DUIs / COVID24:54 - The Doctor Flags His Liver26:57 - Physical Collapse: Jaundice, Edema, Passing Out29:17 - Relapse: "Just One Beer"30:26 - Hiding Bottles, Replacing Liquor with Water33:45 - Daughter Finds the Beer / Wife Throws Him Out34:40 - Agrees to Treatment / Zoom IOP While Still Drinking37:50 - Waving the White Flag39:26 - Telling His Daughter / The Drive to Cumberland Heights42:24 - The "Let Go and Let God" Sign44:24 - Detox, Post-Acute Withdrawal, 21 Questions Exercise47:25 - Leaving Treatment / Wanting to Help People48:31 - Going Back to School50:39 - Getting Back in the Gym / Brian Welch Connection51:18 - Becoming NASM Certified52:48 - Life Today: Full-Time Trainer, Working with People in Recovery55:17 - Fear, New Business, and Building Something New1:00:01 - Chad's First Podcast Panic Attack1:02:18 - How Natalie Joined the Show1:09:11 - Wrap Up