The Addicted Mind Podcast
Duane Osterlind, LMFT
Subscribe
The Addicted Mind Podcast is about understanding addiction from a research and treatment perspective. We will dive into what drives the addictive process, explore the latest research on addiction, and talk about the latest addiction treatment options. We will also explore what recovery from addiction looks like from a variety of different people. If you or someone you know is struggling with addiction then The Addicted Mind Podcast can help.
Available episodes
Newest first
Oldest first
5 days ago
113: Unraveled with Laura and Tom Boldt
On today’s episode of The Addicted Mind Podcast, Duane speaks with mother and son, Laura and Tom Boldt, authors of Unraveled, A Mother and Son Story of Addiction and Redemption. They talk about their story of recovery and how they worked together to get recovery. They each share how their recovery impacts each other, and how they were able to do it. It is a great story of hope, compassion, and gratitude for the life they've created in recovery together – as a family.
*A Mother and Son’s Story*
Coming from a family of many alcoholics, Laura was certain she wasn't going to end up like her alcoholic mom. But fast-forward to having four children, Laura fell into full-blown alcoholism when her youngest child was two years old. It was on Halloween night 2008 that everything changed for her when she got into a serious car accident. She could barely remember what happened to her the next morning. At that point, she knew she needed help.
At that time when Laura stopped drinking, her son, Tom, had already experienced bullying and switched schools a few times. He simply wanted a place to belong, which he had found in drinking and drugs. While alcoholism reflected how Laura was living free and having fun, it was completely opposite for Tom. It was more violent. There was more blood and there were more hospital visits. His alcoholism worsened to the point that it not only led to broken bones, but also, broken relationships. Then one Halloween night in 2012, he got in a couple of bar fights and ended up running down the freeway. The next morning, he just decided he was done.
Addiction is a family disease because everybody around you suffers from it. The family essentially has a very important role to play during this healing process and there needs to be understanding and compassion. Part of Laura and Tom’s healing process was writing the book, which was not only cathartic to both of them, but an opportunity for them to send this message of hope.
*In this episode, you will hear:*
* Laura’s story of alcoholism and the turning point that made her decided to stop
* Tom’s story of alcoholism and drug abuse, and his decision to stop
* The effects of drinking on Laura and Tom
* Their journey through recovery together
* The role of the family in addiction recovery
* The difficulties and challenges in recovery together
* What they discovered about each other
* Writing the book as a cathartic process for them and as a way to send their message of hope
Key Quotes:
[02:36] - "When you try to control your drinking, you only realize that it's controlling you."
[03:39] - "People around you are far more aware of your alcoholism before you are."
[07:18] - "I could have killed somebody else. My kids could be without a mother because of drinking."
[13:07] - "I was completely unaware of the effects of alcohol... I just thought it was normal."
[19:56] - "I started learning so much about the disease and Laura was so amazing and would fill me in on her journey and her experience."
[22:42] - "Not all families have the opportunity to heal for whatever reason. But it does make it easier for the alcoholic and the addict to have a family that plays into that healing."
[23:23] - "Resentments can cause relapse... it's a daily practice for us to stay healthy."
[32:48] - "My life is filled with so much joy, so much fun, and, and true laughter that's not ignited by alcohol, and it really is a more peaceful way to live."
*Subscribe and Review*
Have you subscribed to our podcast? We’d love for you to subscribe if you haven’t yet.
We’d love it even more if you could drop a review or 5-star rating over on Apple Podcasts ( https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-addicted-mind-podcast/id1268632042 ). Simply select “Ratings and Reviews” and “Write a Review” then a quick line with your favorite part of the episode. It only takes a second and it helps spread the word about the podcast.
If you really enjoyed this episode, we’ve created a PDF that has all of the key information for you from the episode. Just go to the episode page at www.theaddictedmind.com ( http://www.theaddictedmind.com ) to download it.
*Supporting Resources:*
https://unraveledthebook.com/
Unraveled, A Mother and Son Story of Addiction and Redemption
https://www.amazon.com/Unraveled-Mother-Story-Addiction-Redemption/dp/1632993198
*Episode Credits*
If you like this podcast and are thinking of creating your own, consider talking to my producer, Danny Ozment.
He helps thought leaders, influencers, executives, HR professionals, recruiters, lawyers, realtors, bloggers, coaches, and authors create, launch, and produce podcasts that grow their business and impact the world.
Find out more at https://emeraldcitypro.com ( https://emeraldcitypro.com/ )
Jan 4, 2021
112: Habilitat Creating Community with Jeff Nash
On this episode of The Addicted Mind Podcast, Duane sits down with Jeff Nash to talk about addiction, recovery, and the importance of finding and engaging in a recovery community. Jeff is the executive director at Habilitat in Hawaii.
Raised in Dallas, Jeff struggled with drug addiction for most of his adult life. By the time he was sixteen, Jeff was shooting heroin and other drugs. By 30, he finally was in the right spot to get on top of his addictions. While staying at Habilitat, he was trained under their philosophy and now runs many programs. He talks about having gone through fourteen different treatment facilities—mostly at the behest of his parents. It took being in jail at 29 and quitting methadone cold-turkey to see that he couldn’t continue to live this way as an addict.
Calming The Addicted Mind - 6 Day Mindfulness Email Series ( https://theaddictedmind.com/mindfulness )
He saw a model for change at Habilitat, even though getting out of jail was the initial motivator. Its different approach than medical treatment centers attracted Jeff because they treat the individual. Their methods changed the way he thought and ultimately prepared him for life.
As far as how it looked different, they gave him a sense of belonging. The socialization perspective was not medical but rather behavioral. They have this element of treating the criminogenic needs, Jeff says. Habilitat addresses by teaching people how to interact with other people healthily. Habilitat is big on emotional intelligence, including how to respond and how to react in an emotionally mature way.
Jeff says, “for those of us that continue to struggle, we may need to look for long-term treatment options.” He urges the listeners to continue to work at it. He quotes his late father: “you’re going to quit using drugs one way or another.” It fell on deaf ears at the time, but he realized that it was ultimately up to him to prevent drug use from taking his life. He wants all the listeners to know that change is possible, and there is help available.
Dec 18, 2020
111: Mindbloom & Psychedelic Medicine with Dylan Beynon
On this episode of The Addicted Mind Podcast, Duane talks to Dylan Beynon, founder, and CEO of Mindbloom, a health and well-being company that provides physician-prescribed psychedelics and guided ketamine therapy.
Dylan describes the time he first experienced MDMA at the suggestion of a friend who thought he needed to break out of his shell. Having an enlightening experience, Dylan sought to figure out how to use ketamine to help people break out of their traumas and addictions. But how does ketamine actually help you?
Two years ago, under ketamine therapy, Dylan personally realized the therapeutic value of psychedelics. He explains that the effects of ketamine therapy are that they open up the brain’s neuroplasticity, which allows people to lay down some new ways of thinking. It can ultimately push people out of their established neuropathways to open their eyes to new options for positive change.
What is the difference between recreational and therapeutic use? Research has shown that single, recreational use of ketamine in a controlled environment has a response rate for symptoms of depression of 65 to 70%, Dylan explains, which is much higher than common SSRIs like Lexapro and Wellbutrin.
Mindbloom has three main goals:
* *Dramatically increase access to psychedelic therapy.* Which means dropping prices and translating to telehealth options. This also means investing in education and content resources.
* *Deliver exceptional clinical outcome* , and
* *Deliver exceptional client experience.*
A lot of psychedelic therapy is in setting the stage for lasting behavioral changes from engaging neuroplastic states. Preparation, experience, and integration are the three stages of psychedelic therapy. Great effort goes into preparing clients for the experience and what to do when under a psychedelic experience. They try to get clients to get into the habit of journaling so that they do not forget the new “feelings” or “memories” they experience during the opened window of neuroplasticity.
The mission at Mindbloom is to “transform minds today to transform lives tomorrow.” Their protocol is four ketamine therapy sessions over 1-2 months. The neuroplasticity and behavioral changes should compound over that time period. The goal, though, is indefinite lasting change. And overall, it is extremely safe to use in a controlled setting. There are dangers when used recreationally, but Mindbloom is committed to providing safe access to this revolutionary means of therapy.
Dec 4, 2020
110: Saving Eric with Mary Burns
On today’s episode of The Addicted Mind Podcast, Duane speaks with author, teacher, and mother Mary Burns. During their discussion, Mary meditates on grief, loss, and her son’s struggle with addiction and mental illness.
As early as seven, Mary’s son, Eric, started to have something like screaming fits. She believed it was a phase that would pass. By the time he was a teenager, the screaming fits became “rages.” Looking back, Mary could tell that there was something wrong. The rages were extremely out of character. Eventually, he would turn to hard drugs.
After several months, Eric asked his mom for help. The hospitals, unfortunately, turned Eric away because they determined his addiction was not “severe enough.” In New Jersey, Mary was only able to get Eric checked into an outpatient facility with her insurance coverage. Her company only wanted to provide ten days treatment after his first relapse. Perhaps, she muses, Eric would have been able to work through his addiction and avoid relapse.
Duane posits that the mythology of addiction is hurting our ability to really help people that are struggling in less visible ways. Four days before he died, he spoke of his strength through Jesus Christ. But for some reason, he took drugs, overdosed, and died. It shows just how insidious drugs are, Mary says.
