Kirsten Johnson Podcast

Today on Burnie + Besite LIVE Tara Grace and I are joined by The 13th Step film maker and OG Deprogramming Badass Monica Richardson. We discuss her The 13th Step film, harm inside AA, dissenting and the hate that can follow, tips for deprogramming AA or deprogramming 12 step in general and more. You can watch Monica's Film 13th Step Film here and here's links to Tara Grace and Monica Richardson Yo...

Introducing the Gold Standard for alcohol addiction recovery! This is the path I wish I knew about back in 2009 when I was getting sober. Or better yet, I wish I knew about it years earlier when I first realized I had a problem with alcohol. Katie Lain from Thrive Alcohol Recovery shares with us her journey of accidentally getting sober while using Sinclair Method. She'll also unpack what ex AA's...

Today we're unpacking the AA saying "Share the message, not the mess" and how it can be harmful. We'll cover how sharing the message not the mess: Timestamps: 00:00 Intro Share The Message, Not The Mess 05:12 1. Replaces authentic expression with scripted speech 19:49 2. Reinforces indoctrination through repetition 38:10 3. Disconnects you from your inner authority 58:31 4. Creates emotional stagn...

I LOVED the book The Real AA by Ken Ragge. I definitely recommend reading it to help in your deprogramming AA journey. I've compiled a list of all the deprogramming books I recommend here: 📚 Deprogram Book List (my fave deprogram, cult recovery and critical thinking books) Timestamps: 00:00 The Real AA intro 01:24 Jack Trimpey Forward 02:18 The Real AA Book 04:55 New Recruits Are Recruiting 07:19...

Today we're unpacking the AA slogan and line from the 12th tradition, "Principles Before Personalities." We'll cover what this is, how it happens in the rooms, what it can sound like, the control pattern (a textbook propaganda example), why it can hurt after you leave and what moving forward can look like. Resources for deconstructing AA: 👉 Deprogram Lounge (community, Zooms, book club, Escape Ki...

Jon barely survived 12 step. His courageous story highlights the harm inherent in 12 step ideology and the importance of trying something different if the "treatment" you are in is making you worse. Since leving NA he's created a "life beyond his wildest dreams." Truly an inspiration and I'm thrilled he's just begun his dissenting journey to help others recover from recovery and discover a life tr...

Today on Burnie + Bestie Live we are exploring the movie The Business of Recovery . I'm joined today of course by my cohostest Burnie aka Tara Grace from Burn The Stigma . Resources for deconstructing AA: 👉 Deprogram Lounge (community, Zooms, book club, Escape Kit + more) 📚 Deprogram Book List (my fave deprogram, cult recovery and critical thinking books) Let’s get f*cking free

A lot of us can feel shocked or shell shocked after leaving AA or 12 step. Today we're going to unpack what shell shock is, how it applies to leaving AA, post cult trauma and post cult symptoms that people may experience according to cult expert Margaret Singer's work in her book Cults in Our Midst. Of course this isn't medical advice and if you need support, find a professional who can help suppo...

Timestamps 00:00 AA Shutdown Playbook Intro 03:10 1 - Make It Personal Immediately 06:28 2 - Assume Motive You Can't Know 10:09 3 - Invoke Slogans As Sacred Truth 15:48 4 - Announce Sober Time 19:46 5 - Reduce AA to the Big Book 22:33 6 - Ignore Harm Entirely 27:48 7 - Turn Anecdotes Into Universal Laws 33:20 8 - Claim Superiority Through Suffering 35:08 9 - Label Dissent As Denial 37:46 10 - Decl...

Today we are exploring AA's "It Works If You Work It" mythology. We'll bring in thoughts and research from experts (you know I like to read a little from deprogramming books on these pods!), Burnie aka Tara Grace from Burn The Stigma will share her perspective, I'll share mine (it's me, Kirsten, Sobriety Bestie). Then we crowd source for comments to see what everyone else thinks. Resources for dec...

Happy New Year!! Woot woot 2026. Today we're exploring "New Freedom and New Happiness" from the AA promises and what that looks like in deprogramming. I'll share my version of "The Promises" for leaving AA. Then we'll crowd source other people's thoughts and ideas about The Promises when they were in AA and what their creating now that they've left. Resources for deconstructing AA: 👉 Deprogram Lo...

Rene joins us today to share about how AA became a self prophecy leading him to be in and out of the rooms for twenty years. Rene's IG Rene's TikTok Timestamps: 00:00 In + Out of AA For 20 Years 05:50 Going to AA Knowing It's A Cult 17:25 Leaving AA Cult Within A Cult 20:48 South Florida Pill Mills 23:18 AA Ideology Created A Negative Cycle 32:08 AA is a Self Fulfilling Prophecy 36:50 Changing the...

