Amber HollingsworthRecovery Conversation Simulator, Amber's Recovery Practice Lab · Interactive learning tool trained on Amber methodoloy

What Addicts In Denial ALWAYS Say #addictionrecovery #gettingsober #sobercurious

31 Oct 2025 · 1 min

Watch on YouTube

0:56

In this solo YouTube talk, Amber Hollingsworth addresses the common ways people struggling with addiction deny their problems. She describes how individuals in denial avoid difficult conversations, start arguments, flip the discussion back onto others, and employ other manipulation tactics to keep the topic away from themselves. She highlights a specific denial pattern where people compare themselves to someone with a worse situation, using that comparison to minimize their own issues and claim they are ‘on the good side of the fence.’ Amber invites viewers to engage by posting a hand emoji in the comments if they have either exhibited these behaviors or witnessed them, framing the discussion as a shared experience of recognizing denial in addiction recovery.

Chapters

How many of you have a loved one who, uh, like will just do anything to avoid the conversation? They either just avoid you altogether, or they start an argument, or they flip it back on you, or they use some other kind of manipulation tactic. But they all—they just get squirmy if the conversation comes up at all. You guys know what I'm talking about. Put a little hand emoji in the comments if you. Have been on either side of this. Either you've done this yourself or you have witnessed this yourself. Oftentimes people in denial will compare themselves to other people, meaning compare themselves to someone whose problem is a lot worse than theirs. And it's a way of saying, see, I'm still over here on the good side of the fence. Well, at least I'm not doing X, Y, and Z. At least I never did this. You know, at least I'm not like your brother Jack or whatever.