Moving onto Eric’s death, Mary talks about how leaning on her faith really helped her to get through it. It gave her perspective to grasp onto the good times, despite all the loss. He struggled with life, but he let the good things reflect while absorbing the negative. She believes he’s in a better place, which is the little bit of hope she needs.
Since our understanding of addiction has moved from a moral issue to a genuine pathology, our attitudes have changed. But treatment has not kept up. Mary and Duane talk toward the end about how the protocol for addiction treatment needs serious reform to actually help the people that need attentive care. They need an intensive support network to really get them through it. The old philosophies come from old paradigms that misunderstand addiction. You don’t need to hit rock bottom, Duane says. There’s no such thing—you can get help now.
Nov 13, 2020
109: Altogether You with Jenna Riemersma
On today’s episode of The Addicted Mind Podcast, Duane talks with author, speaker, and teacher Jenna Riemersma about internal family systems, or IFS. Jenna describes how IFS can help to transform your feelings about addictions and past trauma.
Jenna talks about how IFS argues that all of our parts are good. And as counterintuitive as that is, it’s important to understand that the core of your Self is fundamentally good.
Experiencing a “part” of yourself is similar to the idea of having “parts” of our personalities. We want to give those parts their credit because they come from our true Selves, which are good. When a part of us is taken over by a burden, it’s hard for us to take those parts back. Jenna gives an example of a playful part being burdened by a trauma. IFS calls these parts “exiles,” and they carry a lot of weight, especially when you want to try to access those formerly playful parts of yourself.
Jenna illustrates this point with the Manager and the addicted Firefighter, and how we have these competing identities who both want the destruction of addiction while simultaneously wanting to be free of addiction. The Manager wants to seek counsel, but the Firefighter is afraid of the change and pain. 10 times out of 10, the Firefighter actually hates contributing to that pain. We wouldn’t start with that kind of revelation, but we would eventually work our way toward the patient understanding that ultimately the center of their being wants to be free from addiction.
Being able to confront these parts of ourselves without judgment is key. Have you ever experienced a time where all parts of yourself have been welcomed, Jenna asks. IFS helps us to uncover what is already there by surrendering a quality of self that is locked up in shame and hate. Michelangelo once said of a sculpture that he was “releasing the angel trapped in the stone.”
We need to ask ourselves what am I feeling toward, and if it’s anything but the 8 Cs, we need to step back and try to change the situation. Do you think it’s possible to change the way that your Firefighter part sees the world? Many think that it’s impossible, but if you’re willing to at least engage in the process, IFS can help you to not feel so hopeless, so alarmed, and so defeated.
Jenna wants to emphasize that all parts of you are welcome, and all parts of you are safe here.
The 8 Cs of IFS are:
* Calm
* Connection
* Compassion
* Creativity
* Clarity
* Curiosity
* Confidence, and
* Courage
Oct 30, 2020
108 Am I Good Enough? with ILL TONE
On today’s episode of The Addicted Mind Podcast, Duane talks to hip-hop artist Chris Hamilton (aka “ILL TONE”) about the struggle of addiction and the joy of recovery.
He struggled with social anxiety and wrestling with his sexual identity while amongst conservatives on Vancouver Island. He found hip hop after getting expelled from school and identified with the fact that they talked about struggle.
Duane and Chris talk about the fellowship and the validating aspect of group therapy. To be able to speak honestly, as Chris says, frees you from feeling like a monster. It helps to know that you are not alone.
He started on cocaine around age 15, even though he had previously told himself that he would never do that. After his third car accident at 19, he felt so bad about it that he decided to commit himself to a residential treatment. He relapsed with weed in the parking lot after getting out of the treatment facility. Before long, he’d returned back to using daily.
Over time, he started binging on the weekend instead of using every day, which freed up some time for him to focus on building his skills, finishing school, and working on his future in music. His music has been helpful, but Chris talks about how his group is the most important aspect to his recovery. Having access to a bunch of people who understand the struggle and can offer in-person support is the most helpful tool in his belt.
Chris’ addiction prevented him from being able to feel and enjoy his life fully. Chris says to grow your network. It doesn’t matter what your problem is, you can find people that are going through what you are. And these people will support you and help you to overcome your addiction.
Oct 16, 2020
107: Junk Knowledge with Marques Marchand
On today’s episode of The Addicted Mind Podcast, Duane talks to author Marques Marchand about addiction, dual diagnoses, and understanding your past.
Christmas 2009, Marques was working at a restaurant and woke up with flu-like symptoms. He hit rock bottom a year later, and decided to quit everything cold, right after Thanksgiving. He struggled to keep friendships and work, and eventually he snapped. From 2006-2010, he sought mental health advice from therapists.
*Calming The Addicted Mind - 6 Day Mindfulness Email Series*
theaddictedmind.com/mindfulness ( http://theaddictedmind.com/mindfulness )
His recovery process was long and arduous. Besides going to the ER every couple of weeks and racking up thousands of dollars of debt, he also discovered he was an alcoholic and had bipolar disorder type II. Now with a few different medications, the help of the 12-step programs, and better health practices, Marques has been able to free himself from the ups and downs of his addictive behavior.
Join The Addicted Mind Podcast Facebook Group>>> ( https://www.facebook.com/groups/TheAddictedMindPodcast/ )
Sometime in his 30s, while working as a concierge in San Francisco, Marques started writing and it took off. He originally started by just telling his story in Junk Knowledge ( https://www.amazon.com/Junk-Knowledge-This-stayed-sober/dp/1796316814 ) , but he hasn’t been able to satiate the writing bug since. He loves the idea of working through his shame and helping other people to work through recovery by sharing his own story.
*Episode Link*
theaddictedmind.com/107 ( http://theaddictedmind.com/107 )
Marques is about to publish his third book, which is not about addiction, but rather about his time working in the hotel industry. He describes his time leading up to COVID and how that affected his industry. He works a full time job working for his uncle’s business, but now he also has a lot of time to help people in his neighborhood. The one thing he’d like to tell listeners is that the beginning of a healthy, successful life is to first reach out. “Don’t be afraid to be a fool for your life,” Marques says. Someone is going to want to listen to you and help. There are so many people going through the same thing. Take a chance on yourself for your own recovery.
Sep 24, 2020
106: Calming the Chaos with Tracy Kenela
On today’s episode of The Addicted Mind Podcast, Duane sits down with Tracy Kenela about “calming the chaos” and creating peace and calm in our lives.
Therapist and podcast host, Tracy discusses how she came to start studying “overwhelm” as a psychological concept. An expert in chaos, Tracy explains how chaotic factors contribute to our being overwhelmed.
*Calming The Addicted Mind - 6 Day Mindfulness Email Series*
theaddictedmind.com/mindfulness ( http://theaddictedmind.com/mindfulness )
Traci breaks down the different kinds of shock and responses that may manifest when our brain confronts chaos. It seems as though people get addicted to chaos or the absence of chaos. These things really just distract people from addressing the issues that matter.
If you’ve grown up in chaos, it’s possible you’re reenacting chaos as a means of coping with trauma. Tracy and Duane both urge people in this case to seek counseling because they can break the cycle of chaos if they really want to.
There is a phenomenon of victimhood in chaos addiction, too. People tend to self-create this chaos to get the right kind of attention or reactions from people around them. This is different from legitimate chaos (like the kind that just shows up in your life), but you still will need to respond to the chaos. Having a strategy to respond to chaos could save your life.
Join The Addicted Mind Podcast Facebook Group>>> ( https://www.facebook.com/groups/TheAddictedMindPodcast/ )
Tracy then briefly talks about how she would go about treating someone who may need help dealing with the chaos in their lives. She will validate the chaos first and then offer ways to “calm the shock.” This part is rather physical, honestly. She may offer ice or a heat pack—some people even respond to particularly strong smells. Anything to help counteract the shock.
She uses some motivational interviewing, but most of her work uses the trans-theoretical model. This model helps her to figure out at what point they’re at in regards to changing their behavior and moving away from the chaos. She then encourages her patients to take steps toward control. Even a small step like working on daily mindfulness can help you make huge gains in your focus and productivity.
*Episode Link*
theaddictedmind.com/106 ( http://theaddictedmind.com/106 )
What does coping with the chaos look like? It’s usually slower, Tracy says. Taking slow, deliberate steps. Taking deep breaths and moving slowly—these things will help you to become more mindful.
If you think you’re dealing with chaos, the first step is to talk to a professional to get help with relaxation tools and mindfulness practices.
Sep 10, 2020
105: The Addiction Doctor with Dr. Robb Kelly
On today’s episode of The Addicted Mind Podcast, Duane sits down with Dr. Robb Kelly to discuss alcohol and opioid addiction.
Educated at Oxford, he drank through most of school. He was fired from his job as a police officer, which made him realize that his drinking was problematic. Unfortunately for Robb, it would take him losing everything to finally course correct.
Robb realized that the alcoholic mind preys on you. Toward his own story, he talks about committing suicide four times, two of which his heart actually stopped.
*Calming The Addicted Mind - 6 Day Mindfulness Email Series*
theaddictedmind.com/mindfulness ( http://theaddictedmind.com/mindfulness )
At his most broken moment, he started crying and realized that he couldn’t get over the alcohol on his own. He knew there was something different, which got him interested in neuroscience.
He knows that he was born with the addictive brain, and he has to be careful about his relationships as a result.
