Podcast · Health

Soberly Speaking

by Julia Rangiheuea · English · Health

Stories from everyday people sharing their darkest moments that led to sobriety. Shedding light on our struggles to help those still finding their way out.

New episodes: Weekly
Typical length: 45 min
Latest: 1 Oct 2026
Language: English

Latest episode

1 Oct 2026 · 45 min

BONUS EP: How Childhood Survival Shaped a Successful Entrepreneur with Liam Christopher

Use code 'SOBER' for 50% off at checkout www.iwannagummies.com At just seven years old, Liam Christopher knew how to check whether his mum was still alive. Growing up in public housing with three brothers, two parents struggling with substance use and a home where violence was a part of everyday life, Liam was forced to grow up far too quickly. He learnt early on to look after himself and the people around him, taking on a responsibility no child should have to carry. Today, Liam is a successful entrepreneur, partner and dad, with a life that looks worlds away from the one he grew up in. But…

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Earlier episodes 29 most recent

S4 · E55 · 30 Aug 2026 · 1 min
Season Break
Join our Patreon: https://patreon.com/SoberlySpeaking Follow Soberly Speaking on Instagram: @soberlyspeaking Want to share your story? Apply now: https://soberlyspeaking.com.au/
S4 · E53 · 23 Aug 2026 · 54 min
Addiction Is the Language of Pain with Psychotherapist Paula Williams
Join our Patreon: ⁠⁠https://patreon.com/SoberlySpeaking⁠ This week, I’m joined by award-winning psychotherapist Paula Williams to explore why we can continue behaviours we know aren’t good for us, even when we desperately want to change. Using Internal Family Systems (IFS), Paula explains the different parts of ourselves and why one part can want to let go while another still clings to a behaviour. We discuss people-pleasing, replacing one addiction with another, relapse and the ways addiction can shape an entire family system across generations. And what does recovery look like when…
S4 · E51 · 16 Aug 2026 · 59 min
Debt, Multiple Relapses & Going All In on AA: Alex’s Story
Join our Patreon: ⁠⁠https://patreon.com/SoberlySpeaking⁠ “I was a horizontal drinker” Alex’s relationship with alcohol and substances had always been extreme, but when a business partner left him tens of thousands of dollars in debt, the financial pressure catapulted his drinking and coke use to another level. Before long, he was hiding whiskey under his pillow so he could wake up, drink, and pass out again. Alex’s journey with sobriety has been anything but linear. After becoming physically dependent on alcohol, he suffered a seizure while trying to go cold turkey and relapsed multiple…
S4 · E49 · 9 Aug 2026 · 52 min
When the Perpetrator Is Family: Aunee’s Story (Part 2)
Join our Patreon: ⁠⁠https://patreon.com/SoberlySpeaking⁠ This is the second and final part of Aunee’s two-part interview. We continue our conversation as Aunee opens up about the depths of her alcohol dependence, including constantly blacking out and reaching a point where she had no care for her children. She reflects on the neglect her children experienced, and how her eldest two never really got to have a childhood. Aunee was eventually tapered off alcohol by her father before entering detox and then spending months in rehab. She finishes this two-part series by reflecting on how she went…
S4 · E47 · 2 Aug 2026 · 46 min
When the Perpetrator Is Family: Aunee’s Story (PART 1)
Join our Patreon: ⁠⁠ https://patreon.com/SoberlySpeaking⁠ Aunee still remembers the nightie she was wearing as a little five-year-old girl when her uncle first introduced her to the “tickle game”. What was presented to her as a fun game she could play with someone she trusted was something much more sinister. This continued for years, and the ripple effects have been lifelong. Aunee’s story explores the devastating impact of generational trauma, complex mental health challenges and alcohol dependence, and how the pain of her own childhood trauma impacted not only her life, but also the lives…
S4 · E45 · 26 Jul 2026 · 47 min
How Millie Gooch Built a Sober Empire After Years of Hangxiety
