Community Corner
The 'Sober Identity' of a San Juan Mom
Lisa Neumann has just released her new book, "Sober Identity," a guide to recovering from alcoholism. To her, it's all very personal.
At one point in her life, San Juan Capistrano resident Lisa Neumann would judge an invite by the beverages served: “If there’s no alcohol, I’m not going.”
Today, a recovered Neumann is “super comfortable” with who she is and has dedicated her life to helping other addicts recover. She began life coaching and recently wrote a book titled, Sober Identity.
The books stems from her own very personal struggle with addiction and the recovery that eventually brought her a new life.
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“I didn’t feel that I was getting the things that I needed from a 12-step program. It was great, and I loved the program, but I needed a lot more,” Neumann said.
What she feared the most was the continual stories she heard about relapse, she said. She had a find a way that would get her back on solid, sober ground.
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“The book is really my way of sharing the things that I did to prevent that from happening to me,” Neumann said.
The book does not take a traditional format. Rather it consists of seven dialogues between “A” and “B,” which she said represents a higher self talking to a lower self.
"The first dialogue is a pre-sobriety dialogue, like how I used to think and then the book ends with a dialogue that represents how I’m thinking now,” Neumann said.
Contrary to popular notions, Neumann does not believe alcoholism is a disease. She attributes her dependency to a desire to escape, and alcohol was just the vehicle that got her there.
“I learned that drinking felt good. I learned that it felt like a solution. A pseudo one, albeit, but it felt like it to me because I could escape. So really, my addiction was to escape, alcohol just got me escaping faster."
Now living happily and raising her two children, ages 9 and 11, in San Juan Capistrano, Neumann' said her book stresses the importance of the support from a partner. That makes Sober Identity a good read for loved ones of an alcoholic, she said.
"I reveal such deep truth, and you get so inside what they’re going through,” she said.
Through her experiences, Neumann has come to believe sobriety is there for anyone who truly wants it
“Anyone who wants to stop, can. Anybody can stop today, anybody. This book offers the solutions, tools and techniques needed.”