Today we are exploring AA's powerless idea and pickle mythology. You know how in AA they say "once a cucumber becomes a pickle, there's no going back." Meaning once you "cross a line" with drinking and become an "alcoholic" there is no becoming a normal drinker again. But modern science debunks this. We'll bring in thoughts and research from experts (you know I like to read a little from deprogram...

Join us for a fun Holiday episode as Carrie ( Carrie's Substack ) and I sing about the 12 days of leaving Alcoholics Anonymous. 👉 Deprogram Lounge (community, Zooms, Book Club, Escape Kit + more) 📚 Deprogram Book List (my fave deprogram, cult recovery and critical thinking books) Let’s get f*cking free.

Join us for a fun Holiday inspired episode as Carrie ( Carrie's Substack ) and I share the gifts of leaving AA from our perspective. Timestamps: 00:00 Gifts of Leaving AA Intro 01:13 The Gifts When Starting AA or Love Bombing? 01:55 Gift Newcomer Conversation 06:50 Growing Up in AA Cult + Leaving 11:40 Deprogramming AA is The Gift That Keeps Giving 16:27 Gift When First Leaving AA 19:30 Gift Month...

Today we are exploring the effectiveness or ineffectiveness of 12 step rehab treatment centers. Resources for deconstructing AA: 👉 Deprogram Lounge (community, Zooms, book club, Escape Kit + more) 🧰 Escape Kit (resources to Deprogram AA) 📚 Deprogram Book List (my fave deprogram, cult recovery and critical thinking books) Let’s get f*cking free

Today we're unpacking spiritual bypassing, the use of spirituality or spiritual practices to override our feelings. We'll cover what spiritual bypassing can look like inside 12 step, how our brains are often trained to spiritual bypass via our sponsors, the meetings and the literature and what spiritual bypassing can be like on our deprogramming AA journey. This audio is from today's livestream on...

I've received a lot of DM's after yesterday's episode on Rob Reiner and Nick Reiner so am coming back today to answer the top questions. You wanted to know is Nick Reiner mentally ill and was he sober at the time of the murders. So we'll dive into that in today's episode. Also I have a clip with Rob Reiner and Nick Reiner's thoughts on Alcoholics Anonymous (thanks to the person who DM'd it to me!)...

Today's episode is a bit heavy, heartbreaking and also a deep dive into the addiction movie the now late iconic director Rob Reiner made in 2015 with his son Nick Reiner called "Being Charlie." We'll look at the addiction recovery movie through a deconstruction lens, examine the 12 step loaded language, and follow Charlie through his addiction recovery journey - a character based upon Nick Reiner....

It's the 91 year anniversary of BIll W.'s "White Light Spiritual Experience" so we're going to unpack it all in this episode. We'll cover what drugs Bill was on, some of Towns history (the founder of the rehab Bill was in), Carl Jung's work on the numinous or spiritual / religious experiences and we'll hear from the livestream audience about their thoughts on spiritual experience. I timestamped it...

December 11th 1934 is Bill W, the Founder of AA's, last day drinking and the day he went into Town's Hospital for alcohol addiction treatment. Today on Sobriety Bestie pod we're diving into how Bill was preyed upon when he was incredibly vulnerable (by the Oxford Group). Then how Bill turned around and built this methodology, of AA preying on the vulnerable, into his 12 step system. Resources for...

Ostracized for leaving AA. Told she’d die if she walked away. Came back anyway. Left again. And is still here, and finally free. In this raw, funny, and brutally honest conversation, Lilly and I talk about what it’s really like to be "AA-famous," get shunned when you “go out,” and slowly realize the thing you thought saved you is also harming you. We get into informed consent, harmful sponsorship,...

Today we're reading a book review for AA's Big Book or the book "Alcoholics Anonymous" that was featured in JAMA, the Journal of American Medical Association back in 1939, 6 months after the Big Book was published. Here's the source . 👉 Deprogram Lounge (community, Zooms, book club, Escape Kit + more) 📚 Deprogram Book List (my fave deprogram, cult recovery and critical thinking books) 🌀 Deprogr...

In today’s episode of the Sobriety Bestie Podcast, Tara Grace ( Burn The Stigma ) and I break down AA's "we're spiritual not religious" gaslight. This episode comes from today's Bernie & Bestie LIVE, where we just unpacked what a religion is, how AA maps to a religion, some of the God language inside the Big Book and taking the third step (in public!). Then we crowd sourced everyone's perspect...

Leaving 12 step can feel like freedom and heartbreak at the same time. You thought walking away would be the hard part. But it’s the after that gets quiet and confusing. The mixed emotions. The questions you didn’t expect. The  “now what?”  feeling. Today on Sobriety Bestie Podcast we're diving in deep to explore what the hardest part of leaving AA is. I share my perspective and experien...