Join The Addicted Mind Podcast Facebook Group>>> ( https://www.facebook.com/groups/TheAddictedMindPodcast/ )
Robb talks about how his brain is wired differently, and the key to his success was realizing that. He started to notice the symptoms of alcoholism when he would buy a bottle and he immediately felt better. “For the alcoholic, the brain is telling them that they need alcohol to survive,” Robb says.
In his research, Robb found that we can change the way that we think. The neuroplasticity of the brain allows us to redirect our thoughts. We can literally change the direction of our most damning thoughts.
Robb also damns the medical research community for not prioritizing treatment of the disease. He says there’s no money in it and so the disease persists.
Moving to neuro-linguistic programming, Robb explains the role it plays in the addict’s mind. Back in the tribal days, Robb explains, a primal feeling used to wake cavemen up. But now, we don’t really listen to that feeling because we are driven by fear.
If you think you can’t do something, Robb says, someone put that there. And it’s not true. If you can’t visualize it, you can’t make it happen. You have to manipulate your brain to break down those barriers. “I don’t say ‘impossible’—I say, ‘I’m possible.’”
We don’t see ourselves as others see us, Robb argues, and if we did, we’d be able to do anything. You have to actually believe that your mindset is important. And stop living in fear.
*Episode Link*
theaddictedmind.com/105 ( http://theaddictedmind.com/105 )
Toward the end, Robb shares a story about visiting his friend and famed chef, Gordon Ramsay. At one point after dinner, Ramsay turned to Robb and asked, “do you know why I’m the best chef in the world?” Robb answered: “because you’re a damned good cook?” Ramsay replied, “because I tell everybody.”
There is so much importance in finding the people who live the life you want. They will inspire and propel you forward. Even through tragedy and difficulty, Duane says, it’s all in the mindset. And in the end, Robb says, you need to just take the first step.
Aug 27, 2020
104: We All Play A Role with Daniel Snyder
On today’s episode of The Addicted Mind Podcast, Duane talks with Daniel Snyder about decriminalizing drugs, the opioid crisis, and dealing with addiction.
Based in Vancouver, Daniel describes working through the opioid epidemic in British Columbia. He shares some stories that demonstrate that addiction is a hidden thing for many people; that is, it’s not always as visible as the media would have you believe.
*Calming The Addicted Mind - 6 Day Mindfulness Email Series*
theaddictedmind.com/mindfulness ( http://theaddictedmind.com/mindfulness )
He does believe that recovery is a process, which includes setbacks. Daniel initially believed that every relapse was a complete failure, but he soon figured out how to change his thinking around the recovery process. A friend asked him a pressing question that pushed him to realize he can learn through recovery. Overcoming the stigma of “once an addict, always an addict” was key.
In Canada, there is an in-depth data evaluation process for fentanyl. They are offering guidance even in the midst of COVID for people struggling with addiction, but fentanyl has all but “saturated” the drug supply at large. Daniel was fortunate enough to have gone through his addiction behind closed doors.
Join The Addicted Mind Podcast Facebook Group>>> ( https://www.facebook.com/groups/TheAddictedMindPodcast/ )
Duane and Daniel also discuss how people struggling through addiction actually need to be connected to people to be successful. The intervention method of breaking addiction is dismally effective because it pits people against the last people in the world that they could still be connected with.
Moving on to the politics of drug enforcement, Daniel discusses how people under addiction struggles are not free to just “decide” to get their act together, as the legality of it would suggest.
*Episode Link*
theaddictedmind.com/104 ( http://theaddictedmind.com/104 )
Daniel explains that many of the now-antiquated ideas around drugs that informed initial federal policy are backwards. The criminalization of drug use was not born out of a compassion for people struggling with addiction. He advocates for reform that would consider this.
The grim reality, he says, is that people ultimately die as a result of doing business with the drug dealer. It seems counterintuitive, Daniel explains, because we still look at drug use as criminal. In Mexico, a black market for alcohol popped up after the government shut down liquor stores in the wake of COVID. That market killed 100 people in a month from alcohol poisoning.
There is also a fear attached to what a world with legalized drugs would look like. Daniel argues that ultimately it would reduce crime, it would reduce death, and it would reduce cost to the public in the health and human services sphere. People are now looking at the potential benefits that legalization could offer.
If we can meet people where they’re at, we could actually save lives, Daniel posits.
Aug 13, 2020
103: Inner Child Recovery Process with Eddie Capparucci
On today’s episode of The Addicted Mind Podcast, Duane talks Georgia-based counselor Eddie Capparucci about his personal experience with addiction and how to fight off sex and porn addiction. He also talks about the impact of fears of abandonment and how that drives sexually destructive behavior.
*Calming The Addicted Mind - 6 Day Mindfulness Email Series*
theaddictedmind.com/mindfulness ( http://theaddictedmind.com/mindfulness )
Jumping into the idea of the inner child, Eddie explains that children make up for not being seen by creating new realities in their mind. Playing out fantasies in their heads is part of how they cope with abandonment. He never realized that because of that pain, he was using women.
Join The Addicted Mind Podcast Facebook Group>>> ( https://www.facebook.com/groups/TheAddictedMindPodcast/ )
After you get through the period of regret, Eddie says, you experience a kind of euphoria in understanding what the problem is. Eddie walked away from two marriages b…
Jul 30, 2020
102: Personality Isn't Permanent with Benjamin Hardy
On today’s episode of The Addicted Mind Podcast, Duane talks with author Benjamin Hardy about his personal experience with addiction and the chaos that comes along with it. Benjamin describes the process overcoming his own addictions involved going through a “redemptive process,” which involved forgiving his father and rebuilding the relationship there. With trauma, you’re always looking in the rear-view mirror, but you need to make meaning going forward. Meaning is not going to strike you—you have to make it yourself. The beauty of this is that you can change the meaning of your past, Benjamin says. It’s key to have empathy for your old self.
*Calming The Addicted Mind - 6 Day Mindfulness Email Series*
theaddictedmind.com/mindfulness ( http://theaddictedmind.com/mindfulness )
Benjamin also talks about how writing about your trauma can really help. Turning away from the past, you can have hope for the future. Without a hope for the future, Benjamin says, the present beco…
Jul 16, 2020
101: Cognitive Bias and Addiction with Andrew Proulx
On today’s episode of The Addicted Mind Podcast, Duane talks with Andrew P. about the concept of cognitive bias and how this process works in the middle of addiction. Andrew also talks about his own journey with addiction in light cognitive bias.
*Calming The Addicted Mind - 6 Day Mindfulness Email Series* theaddictedmind.com/mindfulness ( http://theaddictedmind.com/mindfulness )
Alongside his medical practice, Andrew ran a psychotherapy practice for 15 years before becoming addicted to alcohol and opiates. After hitting rock bottom, Andrew’s friends brought him to a 12-step program and a light went off that allowed for him. Being able to see that other people were able to get themselves out of the pit was huge. It’s crucial to understand that there’s nothing wrong with you, but that the symptoms of addiction are common.
Cognitive bias, or our natural inclination to make information match what we already believe, was the research focus for Andrew for many years. He found tha…
Jul 2, 2020
100: Patchwork Junkie with Kyle Dean Houston
On today’s episode of The Addicted Mind Podcast, Duane sits down with father, husband, sales executive, speaker, and author Kyle Dean Houston. They speak about being in the throes of addiction, despairing for hope, staring down your own doom, and ultimately persevering through recovery.
*Calming The Addicted Mind - 6 Day Mindfulness Email Series*
theaddictedmind.com/mindfulness ( http://theaddictedmind.com/mindfulness )
Kyle openly describes trying methamphetamines and quickly spiraling into a needle-using meth user. At rock bottom, Kyle was overcome with depression and tried to overdose, but failed. He talks about spending months in county jail trying to learn to make the right decisions. Making and breaking promises to his family, Kyle eventually realized that he was powerless over his own actions and he couldn’t continue to live that way. Coming to grips with the role that the brain plays in your addiction was crucial during this time.
Join The Addicted Mind Podcast Facebook…
Jun 25, 2020
99: Healing Hypnosis with Erika Flint
On today’s episode of The Addicted Mind Podcast, Duane interviews Erika Flint about hypnosis, hypnotherapy, and how the two can help you to overcome mental blocks in your life.
Formerly a software engineer, Erika loves the idea of reprogramming, even your mind. Her recent book, Can You Be a Hypnotist? shows how virtually anyone who wants to be a hypnotist can become one. She tries to subvert the idea that all hypnotists are stage hypnotists. There is a more practical kind of hypnosis that can help you with your mental health.
*Calming The Addicted Mind - 6 Day Mindfulness Email Series*
theaddictedmind.com/mindfulness ( http://theaddictedmind.com/mindfulness )
Though her job was great on paper, it ultimately wasn’t fulfilling. After going through her struggles with alcohol, she hit her rock bottom. Seeking meaning, she found hypnosis was useful in battling demons and fighting off addictions. Now, she spends her time helping people to get their lives back, to love their lives fun…
Jun 11, 2020
98: Toward A Meaningful Life with Rabbi Simon Jacobson
On today’s episode of The Addicted Mind Podcast, Duane talks to author and counselor Rabbi Simon Jacobson about making meaning out of suffering, and understanding your own purpose.
*Calming The Addicted Mind - 6 Day Mindfulness Email Series*
theaddictedmind.com/mindfulness ( http://theaddictedmind.com/mindfulness )
Rabbi Jacobson talks about how surrendering to a higher power, and relinquishing control over your circumstances gives you an edge on dealing with pain. Unfortunately, we don’t have an answer to injustices writ large, but we can have some hope in giving up control. This change in power can give you the strength to make positive action as a result of suffering.
