09/19/2026
Alright. This one is going to make some recovery people uncomfortable.
Good.
Let’s talk about it.
Brad Pitt recently shared that after seven years of sobriety, he is drinking alcohol again, but in what he describes as a more restrained manner.
CNN just took the conversation further by asking whether the old idea of “once an alcoholic, always an alcoholic” still fits what we know about recovery today.
Here’s where I land as a recovery coach:
Your recovery belongs to you.
We believe in multiple pathways.
I am not going to tell another person they aren't “really in recovery” because their recovery doesn't look like mine.
But multiple pathways also doesn't mean we stop talking honestly about risk.
If alcohol nearly destroyed your life, I am probably not going to be the coach cheering while you test whether you can have three beers now.
If m**h was your drug of choice, I'm probably not suggesting you see whether recreational m**h works better this time around.
That's not judgment.
That's me caring enough to ask:
What are you hoping to gain that is worth reopening a door you worked so hard to close?
And there's another piece of Pitt's story that really caught my attention.
He acknowledged that since returning to alcohol, there have already been times when he became overconfident and recognized, essentially, nope, this isn't good for me.
As a coach, THAT'S where I get curious.
Not judgmental.
Not “hand over your recovery card.”
Curious.
What's happening?
What are you getting from drinking again?
What are you risking?
What does your life look like today?
And most importantly:
Is this moving you toward the life you want, or away from it?
I know people with decades of complete abstinence.
I know people using medication as part of their recovery.
I know people practicing harm reduction.
I know people who don't use the words addict or alcoholic at all.
And I'm not interested in turning recovery into a competition over whose pathway is the “real” one.
But I also don't want “all pathways” to become code for “we're afraid to challenge each other.”
We can respect someone's autonomy AND have difficult conversations.
So here's today's uncomfortable question:
If someone's drug of choice was alcohol and they eventually return to controlled drinking, do you still consider them in recovery?
There isn't a test at the end.
Tell us what YOU believe and, even better, tell us what has worked for you.
No attacking someone else's pathway.
No recovery Olympics.
No “my way is the only way.”
Bring your experience.
Someone quietly reading these comments may need to know there is more than one road forward.
Spread some light.
