Push Off from Here
Nine Essential Truths to Get You Through Sobriety (and Everything Else)
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wish list failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo first 3 months
Buy Now for $20.40
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Laura McKowen
-
Written by:
-
Laura McKowen
About this listen
From the bestselling author of We Are the Luckiest and founder of the international recovery community The Luckiest Club comes a modern exploration of addiction that offers nine foundational building blocks that anyone at any stage of sobriety can use.
“I wish I had it when I first got sober, but I’m glad I have it now.”—Anne Lamott
No matter how far astray you’ve gone or how many times you’ve tried and failed before, as long as you’re still sitting here, breathing, and reading these words, freedom and joy are still possible.
When Laura McKowen was two years sober, she received an email from a woman whose sister was struggling with alcohol addiction. McKowen had barely climbed out from the dark place the woman’s sister was in, but she made a list of the things she most needed to hear when she was deep in her own battle.
1. It is not your fault.
2. It is your responsibility.
3. It is unfair that this is your thing.
4. This is your thing.
5. This will never stop being your thing until you face it.
6. You cannot do it alone.
7. Only you can do it.
8. You are loved.
9. We will never stop reminding you of these things.
In Push Off from Here, McKowen delves deeply into each of her nine points: what they mean, how they work, and how every person can live them. She addresses topics such as the correlation between trauma and addiction, the importance of radical honesty, letting go of the illusion of control, the value of community, a reminder that healing is a continual process, and that the process is a gift. Whether you’re just starting out or have been sober for decades, McKowen instructs us to be kind to ourselves: Change is messy and progress is rarely linear, but we can always push off from here.
The stories and advice McKowen shares are specific to alcohol addiction, but the tenets are universal in their application and useful no matter what challenge you face. With profound honesty and boundless compassion, Push Off from Here provides an actionable framework for healing what pains us and proves that a life of sobriety can be synonymous with a life of magic, peace, and freedom.
You may also enjoy...
-
We Are the Luckiest
- The Surprising Magic of a Sober Life
- Written by: Laura McKowen
- Narrated by: Laura McKowen
- Length: 7 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What could possibly be “lucky” about addiction? Absolutely nothing, thought Laura McKowen when drinking brought her to her knees. As she puts it, she “kicked and screamed . . . wishing for something - anything - else” to be her issue. The people who got to drink normally, she thought, were so damn lucky. But in the midst of early sobriety, when no longer able to anesthetize her pain and anxiety, she realized that she was actually the lucky one. Lucky to feel her feelings, live honestly, really be with her daughter, change her legacy.
-
-
Changed my life
- By Anonymous User on 2020-02-03
Written by: Laura McKowen
-
Glorious Rock Bottom
- Written by: Bryony Gordon
- Narrated by: Bryony Gordon
- Length: 5 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Bryony Gordon is a respected journalist, a number one best-selling author and an award-winning mental health campaigner. She is also an alcoholic. In Glorious Rock Bottom Bryony opens up about a toxic 20-year relationship with alcohol and drugs and explains exactly why hitting rock bottom - for her, a traumatic event and the abrupt realisation that she was putting herself in danger, time and again - saved her life.
-
-
good listen
- By AM on 2023-05-07
Written by: Bryony Gordon
-
Quitter
- A Memoir of Drinking, Relapse, and Recovery
- Written by: Erica C. Barnett
- Narrated by: Jean Ann Douglass
- Length: 10 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A startlingly frank memoir, Quitter documents one woman's struggles with alcoholism and recovery, with essential new insights into addiction and treatment.
-
-
Related more to this story than memoires “Blackout” or “Drinking”
- By Morticia Rose on 2022-01-03
Written by: Erica C. Barnett
-
Drinking
- A Love Story
- Written by: Caroline Knapp
- Narrated by: Gabra Zackman
- Length: 9 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Fifteen million Americans a year are plagued with alcoholism. Five million of them are women. Many of them, like Caroline Knapp, started in their early teens and began to use alcohol as "liquid armor", a way to protect themselves against the difficult realities of life. In this extraordinarily candid and revealing memoir, Knapp offers important insights not only about alcoholism, but about life itself and how we learn to cope with it.
-
-
Profoundly moving
- By Gillian on 2019-07-15
Written by: Caroline Knapp
-
Blackout
- Remembering the Things I Drank to Forget
- Written by: Sarah Hepola
- Narrated by: Sarah Hepola
- Length: 7 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A memoir of unblinking honesty and poignant, laugh-out-loud humor, Blackout is the story of a woman stumbling into a new kind of adventure - the sober life she never wanted. For Sarah Hepola, alcohol was "the gasoline of all adventure". She spent her evenings at cocktail parties and dark bars where she proudly stayed till last call. But there was a price. Publicly, she covered her shame with self-deprecating jokes, and her career flourished, but as the blackouts accumulated, she could no longer avoid a sinking truth.