Join our Patreon: ⁠⁠https://patreon.com/SoberlySpeaking⁠ She's the most recognisable name in the sober scene: the woman behind Sober Girl Society. But Millie Gooch won't call herself an alcoholic. For years she lived in the 'messy middle' nobody talks about, while alcohol quietly wrecked her health, her relationships and her sense of self. In this episode, Millie talks about hangxiety, blackouts and the uncomfortable truth about alcohol's role in family violence and sexual assault: the elephant in every room that no one wants to name. She also opens up about being diagnosed with ADHD and…
S4 · E43 · 19 Jul 2026 · 52 min
Narcissism & Financial Abuse: Family Law Barrister Jason Hadden Explains
Join our Patreon: ⁠⁠https://patreon.com/SoberlySpeaking⁠ Can you prove narcissistic behaviour in family court? What actually counts as financial abuse? And can one parent stop a child from seeing the other after a separation? Family law barrister Jason Hadden joins me in London to answer some of the most common questions about family court. We unpack what evidence courts look for, how coercive control and financial abuse are viewed in legal proceedings and what really happens when relationships break down and parenting disputes begin. Whether you're navigating the family court system…
S4 · E40 · 5 Jul 2026 · 59 min
“I Wanted to Protect You From Your Father” Kerry’s Story
Join our Patreon: ⁠⁠https://patreon.com/SoberlySpeaking⁠ Raised in South Africa by two morticians, Kerry grew up with a loving mother and an absent, alcoholic father who, in her words, should never have been a parent. In sobriety, memories of him behaving in sexually inappropriate ways towards her, and allegedly involving his friends, have begun to resurface. But the harm within her family didn't end there. Kerry also shares that she experienced sexual abuse by her brother. As she got older, a moment involving him and her younger sister forced her to confront a reality she could no longer…
S4 · E38 · 28 Jun 2026 · 57 min
The Girl Born Into New Zealand Gang Life: Tove's Story
Join our Patreon: ⁠⁠https://patreon.com/SoberlySpeaking⁠ What happens when the life you were born into is the very thing trying to destroy you? Tove never chose gang life. She was born into it. Raised around gangs, addiction and violence, some of Tove’s earliest memories were pumping her stepmother’s stomach after overdoses. As she got older, gang members became her friends, then her partners and addiction became the only constant in a life defined by chaos. After a violent multi-gang shootout at her house and fearing for her safety, Tove fled New Zealand with nothing but a carry-on bag,…
S4 · E36 · 21 Jun 2026 · 1 hr
Child Separation, Trauma & the Ex-Bank Robber: Jackie’s Story
Join our patreon: ⁠https://patreon.com/SoberlySpeaking Jackie grew up in Singapore as a bilingual only child, raised in top schools and even finding early fame as a pop star. In a country where drug possession carried the death penalty, her life could not have looked more different to where it eventually led. After moving to Australia, a traumatic event one night changed everything. From that point on, Jackie began using substances to cope with what she had experienced. Following a marriage breakdown and being separated from her child in another country, she turned to what she knew would…
S4 · E35 · 18 Jun 2026 · 25 min
Bonus Ep: One Nang Led to a Nitrous Oxide Addiction for Sam
Join our Patreon: ⁠https://patreon.com/SoberlySpeaking Nitrous oxide a.k.a. nangs, is something I’ve never spoken about on this platform before, yet it’s sold right under our noses. Tiny canisters are available over the counter in almost every tobacconist across Australia, legally accessible to anyone 18 and over. Sam Bramman was 18 when he first tried a nang at a party. Within just three weeks, he was repeatedly seeking it out, driving from shop to shop and waiting outside tobacconists for them to open. It then escalated rapidly. While in a manic state, Sam drove from Sydney to the Gold…
S4 · E33 · 14 Jun 2026 · 28 min
From Sexuality to Addiction: Jay Learned to Mask Who He Was
