The Rich Roll Podcast Beyond Eat, Pray, Love: Elizabeth Gilbert's Raw Truth About Addiction, Codependency & The Awakening That Saved Her Life
103 snips
Sep 11, 2025 
In this captivating discussion, bestselling author Elizabeth Gilbert shares her harrowing journey through addiction and recovery. She candidly reflects on losing her partner to relapse while grappling with her own struggles and codependency. The conversation touches on radical honesty as a path to healing, the challenges of celibacy for self-care, and the importance of community support. Through her vulnerability, Elizabeth inspires listeners to embrace their own journeys and find strength in vulnerability.
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Addiction Vs Recovery Framing
- Addiction replaces everything with one thing and recovery restores everything by giving up that one thing.
- Elizabeth Gilbert frames sex and love addiction as identical in structure to substance addiction.
Avoiding The Hard Story First
- Elizabeth tried to hide Rhea's death by initially writing fiction and poetry before confronting the truth.
- She eventually accepted she needed to write a literal post-mortem to understand how their relationship collapsed.
Love As A False Fix
- Love addiction manifests as believing another person can permanently fix your inner state.
- Gilbert explains this drives manipulation, role-playing, and relentless pursuit of 'lava' (love, attention, validation, acceptance).