-
-
yes! finally! something relatable
- By Jennifer A on 2021-07-16
Written by: Sarah Hepola
-
Soberful
- Uncover a Sustainable, Fulfilling Life Free of Alcohol
- Written by: Veronica Valli, Chip Somers
- Narrated by: Veronica Valli
- Length: 6 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Soberful offers a practical and straightforward program on how to get sober and stay sober by increasing your self-worth, energy, and participation in life. Valli begins by debunking widespread beliefs about alcohol and sobriety, including the illusion that alcohol itself is the problem.
-
-
The need to work on yourself to make sobriety successful
- By Kerry Lopatka on 2023-11-26
Written by: Veronica Valli, and others
-
We Are the Luckiest
- The Surprising Magic of a Sober Life
- Written by: Laura McKowen
- Narrated by: Laura McKowen
- Length: 7 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What could possibly be “lucky” about addiction? Absolutely nothing, thought Laura McKowen when drinking brought her to her knees. As she puts it, she “kicked and screamed . . . wishing for something - anything - else” to be her issue. The people who got to drink normally, she thought, were so damn lucky. But in the midst of early sobriety, when no longer able to anesthetize her pain and anxiety, she realized that she was actually the lucky one. Lucky to feel her feelings, live honestly, really be with her daughter, change her legacy.
-
-
Changed my life
- By Anonymous User on 2020-02-03
Written by: Laura McKowen
-
Glorious Rock Bottom
- Written by: Bryony Gordon
- Narrated by: Bryony Gordon
- Length: 5 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Bryony Gordon is a respected journalist, a number one best-selling author and an award-winning mental health campaigner. She is also an alcoholic. In Glorious Rock Bottom Bryony opens up about a toxic 20-year relationship with alcohol and drugs and explains exactly why hitting rock bottom - for her, a traumatic event and the abrupt realisation that she was putting herself in danger, time and again - saved her life.
-
-
good listen
- By AM on 2023-05-07
Written by: Bryony Gordon
-
Quitter
- A Memoir of Drinking, Relapse, and Recovery
- Written by: Erica C. Barnett
- Narrated by: Jean Ann Douglass
- Length: 10 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A startlingly frank memoir, Quitter documents one woman's struggles with alcoholism and recovery, with essential new insights into addiction and treatment.
-
-
Related more to this story than memoires “Blackout” or “Drinking”
- By Morticia Rose on 2022-01-03
Written by: Erica C. Barnett
-
Drinking
- A Love Story
- Written by: Caroline Knapp
- Narrated by: Gabra Zackman
- Length: 9 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Fifteen million Americans a year are plagued with alcoholism. Five million of them are women. Many of them, like Caroline Knapp, started in their early teens and began to use alcohol as "liquid armor", a way to protect themselves against the difficult realities of life. In this extraordinarily candid and revealing memoir, Knapp offers important insights not only about alcoholism, but about life itself and how we learn to cope with it.
-
-
Profoundly moving
- By Gillian on 2019-07-15
Written by: Caroline Knapp
-
Blackout
- Remembering the Things I Drank to Forget
- Written by: Sarah Hepola
- Narrated by: Sarah Hepola
- Length: 7 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A memoir of unblinking honesty and poignant, laugh-out-loud humor, Blackout is the story of a woman stumbling into a new kind of adventure - the sober life she never wanted. For Sarah Hepola, alcohol was "the gasoline of all adventure". She spent her evenings at cocktail parties and dark bars where she proudly stayed till last call. But there was a price. Publicly, she covered her shame with self-deprecating jokes, and her career flourished, but as the blackouts accumulated, she could no longer avoid a sinking truth.
-
-
yes! finally! something relatable
- By Jennifer A on 2021-07-16
Written by: Sarah Hepola
-
Soberful
- Uncover a Sustainable, Fulfilling Life Free of Alcohol
- Written by: Veronica Valli, Chip Somers
- Narrated by: Veronica Valli
- Length: 6 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Soberful offers a practical and straightforward program on how to get sober and stay sober by increasing your self-worth, energy, and participation in life. Valli begins by debunking widespread beliefs about alcohol and sobriety, including the illusion that alcohol itself is the problem.
-
-
The need to work on yourself to make sobriety successful
- By Kerry Lopatka on 2023-11-26
Written by: Veronica Valli, and others
-
Nothing Good Can Come from This
- Essays
- Written by: Kristi Coulter
- Narrated by: Kristi Coulter
- Length: 5 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Kristi stopped drinking, she started noticing things. Like when you give up a debilitating habit, it leaves a space, one that can’t easily be filled by mocktails or ice cream or sex or crafting. And when you cancel Rosé Season for yourself, you’re left with just summer, and that’s when you notice that the women around you are tanked - that alcohol is the oil in the motors that keeps them purring when they could be making other kinds of noise. In her sharp, incisive debut essay collection, Coulter reveals a portrait of a life in transition.