Join our Patreon: ⁠⁠https://patreon.com/SoberlySpeaking⁠ Jay grew up in Geelong as a young gay dancer, supported at home but often made to feel different outside of it. His early experiences of bullying, trauma and assault shaped the way he saw himself, and how drinking and substances became a way to feel confident and finally accepted. After moving to Melbourne to study dance professionally, Jay found himself deep in the party scene, but what began as partying eventually escalated into harder substance use and reached a point where his family feared for his life. Jay speaks openly about…
S4 · E31 · 7 Jun 2026 · 1 hr 10 min
How to Spot a Predator with Victim-Survivor Louise Edmonds
Join our Patreon: ⁠⁠⁠https://patreon.com/SoberlySpeaking⁠⁠ Louise Edmonds was a small child when her experience of abuse by her grandfather began in her family home, a place that should have been safe, but wasn’t. Louise shares her story and how that experience continued over five years, shaping not only her childhood but the course of her life. Today, she's a passionate advocate working to help others recognise harmful behaviour patterns and understand how abuse can occur within trusted environments, often in ways that are difficult to see in the moment. Follow Louise on Instagram:…
S4 · E29 · 31 May 2026 · 45 min
Adoption, Gangs and Terror: Donna’s Second Chance at Life
Join our Patreon: ⁠⁠⁠https://patreon.com/SoberlySpeaking⁠⁠ CONTENT WARNING: This episode contains graphic and extreme depictions of violence. Listener discretion is advised. From the moment she was born, Donna was already in withdrawal. Her biological parents were both experiencing addiction and she was adopted soon after birth. Donna was then raised in a strict, hardworking family and given a stable home. But by high school, she found herself drawn into the orbit of people connected to a bikie gang and began working with them. What followed was a life marked by extreme violence, death and…
S4 · E27 · 24 May 2026 · 36 min
Masking ADHD and Drinking Through Grief: Jasmine's Story
Join our Patreon: ⁠⁠⁠https://patreon.com/SoberlySpeaking⁠⁠ Jasmine grew up knowing something didn’t feel right in her home. The good days with her father felt like everything. The bad days felt unbearable. At 15, she witnessed him attempt to take his own life in front of her and her siblings, and from that moment she began using alcohol to cope with what she couldn’t process. Years later, she was still carrying it all. Moving through her twenties and early thirties with low self-worth, drinking to regulate emotions she never learned how to sit with, until one moment, bottles of wine deep,…
S4 · E25 · 17 May 2026 · 44 min
Coercive Control, a Life Sentence & Finding Love in Prison: Peter Bates
Join our Patreon: ⁠⁠⁠https://patreon.com/SoberlySpeaking⁠⁠ Peter Bates was just a child when his father poured petrol over him and his mother to stop her from leaving. Extreme violence, coercive control, and fear shaped Peter’s childhood, but home wasn’t the only place he was unsafe. At school, he experienced SA at the hands of a male teacher. Desperate to escape the violence, Peter found himself homeless at a young age. But after a tragic accident led to the loss of an innocent young life, Peter was sentenced to life in prison, believing his own life was effectively over too. Instead,…
S4 · E22 · 3 May 2026 · 47 min
The Cycle of Violence and Abandonment: Luke's Story
Join our Patreon: ⁠⁠⁠https://patreon.com/SoberlySpeaking⁠⁠ Growing up around addiction, instability and an absent father shaped the course of Luke’s life long before he understood it. In this episode, Luke speaks openly about avoiding accountability and the impact his behaviour had on the people around him during the darkest periods of his life. Beneath it all was a lifelong search for love, validation and escape. TRIGGER WARNING: This episode discusses suicide, mental health struggles, violence and domestic violence. Please watch with care. Ready to share your story? Email:…
S4 · E20 · 26 Apr 2026 · 40 min
The Hidden Grip of Pokies: How a Mum of Six Nearly Lost Everything
Join our Patreon: ⁠⁠⁠https://patreon.com/SoberlySpeaking⁠⁠ If a mum of six can walk into her local pub and lose hundreds of thousands on a poker machine, where does the responsibility actually sit? Is it the machines, engineered to be addictive? The system that allows them to exist in every pub and club across the country? Or the individual sitting in front of them? In this episode I sit down with Kate Seselja, founder of The Hope Project, who shares her 15-year experience of gambling harm inside Australia's pokies crisis. She opens up about pulling money from her family business and…