Duane shares a bit from his past to illustrate how you oftentimes need to let go of the desire to understand why loss happens, because you ultimately will not find the reason. Letting go of that need for a reason can help you to heal and move forward.
Join The Addicted Mind Podcast Facebook Group>>> ( https://…
May 26, 2020
97: Before I Leave You with Robert Imbeault
On today’s episode of The Addicted Mind Podcast, Duane sits down with author Robert Imbeault to talk about his book Before I Leave You. Robert also speaks to his own battle with addiction, his suicide attempts, and his eventual recovery.
*Calming The Addicted Mind - 6 Day Mindfulness Email Series*
theaddictedmind.com/mindfulness ( http://theaddictedmind.com/mindfulness )
Based in Ottawa, Canada, Rob shares his story of how experiencing a memory of being raped as an eight-year-old turned his life upside-down as he became a shell of himself fueled by drugs and alcohol as a result. After hitting many rock-bottoms, he attempted suicide a few times. But in recovery, he reminds us that despite how dark the story can be, there is hope on the other side.
Join The Addicted Mind Podcast Facebook Group>>> ( https://www.facebook.com/groups/TheAddictedMindPodcast/ )
Unable to find authentic happiness, Rob pushed further into his work obsession at the sacrifice of his personal relationships.…
May 22, 2020
96: Journals from Cloud 9 with Tyler Farnham
On today’s episode of The Addicted Mind Podcast, Duane speaks to Tyler Farnham about his skydiving accident and his subsequent journey through addiction and recovery.
Tyler says that having goals and making active decisions about who is in your circle can change your life.
Originally from Cocoa Beach, Tyler now lives in Bali. Even before his accident, Tyler had already dabbled a little with pain pills in the form of 20mg Percocets.
After becoming somewhat dependent on them, Tyler found it harder and harder to get off of them. In a leadership position as a lifeguard, he felt the call to give up the pain pills. It was around this time that Tyler realized that the company he kept mattered.
*Calming The Addicted Mind - 6 Day Mindfulness Email Series*
theaddictedmind.com/mindfulness ( http://theaddictedmind.com/mindfulness )
When he was 18, Tyler started jumping out of airplanes. He jokes about being addicted to it, but in some ways, he feels he really was addicted to the rush, anyw…
Apr 23, 2020
95: Sober Sex & Recovery with Stacie Ysidro
On today’s episode of The Addicted Mind Podcast, Duane speaks to sex coach and educator Stacie Ysidro about addiction and healing your sexuality during the recovery process. Stacie has studied virtually every corner of addictive sexuality and has focused her career on helping people navigate sober sexuality once they’ve recovered. She has something of a passion for sexology and the relationship between sexuality and spirituality. She realized that people need coaching around their sexuality in recovery.
*Calming The Addicted Mind - 6 Day Mindfulness Email Series*
theaddictedmind.com/mindfulness ( http://theaddictedmind.com/mindfulness )
Stacie discusses how sex is typically seen through the lens of people-pleasing and not through an honoring one. When not using a substance to escape, you have to more or less face your real sexual self. And yet it’s hard to honor yourself after trauma. Because sexuality is so vulnerable, it gives you access to every other part of yourself.
Joi…
Apr 16, 2020
94: Lost in Ghost Town with Carder Stout
On today’s episode of The Addicted Mind Podcast, Duane speaks with author Carder Stout about his book, Lost in Ghost Town , the story of his addiction and recovery. Duane also addresses the difficulty of the ongoing COVID-19 situation by starting a campaign of stories trying to spread hope in a time of darkness.
Join The Addicted Mind Podcast Facebook Group>>> ( https://www.facebook.com/groups/TheAddictedMindPodcast/ )
Carder grew up in Georgetown, where his father constantly worked and his mother was an alcoholic. From an early age, he had feelings of disillusionment and worthlessness. By the time he was 11, his parents had divorced, securing the disarray in his home. By twenty, he’d already gone through eating disorders and was living on cocaine in New York. He thought that moving to Los Angeles would help him distance himself from the people he knew and his addiction, but in Venice, the epicenter of crack at the time, Carder’s addiction spiraled. Carder meets a drug dealer i…
Apr 9, 2020
93: Healing from Trauma with Dr. Don Wood
Today's guest is Dr. Don Wood, from the Inspired Performance Institute, and he will be talking to us about trauma and how to heal from it. Don helps people reprocess their trauma so that they're no longer in a state of hyper-vigilance and responding to their past trauma in the present moment.
Our traumas can either take us down or inspire us. Don believes that every individual who is dealing with addiction has had trauma. He has been very successful in treating addiction as well as trauma. In the past, he used to find that people were finding ways to live with trauma by learning how to manage it and cope with its effects. Trauma, however, creates glitches and error messages in the way that our minds work and so Don has subsequently discovered that it is possible to eliminate trauma so that we no longer need to deal with any of its effects.
Self-help books tell us to stay present and be in the moment, but our minds don't work that way. Once we understand how our minds work, we become…
Mar 31, 2020
Special Episode with Suzie Wolfer: Coping Skills to Use During the Pandemic
Due to the worldwide situation with the Coronavirus pandemic, and everything else that goes along with that, we're bringing you a special episode today. The current situation has left most of us with very intense emotions that can be quite difficult to cope with.
So Suzie Wolfer, who was our guest on a previous episode of The Addicted Mind podcast, (Episode 53) decided to join us today, to share some of her insight about emotion regulation, distress tolerance, and somatic experiencing, to help us cope with the feelings that this pandemic has brought up.
Episode link>>>> www.theaddictedmind.com/special-episode ( http://www.theaddictedmind.com/special-episode )
Suzie Wolfer, LCSW, SEP, is a therapist specializing in Somatic Experiencing®, a powerful system for healing trauma and addiction at their core, and for completing trauma so that it lets go of you.
Suzie has noticed recently that almost all her clients are experiencing the signs of freeze, and often, they are experiencing anx…
Mar 26, 2020
92: Gift of Recovery: 52 Mindful Ways To Live Joyfully Beyond Addiction with Rebecca Williams
Today, Rebecca Williams joins us. Rebecca is a licensed psychologist, who lived and worked in beautiful San Diego, California for twenty-five years. She recently relocated to Savannah, Georgia to be close to the wildlife and the natural beauty of the area.
Rebecca's path into addiction opened up through her family's struggles with addiction. Especially those of her late mother.
Episode link>>>> www.theaddictedmind.com/92 ( http://www.theaddictedmind.com/92 )
Growing up in this way, Rebecca wanted to learn as much as she could about addiction so she got her Master's degree in Counseling Psychology, followed by her Ph.D. at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
One of Rebecca's specialties is mindfulness. She has been working on it for the last twenty years and she has found it paramount to her self-healing and also to her capabilities as a psychologist. She discovered mindfulness through yoga when she started teaching it in the eighties before mindfulness became cool.
Mindfu…
Mar 19, 2020
91: Bad Bitches Don't Diet with Anita Abdul-Karim
Anita Abdul-Karim is our guest for today. Anita is a registered dietician and she has written a book called Bad Bitches Don't Diet. Today, she will be sharing her journey and talking to us about her book.
Anita is from the Middle East. She struggled to fit in while growing up because there weren't many other Middle Eastern people at her school. She was also chubby, and not the smartest kid in the class, so, although her parents did the best they could under the circumstances, all of that added to the social pressure that Anita was experiencing.
Anita was overweight, and that impacted on her socially, and also within her family. So she tried to take matters into her own hands while growing up. Having a scientific mind, she gravitated towards any available information about diets and nutrition.
Episode link>>>> www.theaddictedmind.com/91 ( http://www.theaddictedmind.com/91 )
Anita lost a lot of weight in the seventh and eighth grades. However, in her senior year of high school, a lot…
Mar 12, 2020
90: The Narcissist In Your Life: Recognizing the Patterns and Learning to Break Free with Julie Hall
Today, our guest is Julie Hall. Julie is the author of The Narcissist In Your Life: Recognizing the Patterns and Learning to Break Free, which was released in December 2019. In today's episode, she will be talking to us about what narcissism is and what it's like growing up with a narcissistic parent or parents.
Julie comes from a narcissistic family, so she describes herself as a survivor. She is an educational writer, poet, and journalist. While working on her memoirs, she came to realize that narcissism had been a major theme throughout her life, so she shifted gears and began to write specifically about narcissism. This became part of Julie's healing process.
Episode link>>>> www.theaddictedmind.com/90 ( http://www.theaddictedmind.com/90 )
Julie has a popular blog called The Narcissist Family Files, and you can find the articles that she writes regularly in Psychology Today. She also has articles in The HuffPost and various other places on the internet.
Narcissism is a personal…
Feb 28, 2020
89: The Harm Reduction Network with Kenneth Anderson
We have Kenneth Anderson, from HAMS (Harm Reduction Abstinence and Moderation Support) and the Harm Reduction Network with us today. He will be talking about harm reduction, what that means, how that differs from traditional forms of treatment (like twelve-step abstinence models), and the way that the harm reduction model can help people who are not yet ready for, or not willing to practice total abstinence, but would still like to change their drinking habits.