-
-
Absolutely resonated with my younger self
- By Amazon Customer on 2020-11-09
Written by: Kristi Coulter
-
The Sober Diaries
- How One Woman Stopped Drinking and Started Living
- Written by: Clare Pooley
- Narrated by: Karen Cass
- Length: 10 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Like many women, Clare Pooley found the juggle of a stressful career and family life a struggle, so she left her successful role as a managing partner in one of the world's biggest advertising agencies to look after her family. She knew the change wouldn't be easy, but she never expected to find herself an overweight, depressed, middle-aged mother of three who was drinking more than a bottle of wine a day and spending her evenings Googling 'am I an alcoholic?'
-
-
Strong in the beginning, peters out in the end
- By libragal on 2019-04-06
Written by: Clare Pooley
-
Drinking Games
- A Memoir
- Written by: Sarah Levy
- Narrated by: Sarah Levy
- Length: 6 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On paper, Sarah Levy’s life was on track. She was 28, living in New York City, working a great job, and socializing every weekend. But Sarah had a secret: her relationship with alcohol was becoming toxic. And only she could save herself. Drinking Games explores the role alcohol has in our formative years, and what it means to opt out of a culture completely enmeshed in drinking. It’s an examination of what our short-term choices about alcohol do to our long-term selves and how they challenge our ability to be vulnerable enough to discover what we really want in life.
-
-
Misleading
- By Amazon Customer on 2023-09-11
Written by: Sarah Levy
-
This Naked Life
- Forty-Eight True Stories of Finding Freedom from Alcohol
- Written by: Annie Grace
- Narrated by: Annie Grace
- Length: 6 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This Naked Life offers 48 raw and real stories of people, who have found freedom from alcohol. In this audio, discover how Bryan went from hopeless certainty that drinking would eventually kill him, to absolute peace over the course of a single day. See how listening one book gave Jennifer total freedom after 20 years of binge drinking. Watch Becca thrive in ways she had never thought possible, all because she learned it was okay to question her relationship with alcohol before she hit rock bottom.
-
-
Not what I expected
- By KayMet on 2024-02-06
Written by: Annie Grace
-
The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober
- Discovering a Happy, Healthy, Wealthy Alcohol-Free Life
- Written by: Catherine Gray
- Narrated by: Catherine Gray
- Length: 10 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ever sworn off alcohol for January and found yourself drinking by the 7th? Think there's 'no point' in just one drink? Welcome! There are millions of us. This inspirational, aspirational and highly relatable narrative champions the benefits of sobriety with a three-pronged approach combining the author's personal experience, factual reportage and contributions from expert sources and self-help advice for anyone who wants to reduce their alcohol intake or eliminate it completely.
-
-
Compelling.....but
- By Elizabeth Watson on 2021-06-20
Written by: Catherine Gray
-
Quit Like a Woman
- The Radical Choice to Not Drink in a Culture Obsessed with Alcohol
- Written by: Holly Whitaker
- Narrated by: Holly Whitaker
- Length: 10 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
We live in a world obsessed with drinking. We drink at baby showers and work events, brunch and book club, graduations and funerals. Yet no one ever questions alcohol’s ubiquity—in fact, the only thing ever questioned is why someone doesn’t drink. It is a qualifier for belonging and if you don’t imbibe, you are considered an anomaly. As a society, we are obsessed with health and wellness, yet we uphold alcohol as some kind of magic elixir, though it is anything but.
-
-
Every woman needs to read this book!
- By Candice Corbett on 2020-01-07
Written by: Holly Whitaker
-
Sober on a Drunk Planet
- Quit Lit 2-in-1 Sobriety Series. An Uncommon Alcohol Self-Help Guide for Sober Curious Through to Alcohol Addiction Recovery
- Written by: Sean Alexander, Sober On A Drunk Planet
- Narrated by: Piers Sherwood-Roberts
- Length: 7 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Whether you're sober curious, looking to stay sober, or want to stop drinking alcohol for good, this uncommon guide explores eight critical areas of life that will drastically improve when you give up alcohol.
-
-
Everything! Fantastic read/listen!!