S4 · E19 · 19 Apr 2026 · 54 min
Are You Addicted to Chaos? with Drew Wild
Join our Patreon: ⁠⁠⁠https://patreon.com/SoberlySpeaking⁠⁠ You stopped drinking. You changed your habits. So why does it still feel like something is missing? Work, the gym, your phone, the constant chase for more… sometimes the patterns just shift rather than disappear. Trauma Therapist Drew Wild is back on the podcast to go deeper into what might be sitting underneath it all. We talk about the root of these patterns, why we can stay stuck in certain cycles, and what it takes to actually move forward. We also get honest about the identities we outgrow but feel scared to leave behind, our…
S4 · E17 · 12 Apr 2026 · 40 min
The Secret Inside the Family: Understanding Tanisha’s Substance Use
Join our Patreon: ⁠⁠⁠https://patreon.com/SoberlySpeaking⁠⁠ Trigger warning: This episode discusses child SA within a family, domestic violence and su*cide. Listener discretion is advised. Support resources are listed below. As a teenager, when Tanisha tried to speak her truth, she was not believed by those closest to her. That silence left her carrying a deep emotional weight alone. Over time, she entered a difficult and unsafe relationship, and in that period she began using cash advances to obtain substances, believing she would not have a long future. When the money ran out, she turned to…
S4 · E15 · 5 Apr 2026 · 46 min
Sugar Babying, Motherhood & Starting Again: Mikaela's Story
Join our Patreon: ⁠⁠⁠https://patreon.com/SoberlySpeaking⁠⁠ From a young age, Mikaela felt the pressure to please those around her, men especially. At seventeen, she met the father of her firstborn in the chaos of partying and substance use. What began as young love slowly turned into a life she felt trapped in. With a mortgage, a baby on the way and no income of her own, leaving no longer felt like an option. When she finally did leave, Mikaela was on her own with a three-month-old and little to no resources. Starting again from scratch, she navigated the highs and many lows of online dating…
S4 · E13 · 29 Mar 2026 · 54 min
"I'm Buying Friends" - Alex Wired Corporate Funds to Feed His Gambling Addiction
Join our Patreon: ⁠⁠⁠https://patreon.com/SoberlySpeaking⁠⁠ Growing up as a second-generation Chinese Australian in Canberra, Alex spent much of his childhood wanting to be anything but himself. At just eight years old, he made a quiet but powerful connection: success, titles and money equals love. That belief followed him into adulthood and when COVID hit, the pressure, boredom and loss of identity converged into a gambling addiction that quietly took over his life. He was placing sports bets in the middle of the night, lying to his partner about missed bills and rent, borrowing money from…
S4 · E11 · 22 Mar 2026 · 45 min
A Young Life of Crime: Raj
Join our Patreon: ⁠⁠⁠https://patreon.com/SoberlySpeaking⁠⁠ Trigger warning: this episode contains discussion of sexual assault. Raj's earliest memory is of his father leaving him on the side of the road to teach him a lesson. It was the first of many moments that taught him emotions weren't safe to show. By his teens, he was selling and using. What began at parties didn't stay there and one line led to another until he was moving large amounts of drugs and dealing weapons. Two stints in jail later, the reality of that life had nothing left to romanticise. Now in his twenties, Raj is starting…
S4 · E9 · 15 Mar 2026 · 33 min
[DOCUMENTARY] When a Child Is Assaulted: A Survivor's Truth. A Psychologist's Insight.
Join our Patreon: ⁠⁠⁠https://patreon.com/SoberlySpeaking⁠⁠ Trigger warning: this episode contains detailed discussion of sexual assault. Stacey was 14 years old when two strangers assaulted her. One night. A warehouse. An experience no child should ever survive. She did. And then she did something even harder. She took them to court as a child, and won. She has never spoken publicly about it. Until now. Melissa Beaton is a Clinical and Forensic Psychologist who works with high-performing women who hold everything together are ready to take back control over their lives. She specialises in…