Kenneth is the founder and CEO of the HAMS Harm Reduction Network, a free-of-charge support group for people who want to make any kind of positive change to their drinking habits, from safer drinking to reduced drinking, to quitting altogether. There are seventeen elements to the HAMS program, which are all optional and can be done in any order. Although HAMS is an alcohol-focused group, they don't stop anyone from talking about any other addictions or problems that they may have.
Episode link>>>> www.theaddictedmind.com/89 (…
Feb 20, 2020
88: Recovery Dharma with Josh Rychert
Josh Rychert joins us today. He will be talking about the recovery community called Recovery Dharma, in Boise, Idaho. Josh shares his personal story and explains how mindfulness, Buddhism, and learning to understand his dharma assisted him and can assist others too, by bringing the elements of peace and calmness into their lives and their recovery process.
Episode Link>>>>> www.theaddictedmind.com/88 ( http://www.theaddictedmind.com/88 )
Josh is in Boise, Idaho, where he has been involved in the recovery community since 2014. Recovery Dharma, under that name, only came into being last year. Recovery Dharma in Boise started as Refuge Recovery, with small groups and alliances with other similar groups through an online presence.
Recovery Dharma is an addiction recovery peer support group, with meetings all over the nation. It uses Buddhism, with the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path, as a way to structure recovery for individuals.
Josh's recovery began in 1995. After having ha…
Feb 13, 2020
87: The Root of the Addictive Process with Alex Katehakis
Today's guest is Alex Katehakis. Alex is a Clinical Sexologist with a doctorate in human sexuality. She's also the Clinical Director of the Center For Healthy Sex in Los Angeles, California.
Alex has written several books - Sex Addiction As Affect Dysregulation, Erotic Intelligence, and Mirror Of Intimacy.
Episode link>>>> www.theaddictedmind.com/87 ( http://www.theaddictedmind.com/87 )
In today's episode, she shares her wisdom and insight about recovery and we have a great conversation about the root causes of the addictive process. We focus on the early developmental trauma and the way that it affects the ability to regulate our affect, and how addictive substances or processes are used to escape from those feelings.
Alex has always been fascinated by human sexuality. After practicing as a licensed marriage/family therapist for twenty-five years, she decided to dive deeper into human sexuality, rather than psychology.
In addition to human sexuality, Alex has also been studying w…
Feb 6, 2020
86: Treatment and Recovery from Chemsex Addiction
David Fawcett is our guest for today and he will be talking about chemsex addiction. He will explain what it is and how people recover when they fuse a drug addiction and a sex addiction.
Episode Link>>>>> www.theaddictedmind.com/86 ( http://www.theaddictedmind.com/86 )
David is a licensed clinical social worker and a sexologist (sex therapist). For the last twenty years, he has been working with men who have sex with men who use methamphetamine, other drugs, and high-risk sex. He has now developed an interest in what has become known as chemsex.
For years, people were coming to David, as a sexologist, with their sexual problems. By looking at their history, he noticed that the sexual problems were being caused by methamphetamine. And he realized that people were often seeking help for their sex problems rather than for their drug problems. This led to David's discovery of the fusion between sexual behavior and drug use. And the devastation that it caused for the affected individual…
Jan 30, 2020
85: Using Breathwork to Cope with a Food Addiction with Kathleen Oh
Kathleen Oh is our guest for today. We have a great conversation with her about breathwork, facilitating change, and non-ordinary experiences.
Episode Link>>>> www.theaddictedmind.com/85 ( http://www.theaddictedmind.com/85 )
Kathleen is an Integration Coach, and her work started three years ago, in the foundation of her addiction, and her recovery. She had plenty of help from some great mentors and teachers along the way, however, it was ultimately the tools that she acquired for herself, in her journey out of her addiction, that got her to where she is today.
Kathleen has a food addiction. This was very hard for her, and although her addiction wasn't obvious to others, it was clear to her that there was something profoundly wrong with her brain because she saw how she was continuously cycling through addictions with cigarettes, alcohol, and food. She was a binge-eater who used to eat secretly. She was obese, and her appetite for refined foods was insatiable, so she knew she had an…
Jan 23, 2020
84: The Rising Cost of Rehab with German Lopez
Today, our guest is German Lopez. German a writer and he is currently doing a project called The Rehab Racket, which involves looking into addiction treatment, exploring some of the issues associated with it, and bringing them to light. This challenges the addiction treatment community to provide the very best care for people who are suffering from addictions.
German is a senior correspondent at Vox.com. Before, he was writing mostly about drug policy and criminal justice issues, but for the past few months, his focus has been on The Rehab Racket project, which was created to investigate the cost and quality of the treatment that is available for addictions in the United States. At this point, German has received more than 1100 submissions from patients and their families.
Episode Link>>>> www.theaddictedmind.com/84 ( http://www.theaddictedmind.com/84 )
For the last few years, German has been researching and writing about the opioid epidemic. He saw that policy-makers had been makin…
Jan 16, 2020
83: Changing the Relationship with You Through Recovery
Today, we have a great conversation with Jen Sugermeyer. She shares her story of addiction and recovery, and she talks to us about overcoming her shame and her fear of reaching out, and how she managed to change her relationship with herself.
Jen grew up on the East Coast and she currently lives in Dallas, Texas.
Jen's addiction started at the age of twelve, with an eating disorder. At the time, she did not realize that she was paving the way for her brain to become accustomed to satisfying her reward system.
Episode Link>>>>www.theaddictedmind.com/83 ( http://theaddictedmind.com/83 )
When she reached her mid-thirties, she was an alcoholic and she had been trying to get sober for more than a decade. Looking back, Jen could see her pattern of gaining control of one addiction, and then that leading to another one.
Jen also saw that she was accustomed to living two distinctly different lives. She was working in Corporate America at the time, and she did not talk openly about her eati…
Jan 9, 2020
82: Being Present with Faye Mandell
Today, Dr. Faye Mandell is with us to talk about spirituality, connection, and how being in the present moment and looking at our reality from a quantum perspective can help us find more joy and happiness.
Dr. Mandell is a practicing Awareness Coach. Although she has a Ph.D. in psychology, she does not use the old paradigm psychological framework that she learned in graduate school.
Dr. Mandell wanted to continue educating herself so she went to the Cambridge Adult Education building in Massachusetts and decided to randomly choose a course. At the time, she did not yet know that random was the order of the universe. She had never studied anything to do with physics, before, and by chance, the course that her finger landed on was called Quantum Physics In The Face of God.
Episode Link>> www.theaddictedmind.com/82 ( http://www.theaddictedmind.com/82 )
The course was given by Fred Allen Wolfe and it completely re-oriented Dr.Mandell's life and changed the way that she interacted with…
Jan 2, 2020
81: Creating Habits That Improve Your Quality of Life with Steve Rio
Steve Rio, Founder of the Nature of Work is our guest today. Today, we’re talking about work and recovery and what affects the recovery process. In a quest to live our best lives, we want Steve to share his take on how we can optimize our lives and live in a way that fulfills us.
Episode Link>> www.theaddictedmind.com/81 ( http://www.theaddictedmind.com/81 )
Steve is a futurist, technologist and researcher born in Vancouver BC, Canada. Steve is founder and CEO of Briteweb ( https://briteweb.com/ ) , an international social impact agency delivering strategy, branding and digital, and the Founder of Nature of Work ( http://natureofwork.co/ ) , helping people be more productive, creative and happy in their work and their lives.
Steve thrives at the intersection of social impact, culture and technology and is an expert in exponential organizations, remote and distributed teams and workforce wellness and performance. He has real world experience leading remote and distributed digital t…
Dec 26, 2019
80: Finding Honesty and Recovery Beyond the Filtered Life with Emily Lynn Paulson
Recovery from addiction is a particularly challenging process for women, who are also mothers, to go through. Emily Lynn Paulson, author of the book, Highlight Real: Finding Honesty and Recovery Beyond the Filtered Life, is our guest for today's show. She shares the story of her addiction and her journey along the path of the process of recovery and healing.
Emily lives in Seattle and she's is the mother of five children. She has been sober for three years now, and she is a certified, professional recovery coach.
Emily used to dislike herself a lot. She had difficulty with being honest, both with herself and with others. From a very young age, she used to tell white lies to cover up the things she didn't like about herself and to make up for the things she thought she lacked.
Episode Link>> www.theaddictedmind.com/80 ( http://www.theaddictedmind.com/80 )
When Emily started drinking, it helped her to cover up, and make up, for the things she didn't like about herself or that she tho…
Dec 19, 2019
79: Memoir of a Delinquent Girlhood with Maureen Stanton
Today's guest is Maureen Stanton, the author of the memoir, Body Leaping Backwards, Memoir of a Delinquent Girlhood.
Maureen spent about forty years writing her book but she kept avoiding taking it to the point of getting published because there was shame in it for her. So she only started writing the book seriously in 2014, once her dad had passed away. He had done the very best he could for her so she wouldn't have wanted him to feel ashamed of her.
*Episode Link>>* www.theaddictedmind.com/79 ( http://www.theaddictedmind.com/79 )
Maureen wanted to tell the story of what happened with her so long ago because she believes that it is still relevant and that it will still resonate with teenagers today, even though the specifics are different.
