Today we have Camille. She is 36 years old, lives in Montreal, Canada and she took her last drink on April 20th, 2026.

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[03:19] Thoughts from Paul:

Paul shares with us that his beloved dog Ben has passed away. He credits Ben with not only being a major catalyst for his recovery, but also for saving his life. Ben was a member of the staff at Recovery Elevator retreats and touched many people over the 12 years he was Paul's companion.

Paul says his thinking mind has tried to figure out where Ben is now, and after countless thoughts and tears, he always lands in a place of gratitude for the 12 incredible years he was able to share with his dog.

The opposite of addiction is connection, and we generally think of other humans when we hear this. But the quote is infinite and definitely includes our connection with animals.

[08:18] Paul introduces Camille:

Camille is 36 years old and lives in Montreal, Canada. She is a graphic designer for a software company. She lives with her partner, and he has a 9-year-old daughter who they see often. For fun, Camille enjoys sports climbing, crochet, crafting and DIY projects.

Camille had her first drink when she was 13 while at boarding school. Her roommate who was 14 was already struggling with alcoholism. In spite of being a "goody two shoes", Camille was occasionally binge drinking with friends. There were several hints that things were getting precarious with her drinking.

What sealed the deal Camille says is when she started working at a bar in her early 20s. She worked there for six years. While she did have some fun and met some great people, Camille says she was constantly either drinking or combatting a hangover. Towards the end of her studying, she was getting tired and looking forward to getting out of that scene but wasn't ready to moderate while she was still there. She was good at keeping up the appearance that her drinking wasn't out of control.

Even after trading the bartending in for a graphic design job, Camille would still find herself binge drinking to get drunk. She says it was hard to consider it a problem when everyone around her drank too. Gradually the drinking increased to a daily occurrence by the time she was 33. She was just drinking to take the edge off, and Camille began wishing that alcohol was not part of her daily life. She would journal about not wanting to drink for the day but would find herself doing it anyways. It was frustrating feeling so powerless and shameful.

Camille first quit drinking in 2025 after running a 5k and recognizing that she was pouring poison into a body that she had just asked to complete a strenuous activity. This stuck with her and she was able to stop drinking for two months. The moderation and exploration of self-awareness began at this point. She attempted to moderate for the rest of 2025. It was after three days of heavy drinking at an all-inclusive vacation that Camille finally said enough is enough.

Camille joined a local support group but has not attended AA. She says it helped her feel less alone and believes that the reason we feel that way is because having a problem with alcohol is so shameful that we don't want speak about it. Camille says her drinking stemmed from a lot of desire to be polished and perform well so the alcohol helped her turn it off. Going forward Camille is planning to continue taking actions to solidify her commitment to being alcohol free. She is going to focus on existing as she is and accepting the human experience without covering it up with booze.

Camille's parting piece of guidance: You can do this and be forgiving with yourself, be tolerant, give yourself grace.

Recovery Elevator

You took the elevator down.

You've got to take the stairs back up.

We can do this.

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