S4 · E7 · 8 Mar 2026 · 36 min
Sian’s Drug Abuse Almost Cost Her Comedy Career
Join our Patreon: ⁠⁠⁠https://patreon.com/SoberlySpeaking⁠⁠ “Comedy is a hotbed of mental illness" Sian Smyth is a stand-up comedian whose past includes domestic violence, drug abuse, sex addiction, and sex work. After leaving an almost decade-long violent relationship in which she saw the devil himself, Sian finally felt free to take control of her body and experiment with every drug imaginable. Her addiction cost her every friend, derailed her career, and led to psychotic episodes overseas. After hearing a voice telling her to go to a meeting, Sian is now almost a year clean and making…
S4 · E5 · 1 Mar 2026 · 39 min
Psychosis, Control and Culture: Nikki on Reclaiming Her Identity
Join our Patreon: ⁠⁠⁠https://patreon.com/SoberlySpeaking⁠⁠ Trigger warning: This episode discusses sexual assault, substance use disorder and mental health including psychosis. Have you ever been in psychosis? You hear the horror stories of people staying in it for days, weeks or months, but Nikki lived with it for five years. During that time she became someone she didn’t recognise: erratic, paranoid and eventually lashing out at a family member. Nikki believed her only way to escape the addiction and chaos she had known for most of her life was either to end her life or end up in jail. For…
S4 · E3 · 22 Feb 2026 · 41 min
180K in Debt from a Crippling Gambling Addiction
Join our Patreon: ⁠⁠⁠https://patreon.com/SoberlySpeaking⁠⁠ At 26, Henry Brayshaw was drowning in hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt from his gambling addiction. Gambling had felt normal since childhood. Some of his earliest memories were placing bets on the Melbourne Cup and slipping into the TAB. What started as something familiar slowly became uncontrollable. As the debt piled up, so did the shame. He self-harmed and isolated himself in a dark room for days.The turning point wasn’t dramatic. It was honest. He told his best friend at the time, Annie, and that was the moment he stopped…
S4 · E1 · 15 Feb 2026 · 28 min
[DOCUMENTARY] Inside the World of Selling Sex Online: Annie Knight
Join our Patreon: ⁠⁠⁠https://patreon.com/SoberlySpeaking⁠⁠ What really goes on inside the world of selling sex online? I was invited into the home of Australia’s most sexually active woman, Annie Knight , one of the country’s top OnlyFans creators. From the boundaries she sets with her fiancé to exactly how she pulls in millions each year, Annie lifts the curtain on a world most of us only glimpse from the outside. Follow Annie Knight on Instagram: @anniekknight Content warning: This episode contains discussions of sex and adult themes Ready to share your story? Email:…
S4 · E1 · 8 Feb 2026 · 1 min
The Next Chapter Starts Feb 16
Join our Patreon: ⁠⁠⁠https://patreon.com/SoberlySpeaking⁠⁠ Soberly Speaking is back with a brand new season starting Monday February 16th. This season marks an evolution of the podcast. Once a month, you'll receive a documentary-style episode. These episodes take you inside the homes, lives and hidden worlds of my guests and are designed to be watched like a TV show, not just listened to. You can watch the documentary episodes for free on YouTube by searching Soberly Speaking , or on Spotify if you use Spotify. Patreon members can also watch inside the app. Each month you'll receive: • One…

About Soberly Speaking

Stories from everyday people sharing their darkest moments that led to sobriety. Shedding light on our struggles to help those still finding their way out.

Soberly Speaking is a English health podcast from Julia Rangiheuea. Melo plays each episode straight from the publisher's own feed — no ads added, no account needed — and remembers where you stopped, in this browser only.

Publisher: Julia Rangiheuea
Language: English
Category: Health
New episodes: Weekly
Typical length: 45 min
Latest episode: 1 Oct 2026
Feed: RSS — paste into any podcast app
Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1770685859
Rights: Julia Rangiheuea

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