Maureen's teenage years were a time of great anxiousness, sadness, and confusion. She felt that she wanted to disappear. She had feelings of self-doubt and she lacked self-confidence to the point of self-loathing. So she turned to drugs to self-…
Dec 12, 2019
78: The Freedom Model of Addiction Treatment with Mark Scheeren & Michelle Dunbar
Our guests for today are Mark Sheeran and Michelle Dunbar of the Baldwin Research Group. They have a thought-provoking conversation about The Freedom Model of addiction treatment, which is a non-Twelve Step, and non-disease model of treatment.
Mark is 49-years old. He is the chairman of Baldwin Research and he is one of the authors of The Freedom Model. Mark co-founded the Saint Jude Retreat, which is where The Freedom Model is taught.
Episode Link>>>>www.theaddictedmind.com/78 ( http://theaddictedmind.com/78 )
Mark and Michelle both come from heavy AA backgrounds. Their families were both steeped in treatment and AA, so their research actually began when they were kids.
Mark was involved in a serious drunk-driving accident thirty years ago, at the age of nineteen. This made him realize that he needed to change his life. He was mandated into treatment and found that he disagreed vehemently with what they were teaching him because he did not believe that he would be an alcoholic for…
Dec 5, 2019
77: Seeking Treatment Before Hitting Rock Bottom with Dave Jansa
Today, Dave Jansa, of We Face It Together, talks about how he helps people get through a part of addiction treatment that sometimes tends to be overlooked. There are some people who suffer from addiction who have not necessarily hit their rock bottom. So, although they realize they have a problem, they have often not yet suffered the all big consequences of their addiction.
Dave offers coaching, to help these people change their thinking about addiction and to help them change their addictive process before they have to face the deep consequences that are normally associated with addiction.
Sixty-four-year-old Dave was born and raised in South Dakota. He comes from a big family where addiction was rife. Currently, five of the eight siblings in Dave's family are abstinent from drugs and alcohol.
Dave started drinking alcohol when he was in high school. He also became a heavy marijuana smoker at the time. This curtailed his education because he quit college after his first semester an…
Nov 28, 2019
76: Finding Yourself at Rock Bottom with Gregg Champion
Today's guest is Gregg Champion and he will be talking about hitting rock bottom, what that means, and the significance of finding ourselves sitting at the crossroads of wanting to change from a life of addiction to one of recovery. Gregg also discusses his rock bottom, and he tells us his recovery story.
Episode Link: www.theaddictedmind.com/76 ( Today's%20guest%20is%20Gregg%20Champion%20and%20he%20will%20be%20talking%20about%20hitting%20rock%20bottom,%20what%20that%20means,%20and%20the%20significance%20of%20finding%20ourselves%20sitting%20at%20the%20crossroads%20of%20wanting%20to%20change%20from%20a%20life%20of%20addiction%20to%20one%20of%20recovery.%20Gregg%20also%20discusses%20his%20rock%20bottom,%20and%20he%20tells%20us%20his%20recovery%20story.%20%20Gregg%20is%20the%20co-founder%20of%20Startup%20Recovery,%20located%20in%20the%20Pacific%20Palisades.%20Startup%20Recovery%20is%20a%20transformational%20residence%20that%20supports%20people%20through%20career,%20passion,%20and%20what%…
Nov 21, 2019
75: The Role of Grief and Loss in Addiction with Dr. Sonya Lott
Today's guest is Dr. Sonya Lott, a licensed psychologist with advanced training from Columbia University's Center for Complicated Grief. Sonya runs a private practice in Pennsylvania and she hosts the Reflections on Multicultural Competence Podcast. She is the founder and CEO of Cempsych LLC, a company offering continuing education for licensed mental health professionals.
Today, Sonya talks to us about grief and loss, which is intertwined in many ways with the addictive process. She explains that living is about connection but, ironically, the more loss we experience, the greater the likelihood becomes that we will actually fear connection. Still, it is very important to acknowledge the need for connection.
Join The Addicted Mind Podcast Facebook Group>>> ( https://www.facebook.com/groups/TheAddictedMindPodcast/ )
Sonya explains that what we think and feel has a direct and immediate influence on what's happening with the neurotransmitters in our brain. This has a long-term impact o…
Nov 14, 2019
74: Turning Your Past Into Your Superpower with Erin Miller
Today, Erin Miller shares her story of losing her son, Chad, to heroin addiction. She talks very frankly about her painful process of grief and loss, and she explains how she's managed to find meaning and purpose in what she's been through, by using Chad's story to help others.
Join The Addicted Mind Podcast Facebook Group>>> ( https://www.facebook.com/groups/TheAddictedMindPodcast/ )
Five years have passed since Chad's death. During this time, Erin has gained a lot of insight and wisdom, and her current perspective is completely different from how it was at the time of his death. Being able to help others has made the whole experience worthwhile for her.
Erin explains that addiction has become an epidemic. It is on the rise and it is destroying families and people's lives. She believes that there's one kind of addiction or another running in virtually every household because both street drugs and prescription medication are so very easily available today. This is why she advocates…
Nov 7, 2019
73: The Toll of Sugar Addiction with Mike Collins
In this episode, Mike Collins talks to us about sugar addiction. Mike is the chairman of the Food Addiction Institute, a non-profit which has been around since 2005. Their stated goal is to get chronic sugar use elevated to a substance use disorder.
Mike found recovery from his drug and alcohol addiction a little more than 34 years ago when he was 28. Over the years, he got married and had a normal career and business life. Yet, as he progressed with his sobriety, he started to recognize that his patterns with sugar were almost identical to his using patterns with drugs and alcohol. If he didn't have it he suffered withdrawals and became anxious, and irritable.
Join The Addicted Mind Podcast Facebook Group>>> ( https://www.facebook.com/groups/TheAddictedMindPodcast/ )
In his intensive studies of addiction over the last five years, Mike has noticed that the sugar cravings in recovery seemed to revolve around the brain's reward system. He saw that many people, in their first year of…
Oct 10, 2019
72: Reaching Out With Your Story With Eli Nash
Our guest on this episode of The Addicted Mind podcast is Eli Nash, founder of the Mic Drop public speaking training program whose purpose is to help people articulate their stories. Eli has recently gained recognition from his TEDx video about escaping his porn addiction, and he hopes the Mic Drop program provides a platform for others to find connections through being vulnerable enough to speak their truth.
Join The Addicted Mind Podcast Facebook Group>>> ( https://www.facebook.com/groups/TheAddictedMindPodcast/ )
At a young age, Eli started scouring through his family’s mail to find any catalogs with a lingerie section and hiding those catalogs in secret stash places all around his house. When his family got a computer, his secret stashes became hidden computer folders containing pornographic images, and even when he knew he needed to stop this behavior, he simply couldn’t stop. This demoralizing process of wanting but failing to stop consuming this content just fed into the d…
Sep 24, 2019
71: When Sane People Do Insane Things with Ellie Katz
Dr. Ellie Katz has spent the past 35 years working in the area of addiction treatment, using her holistic approach and real talk with compassion to work with her clients. She joins us on this episode of the Addicted Mind podcast to discuss her experiences and observations about the field and about human nature.
Join The Addicted Mind Podcast Facebook Group>>> ( https://www.facebook.com/groups/TheAddictedMindPodcast/ )
Ellie has been living in Israel for 40+ years and she began her career in psychological linguistics, but she always had a desire to help people directly. Even as an adolescent, people recognized her deep intuition about those around her, calling her the Earth Mother and coming to her for advice and guidance. Ever since she transitioned to helping people with their addiction treatment, her focus has been on helping her clients and their families sort through the irresistible urges that had been ruling the addicts’ bodies.
*Calming The Addicted Mind - 6 Day Mindfulness…
Sep 3, 2019
70: Welcomed Accepted & Loved with Leslie Cole
Our guest on this episode of The Addicted Mind podcast is Leslie Cole, an addiction medicine physician at a clinic outside of Nashville, Tennessee, and author of the book “Quit Pain Pills.” Leslie spent the first 20 years of her medical career as an internist. The journey of self-discovery stemming from realizing she had been struggling with an eating disorder led her down a different path. She found hope and healing through recovery literature during that time. When an addiction clinic called her out of the blue to offer her a job, she knew that she had found her sweet spot, helping others find hope and healing.
Join The Addicted Mind Podcast Facebook Group>>> ( https://www.facebook.com/groups/TheAddictedMindPodcast/ )
Leslie is a firm believer in providing an environment to patients where they feel welcomed, accepted, loved, and safe. People struggling with addiction are used to the shame heaped onto them from themselves and others, but they are not used to a provider listening…
Aug 15, 2019
69: Medication-Assisted Addiction Treatment with Cynthia Schmit
Cynthia Schmit is an advocate for medication-assisted treatment of addictions who would love to see healthcare providers informing their patients of all of the options for treating their addictions. On this episode of The Addicted Mind podcast, Cynthia talks with us about the physiology of addiction and the need for education regarding medication-assisted treatment.
Join The Addicted Mind Podcast Facebook Group>>> ( https://www.facebook.com/groups/TheAddictedMindPodcast/ )
In her early 20’s, Cynthia found herself using every recreational drug that someone put into her hand, quickly progressing from marijuana to heroin and beyond. She found herself wanting to quit often, attempting to detox on her own at least 5 times before she completed a 28-day methadone detox and a 6-month 12-step recovery program. During her time in rehab, the knee-jerk reaction of providers was “you don’t treat drug addiction with drugs,.” Medication-assisted treatment was not presented as an option to h…
Jul 22, 2019
68: Talking Suicide with Ursula Whiteside
On this episode of The Addicted Mind podcast, Duane interviews Dr. Ursula Whiteside, a clinician, researcher, and trainer in the area of suicide prevention. Ursula struggled with her suicidal thoughts throughout her life, and in 1999, she moved to Washington state to learn from Marsha Linehan, the creator of DBT (dialectical behavior therapy). Suicide is the 2nd leading cause of death in some age groups and is more prevalent than car accidents, homicides, and breast cancer. Beyond these statistics, it is estimated that 10 million Americans every year have suicidal ideation.