- By Ann on 2025-01-10
Written by: Sean Alexander, and others
-
Drunk-ish
- A Memoir of Loving and Leaving Alcohol
- Written by: Stefanie Wilder-Taylor
- Narrated by: Stefanie Wilder-Taylor
- Length: 7 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For Stefanie Wilder-Taylor, alcohol was the seasoning that could give almost any activity more flavor—from liquor cabinet concoctions in high school to tequila shots in her early stand-up comedy days to grocery store wine in young motherhood. A drink instantly took the edge off and made even the most difficult adversary (be it a tough crowd in a comedy club or a judgmental PTA mom) not just bearable but fun.
-
-
Genuine, thoughtful, honest, extremely relatable
- By James baldry on 2024-02-12
Written by: Stefanie Wilder-Taylor
-
Stash
- My Life in Hiding
- Written by: Laura Cathcart Robbins
- Narrated by: Laura Cathcart Robbins
- Length: 9 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After years of hiding her addiction from everyone—stockpiling pills in her Louboutins and elaborately scheduling her withdrawals between PTA meetings, baby showers, and tennis matches—Laura Cathcart Robbins is running out of places to hide. She has learned the hard way that even her high-profile marriage and Hollywood lifestyle can’t protect her from the pain she’s keeping bottled up inside. Facing divorce, the possibility of a custody battle, and the insistent voice of internalized racism that nags at her as a Black woman in a white world, Laura wonders just how much more she can take.
-
-
Loved her openness!
- By Anonymous User on 2023-06-02
Written by: Laura Cathcart Robbins
-
Dry
- A Memoir
- Written by: Augusten Burroughs
- Narrated by: Augusten Burroughs
- Length: 8 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At the request (well, it wasn't really a request) of his employers, Augusten lands in rehab, where his dreams of group therapy with Robert Downey Jr. are immediately dashed by grim reality of fluorescent lighting and paper hospital slippers. When Augusten is forced to examine himself, he finds himself in the worst trouble of all. Because when his thirty days are up, he has to return to his same drunken Manhattan life - and live it sober. Dry is the story of love, loss, and Starbucks as a Higher Power
-
-
One of the best
- By Sara Morrison on 2023-06-22
Written by: Augusten Burroughs
-
Not Drinking Tonight
- A Guide to Creating a Sober Life You Love
- Written by: Amanda E. White LPC
- Narrated by: Amanda E. White LPC, Suehyla El-Attar
- Length: 6 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this honest discussion of mental health, the founder of Therapy for Women explores our reasons for drinking alcohol - and the benefits of taking a break.
-
-
great book even if you're not considering sobriety
- By melissa pilz on 2022-01-17
Written by: Amanda E. White LPC
-
A Happier Hour
- Written by: Rebecca Weller
- Narrated by: Rebecca Weller
- Length: 4 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Rebecca Weller’s pounding, dehydrated head woke her at 3:00 am, yet again, she stared at the ceiling, wondering why the hell she kept doing this to herself. At 39 years of age - and a health coach, no less - she knew better than to down several bottles of wine per week. Her increasingly dysfunctional relationship with alcohol had to stop, but after decades of social drinking, she was terrified of what that might mean. How could she live a joyful existence, without alcohol? How would she relax, socialize, or celebrate - without wine?
-
-
HIGHLY RECOMMEND
- By Amazon Customer on 2021-12-24
Written by: Rebecca Weller
What the critics say
“This is the book, and Laura McKowen is the voice. Push Off from Here offers one of the bravest and boldest takes on recovery I’ve ever read, and there is no one who won’t be comforted, supported, and empowered by Laura’s words.” —Melissa Urban, co-founder and CEO of Whole30 and New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Boundaries
“The writing sparkles on every page, but the biggest gift of this book is Laura McKowen’s insistence that we all deserve grace for who we’ve been in the past and permission to get busy building the lives we’ve always wanted.” —Christie Tate, New York Times bestselling author of Group
“Wise, practical, empathetic, beautifully written, above all USEFUL. Reading this book is like having coffee with your big sister whose been through it—loving but clear-eyed about how to get through the next stretch.” —Shauna Niequist, New York Times bestselling author of I Guess I Haven’t Learned That Yet
What listeners say about Push Off from Here
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- G
- 2023-03-10
Big Love
I was worried this would be just a repeat/repackaging of Laura’s first book, but it’s not at all. New and useful insights and ideas about living a full life in sobriety; but also in navigating the messiness of all lives, sober and not.
A great combination of personal stories, science backed observations and questions we should all ask ourselves. I will definitely read this one again.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- M. Bamford
- 2023-04-07
A Beautiful Masterpiece
Laura will save so many lives because of this precious book. Totally revitalized my recovery.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Samantha D
- 2023-10-23
Great messages
I finished this book in a day. I couldn’t stop listening. As someone who has been back and fourth with sober curiosity and quitting, I needed to hear this book today.
Thanks for sharing all of your stories and others shared stories, it made me feel less alone in my own experiences.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!