Recovery works with Austin Cooper

We talk a lot about addiction and treatment here at the Liberty Ranch. But it’s also important to consider how life in general changes while in recovery. Recovery works for so many, but it involves shifting one’s priorities entirely. Entering the world as a sober person can be a huge adjustment. When alcohol and drugs play such a central role, it can be hard to imagine what life will look like without substances. The mere idea may feel extremely daunting, as recovery means reconsidering one’s habits, thinking, relationships and goals. Even though this change can feel scary, especially in early recovery, it also allows for many new experiences, emotions, possibilities, and challenges.

Free consultation on treatment options & how recovery works 

If you are considering addiction treatment for yourself or someone in your life, now is the time to take action. Addiction is a deadly disease that has taken too many lives, broken up families and destroyed futures. Liberty Ranch offers free consultations. Call 888-387-1531 to talk to a specialist that can let you know about the treatment options available and help you select the right program.

Influencing and Inspiring with the Sober Evolution

For our first monthly feature, we chatted with Austin Cooper, Ohio native creator of the popular recovery-focused Instagram account @soberevolution. He believes that recovery works, no matter what way you find it. In addition to sharing his recovery story, Austin discussed the importance of finding mentors and told us how he is using his platform to help others struggling with addiction and alcoholism. 

By day, Austin uses his skills and social media savvy at Stodzy Internet Marketing, helping clients in healthcare and addiction treatment grow their businesses, while leveraging online platforms and resources. In his free time, He focuses on his passion of connecting with and supporting others in their recovery through social media. Austin has also released his own Sober Evolution version of the Reframe app, a smart and powerful tool geared towards helping those in recovery stay accountable. Read on to find out more about how Austin was able to use recovery principles to turn his life around and find success.

What was your experience with addiction & recovery?

Sober Evolution: I went to a treatment program back in 2013. I was presented with an intervention that looked exactly like the show Intervention. Basically, I walked into a room and my whole family was sitting there. It was actually my boss that drove me to the intervention. Unbeknownst to me, they were all working together because they knew that I was struggling with addiction. Looking back, I was very blessed, lucky, or whatever you want to call it, to have had that support. 

But ultimately, the decision was up to me. It was either treatment or continuing down the path that I was going down and to keep suffering the consequences. I knew that if I didn’t accept help, my relationship with my family would have ended because of how bad things had gotten with my addiction.

Was there something in particular that resonated with you & made you recognize that your addiction was a problem?

Sober Evolution: One of the good things that they did during my intervention is that everyone wrote handwritten letters to me. In their letters, each person talked about the person I was before my addiction. They reminded me of how loving and kind I had been, about the moments that made them proud of me as a child and how I loved helping others. Then they wrote about how I hadn’t been that way for the past 10 years. It was all very true, and I couldn’t say that they were wrong. 

For years, my parents had told me that what I was doing wrong and I needed to completely change my life. And I was defensive. In contrast, the letters reminded me of who I was and the things I used to love to do; Making art with my grandparents, giving gifts, and the feeling I had at the time. It took me back to being this happy kid who was doing these amazing, creative things and loved helping others.

Part of me feels very blessed to have had the family that I did because I had wonderful memories to refer back to. Looking at the past 10 years, I realized I had done nothing but drink and party. I remembered my near death experiences during this time. I realized that either I get sober or I stay this way. It was life or death.  I had to go all in with this recovery thing that I knew nothing about. I became a student of life so that I would never have to return to the place I was in, go to jail, or wind up dead. It really was life or death for me.

It really wasn’t until I had the intervention and reflected back on a friend’s facebook post sharing their recovery story that I was able to recognize that I had a problem. I had to admit that my parents were right all along. That was such a tough thing. It was something that I had to work on for months and months. I had to ask myself if the excuses I used to come up with were true. Come to find out, not a single one of the excuses that I had at the time were justifiable at all.  

Coming to terms with that truth and then allowing honesty to be the foundation for my recovery was key. Recovery works to help you change your mindset. I learned how beneficial it was to truly be honest with myself. That is how I was able to get my real estate license and accomplish my career and life goals. I was only able to define and accomplish my goals by first dealing with my addictions. I really can credit every success I’ve had back to my early recovery, changing my past ways of thinking and putting recovery principles into practice. 

Treatment, recovery work & learning honesty

Follow @soberevolution on Instagram

Tell us about your treatment experience.

Sober Evolution: At the time, the idea of going to a treatment center to get help seemed really scary, but I needed to see if I could put the pieces of my life back together and repair my relationships. What was really interesting was that while in treatment, my mindset completely flipped. I knew that I had to give this everything or I would lose everything. I took out a notepad and asked the counselors for a pen to take notes. That’s how serious I was about learning how to live life productively without alcohol and drugs.I took note of everything, studied as hard as I could, began to understand how recovery works, and really practiced what the treatment center was preaching.

Recovery works to help so many heal. Which principles helped you most?

Sober Evolution: Personal honesty was the biggest one for me. It’s such a tough thing for anybody to practice. But once you start practicing it more and more, you can really have fun with it. When you learn to be honest with yourself, you can actually start accomplishing your goals. I think the most important part of recovery, at least for me, was being brutally honest with myself. I had times where I’d have to look in the mirror and have a conversation with myself to figure out what the truth was and what was holding me back from accomplishing my goals. In recovery, we have to be truthful with ourselves in order to figure out what the problem is in order to be able to solve it. 

Can you give an example of how self honest worked in your recovery and life?

Sober Evolution: When I first started going to school for real estate (post-treatment), I had to take two tests, both which I failed. I could have come up with many different excuses, placing the blame on others because it doesn’t feel good to recognize the part we play in our failures. Instead, I had to take a step back, and literally look in the mirror and say, “Okay, the problem is that I did not study hard enough” or “I could have studied the way that was suggested to me by my professor, instead of doing it my own way.” So I buckled down, studied the recommended way and eventually I passed both tests and became a real estate agent. By taking accountability and making the necessary changes, I was able to accomplish my goal. 

I also had to learn to practice this honesty in terms of my addiction. For years and years, my parents had tried to sit me down and say, “Austin, we think you have a problem with drugs and alcohol.” They would point out what I need to change, and I would get so defensive. Immediately my walls came up, and I would just start yelling at them, which would allow me to get out of the room. I did that for many years. I came up with excuses like, “everybody else is drinking” or “everybody else loses their wallet from time to time or wrecks a car.” In hindsight, it was ridiculous. But in the moment, the last thing in the world I wanted to do is admit that I was doing something that was causing these negative consequences. It’s what anybody who has an addiction does automatically.