Join The Addicted Mind Podcast Facebook Group>>> ( https://www.facebook.com/groups/TheAddictedMindPodcast/ )
The exciting thing is that this overwhelming emotional crisis that can lead to suicidal ideation is not sustainable in the brain for more than 48 hours. So while people are within this timeframe, it often feels like things will always be this bad and that there is no hope. While it might not be helpful for…
Jul 8, 2019
67: If You Love Me: A Mother's Journey Through Her Daughter's Opioid Addiction with Maureen Cavanagh
Our guest on this episode of the Addicted Mind podcast is Maureen Cavanagh, author, and founder of Magnolia New Beginnings. Maureen’s family had a long history of addiction, but since she was not personally prone to addiction, she thought that she knew the formula to help keep her kids away from addiction as well. However, her world was suddenly shaken when one of her daughters came to her to admit that she had been experimenting with heroin.
Join The Addicted Mind Podcast Facebook Group>>> ( https://www.facebook.com/groups/TheAddictedMindPodcast/ )
Even living in an upper-middle-class neighborhood, opioids were not difficult for her daughter to find, and once she tried heroin for the first time, the road to sobriety and recovery proved to be steep. Just when Maureen thought her daughter had a handle on her addiction, it would rear its ugly head again, and she would see just how much of a hold it had on her precious child, who was now an adult. Maureen did what she believed any goo…
Jun 21, 2019
66: Creating Positive Self-Connection with Tim Sitt
Our guest on this episode of The Addicted Mind podcast is Tim Sitt, a clinician at the Freedom to Move Group who shares Duane’s appreciation of Virginia Satir’s work. Virginia Satir was cutting-edge in the 1960s when she moved away from the “traditional” psychoanalytic model and practices that perpetuated the hierarchical narrative that had become the norm in therapy. Her work is still revolutionary in that clinicians using her techniques bring in all of the pertinent members of the person’s family to address every member as having equal value and potentially remove the risk of redacting progress made with the individual during a session when they go back to their home environment, which may have caused them to turn to coping in the first place.
Join The Addicted Mind Podcast Facebook Group>>> ( https://www.facebook.com/groups/TheAddictedMindPodcast/ )
People struggling with addiction often feel shame and no sense of self-worth, but this model aims to bring dignity to the p…
Jun 7, 2019
65: Ketamine IV Therapy with Michael Steuer
Our guest on this episode of The Addicted Mind podcast is Dr. Michael Steuer of the Pacific Ketamine Institute in Los Angeles. Dr. Steuer’s training and practice have mainly been in the areas of anesthesia and pain management, but for the past 5+ years, he has shifted his focus somewhat to the use of ketamine to treat depression, mood disorders, addiction, and chronic pain.
Join The Addicted Mind Podcast Facebook Group>>> ( https://www.facebook.com/groups/TheAddictedMindPodcast/ )
Before 2013, when the effectiveness of ketamine for these purposes was discovered, the main drugs to treat depression and mood disorders such as PTSD were SSRIs and SNRIs (Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and Serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors). While these medications were effective in temporarily treating the symptoms of depression and mood disorders, they often took weeks or months for patients to feel their effects and they often came with unpleasant side effects.
*Calming The Addict…
May 22, 2019
64: Jacob's Recovery Story with Jacob Jones
On this episode of The Addicted Mind podcast, Duane interviews Jacob Jones, author of the book “Recovered” and former opioid addict. Jacob has had a very turbulent but not uncommon path from addiction to recovery, and his insights into what drove his attitudes and behaviors over the years are eye-opening to anyone who has never personally experienced addiction.
Join The Addicted Mind Podcast Facebook Group>>> ( https://www.facebook.com/groups/TheAddictedMindPodcast/ )
Jacob grew up in Alabama, the son of a University of Alabama football player who spent several years playing professional football, so the desire to perform well athletically was instilled in Jacob at a young age. When he started playing football in 7th grade, it was clear that he had genuine talent, and the desire for acceptance and affirmation through achievement essentially became his first addiction. He was given the scholarship to play at the University of Alabama – a dream come true – and before he even to…
May 2, 2019
63: Talking To Your Spiritual Wisdom with Harry Derbitsky
Harry Derbitsky, President of Advanced Coaches Training Inc. and author of “Evolution of Addiction Recovery”, joins us on this episode of The Addicted Mind. While Harry himself has never been addicted to a substance, he recognizes that there are addictive behavior patterns in every person, and he has committed his life to help reorient the minds of those affected by addiction.
Join The Addicted Mind Podcast Facebook Group>>> ( https://www.facebook.com/groups/TheAddictedMindPodcast/ )
During his time working with the indigenous people of Vancouver, Harry has found some common patterns: people want to leave their addiction, but they do not know how, many of the common strategies focus on personal effort, and working with clients on their internal condition first brings much more significant results. Harry uses a three principles model which includes mind, though, and consciousness and combines mental health and spiritual wisdom. With this model, the primary goal is to guide the cli…
Apr 11, 2019
62: Shatterproof Transforming Addiction Treatment with Samantha Arsenault
Our guest on this episode of The Addicted Mind podcast is Samantha Arsenault, Director of National Treatment Quality Initiatives at Shatterproof. Shatterproof is a nonprofit organization on a mission to improve addiction treatment through prevention, treatment, education, and advocacy. It was founded in 2014 by Gary Mendell, a businessman who lost his son to the disease of addiction and became passionate about helping other families navigate the broken addiction treatment system.
*Calming The Addicted Mind - 6 Day Mindfulness Email Series*
theaddictedmind.com/mindfulness ( http://theaddictedmind.com/mindfulness )
The work of Shatterproof was additionally spurred on by the 2016 Surgeon General’s report that showed empirical evidence that substance use disorders and other addictions can be treated effectively, but there is a significant gap in care available. In response, Shatterproof established their National Principles of Care ( https://www.shatterproof.org/shatterproof-national-p…
Apr 5, 2019
61: Brain Maps & The Mind with Kyle Ferroly
On this episode of the Addicted Mind Podcast, our guest is Kyle Ferroly, a specialist in the area of psychophysiology. Kyle is passionate about spreading his message about the connections between mind, brain, and body and the untapped potential of integrating brain mapping with physical and mental health practices.
*Calming The Addicted Mind - 6 Day Mindfulness Email Series*
theaddictedmind.com/mindfulness ( http://theaddictedmind.com/mindfulness )
Most people, even those in the medical field, do not realize the depth of knowledge that can be gained through the analysis of a brain scan. An electroencephalogram (EEG) simultaneously measures 19 channels of brain activity and speaks volumes about electrical imbalances in the brain that contribute to varying levels of connectivity, coherence, phase, and speed and impact the mind as well as behaviors. This test can reveal certain brain patterns that predispose people to addictions or anxiety and provide doctors with a whole picture of wha…
Mar 7, 2019
60: Helping Our Young People with Recovery Schools
On this episode of The Addicted Mind podcast, Duane is joined by two practitioners in and advocates for recovery high schools. Michael Durchslag leads PEASE Academy in Minneapolis and Andy Finch is an academic researcher in the field of recovery schools at Vanderbilt University and co-founder of the Association of Recovery Schools.
*Calming The Addicted Mind - 6 Day Mindfulness Email Series*
theaddictedmind.com/mindfulness ( http://theaddictedmind.com/mindfulness )
Recovery schools have been around since the late 1970s, but their growth has really started climbing in the past 20 years and there are currently 45 recovery schools in the US. Recovery schools provide a high school education and significant recovery support to students who are in recovery for a substance use disorder. Adolescents leaving rehab often find it difficult to maintain their sobriety when they return to the same home environment and school situation, so recovery schools are a great resource for students to learn…
Feb 22, 2019
59: Never Binge Again with Glenn Livingston
On this episode of The Addicted Mind podcast, we are joined by Glenn Livingston, a psychologist, marketing consultant, and former binge eater. Glenn’s issues with food began during his childhood and continued progressing through adolescence until he developed very serious health problems and his doctors told him that he needed to make a change. Coming from a family full of psychologists, he started out going the psychological route, but he didn’t break through until he had a couple of realizations that led him to create an unconventional road to recovery.
*Calming The Addicted Mind - 6 Day Mindfulness Email Series*
theaddictedmind.com/mindfulness ( http://theaddictedmind.com/mindfulness )
The first thing he realized was that people gravitate towards binging different types of foods based on their mental state. He organized a study with 40,000 responses that described the connection between foods and circumstances: chocolate is the drug of choice for people who are lonely or broke…
Feb 8, 2019
58: Teens, Vaping & Nicotine Addiction with Laura Kelly
Our guest on this episode of the Addicted Mind podcast is Laura Kelly, health reporter for the Washington Times. In early January 2017, Laura wrote an article for the Times about the increasing rate of teen nicotine addiction due to e-cigarettes and vaping. Over the past 6 years, e-cigarettes have become increasingly popular, more technologically advanced, and more discrete.
*Calming The Addicted Mind - 6 Day Mindfulness Email Series*
theaddictedmind.com/mindfulness ( http://theaddictedmind.com/mindfulness )
One particular brand – Juul – has risen to the top, and they are using their elevated status to target teens and young adults. The vaping liquid or pods that Juul produces contain a salt-based formula that comes in attractive flavors containing nicotine, which causes it to be absorbed differently than the nicotine in cigarettes. Because pods are not tobacco-based, the e-cigarette/vaping industry is not currently regulated by the FDA, meaning that companies can sell to almost…
Jan 24, 2019
57: Addicted To Love with Lacy Bentley
Our guest on this episode of the Addicted Mind podcast is Lacy Bentley, a recovery mentor, and coach in the areas of love and sex addictions for women.
*Calming The Addicted Mind - 6 Day Mindfulness Email Series*
theaddictedmind.com/mindfulness ( http://theaddictedmind.com/mindfulness )
At age 13, Lacy found herself consuming erotic novels and pornographic anime called hentai. She didn’t realize it until much later in life, but her involvement with those types of pornography had created an addiction to the fantasy that affected all of her relationships into adulthood. She developed a pattern of escape and avoidance related to any intense emotion – positive or negative – that was affecting her marriage and her relationship with her children as well.
Join The Addicted Mind Podcast Facebook Group>>> ( https://www.facebook.com/groups/TheAddictedMindPodcast/ )
Once she realized her own issues, she realized that there had to be other women out there who were struggling as well, but…
Jan 2, 2019
56: Opiates & Medical Cannabis with Peter Grinspoon
On this episode of The Addicted Mind podcast, we are joined by Peter Grinspoon, a primary care physician in the Boston area who is an advocate of medical cannabis.
*Calming The Addicted Mind - 6 Day Mindfulness Email Series*
theaddictedmind.com/mindfulness ( http://theaddictedmind.com/mindfulness )
During medical school, Peter and a few of his classmates decided to try a sample of Vicodin to see if they could experience the euphoric side effects. While his friends tried it that once and never felt compelled to try it again, Peter immediately felt the need to find another high. This feeling was exacerbated by the stress of the medical profession and the easy accessibility of medications, and throughout 10 years, he battled an opioid addiction. Ultimately, this addiction led him to trouble with the law, a 90-day rehab program, and a few relapses, but 3.5 years later, Peter had progressed in his recovery enough to get his medical license back. He credits his successful recovery to the s…
Dec 11, 2018
55: Joshua's Recovery Story - Porn Addiction
Our guest on this episode of the Addicted Mind podcast is Joshua Shea, who joins us to tell his story of addictions to alcohol and pornography and the past 4 years of recovery. Joshua was first introduced to porn around age 11 and alcohol at age 15, and looking back, he recognizes that he was addicted from Day 1. Even at a young age, he began to use alcohol and porn as an escape from life and a way to soothe whatever emotions or pain he was experiencing, seeking the element of power or control over his circumstances that he didn’t have in the real world. He leaned on the notion that alcohol and porn were never going to let him down or tell him he wasn’t good enough, and this mentality became a crutch for him.
*Calming The Addicted Mind - 6 Day Mindfulness Email Series*
theaddictedmind.com/mindfulness ( http://theaddictedmind.com/mindfulness )
Joshua remembers that things began spinning out of control when he was struggling to keep up with work and his public service, so he took h…
Nov 30, 2018
54: Building A Culture Of Support - Group Therapy with Mari Lee
Our guest on this episode of The Addicted Mind podcast is *Mari Lee* , a licensed marriage and family and certified sex addiction therapist supervisor, consultant, coach, speaker, author, and founder of Growth Counseling Services in Glendora, CA. Mari is a firm believer in the power of group therapy in conjunction with individual therapy and 12-step sessions to aid in the recovery process, especially with sex and porn addictions. Addiction thrives in secrecy and isolation, and could often be triggered by boredom and loneliness, so an excellent way to progress in the recovery process is to have a confidential group of individuals who know what you are going through and can support you along the way. The members of this group could, in fact, be the first healthy relationships they have each experienced.
*Sign Up For our 6 Day Mindfulness Email Series*
theaddictedmind.com/mindfulness ( http://theaddictedmind.com/mindfulness )
Group therapy, when facilitated the right way, can provide th…
Nov 13, 2018
53: The Body Remembers - Somatic Experiencing with Suzie Wolfer
On this episode of The Addicted Mind podcast, our guest is Suzie Wolfer, LCSW, SEP a therapist specializing in Somatic Experiencing®, a powerful system of healing trauma and addiction at it’s core and for completing trauma so that it’s let go of you.
*Sign Up For our 6 Day Mindfulness Email Series*
theaddictedmind.com/mindfulness ( http://theaddictedmind.com/mindfulness )
Somatic means “of the body,” which includes the sensations we feel when we experience different emotions and thoughts. Trauma and stress are stored in the body, causing behaviors, patterns or responses arising from implicit memory system or the unconscious.
Our initial reaction to the uncomfortable feelings that are associated with trauma and stress is to stabilize these feelings by managing them from the “top down,” striving to suppress, control, or make the feelings go away. This desire to manage troubling thoughts and emotions, though useful in the short term, keeps us from healing the underlying st…
Nov 2, 2018
52: Fat Shame & The Obesity Epidemic with Michael Hobbes
On this episode of The Addicted Mind, we are joined by Michael Hobbes, a writer for The Huffington Post and co-host of the You’re Wrong About… podcast. Michael wrote an article entitled “Everything You Know About Obesity is Wrong” for HuffPost in September 2018 which has gotten a lot of attention in the psychology community as well as the culture at large. There are 160 million Americans that are classified as overweight or obese based on the BMI scale, but even though these individuals constitute 30% of the population, they are treated as a marginalized minority who are somehow tainted or inferior to the rest of Americans.
During the interviews that Michael conducted for his article, he encountered countless people who felt guilt, shame, hurt, anger, and sadness based on the way they have been treated or the projections of what they want to look and feel like instead of the way they do right now. There seems to be a prevailing attitude that overweight or obese people are lazy…
Oct 19, 2018
51: Practical Recovery & SMART Recovery with Tom Horvath
On this episode of the Addicted Mind podcast, our guest is Tom Horvath, founder of Practical Recovery and co-founder of Smart Recovery. Smart Recovery is a non-12-step approach to addictive behavior problems that provides an alternative to programs like Alcoholics Anonymous. While both methods provide new communities and relationships to build on as well as specific examples of individuals who are models of success, AA is based on the idea that you must give yourself up to a higher power because “you are powerless” and must rely on your sponsor and meetings in order to recover.
12-step programs can be helpful to some, but they can be ineffective for others, so the demand for alternative programs is continuing to increase. Smart Recovery integrates any methods that have been supported by scientific evidence, are self-empowering and are applicable in a mutual help group, including CBT, DBT, and ACT. They recognize that there are multiple pathways to recovery and that great results o…
Oct 11, 2018
50: Too Close - Parental Enmeshment & Addiction with Kenneth Adams
Our guest on this episode of The Addicted Mind podcast is Dr. Ken Adams, a therapist specializing in the area of parental enmeshment and its connection to compulsive behaviors such as porn and sex addiction. All families are defined by the balance of closeness and separate between the members. Enmeshed families overemphasize their closeness, resulting in the parents controlling the decisions of their children, demanding their loyalty, prohibiting them from becoming involved with friends or activities outside of the family, and using guilt as a punishment for trying to separate any part of their lives from their parents. It is not uncommon for the parents in these types of families to treat the children as a surrogate husband or wife, expecting the child to fulfill their emotional needs.
As a result of experiencing this lifestyle throughout childhood, adults usually find themselves struggling to live their own lives, even if they are geographically separated from each other. The enmeshm…
Sep 27, 2018
49: Getting Into The Experience - Adventure Therapy with Ricky Santiago
Ricky Santiago, a specialist in adventure therapy, joined us for this episode of The Addicted Mind podcast. He uses specially planned and designed activities such as kayaking, snorkeling, and ropes courses in his adventure therapy sessions. Experiential therapy like adventure therapy maximizes the benefits of group therapy by building self-esteem, utilizing metaphors, and providing an arena to practice coping skills and process emotions. Ricky and his colleagues have often found more success through one experiential therapy session than through several talk therapy sessions because clients are not able to hide their true selves when they are participating in an activity that is challenging to them mentally, emotionally, or physically.
Since the therapist is participating in the activity as well, the clients see how the therapist handles their emotions and difficulties they come across, and clients can more easily open up about fears or challenges in their own lives or experiences. Tho…
Sep 21, 2018
48: Inside Rehab - The Surprising Truth About Addiction Treatment with Anne Fletcher
On this episode of The Addicted Mind podcast, our guest is Anne Fletcher, author of 8 books including “Sober for Good” and “Inside Rehab.” Anne felt the need to write “Inside Rehab” after consulting with several experts, one of which posited that people usually spend more time picking out their next vacuum cleaner than they would finding the right addiction treatment facility. Driven by the notions that treatment should help people avoid hitting rock bottom and that their treatment should emphasize the benefits of sobriety over the pitfalls of addiction, she spent 4 years studying 15 different treatment centers across the country to see what was working and what wasn’t working for their patients.
She was somewhat shocked to discover that most inpatient and outpatient treatment facilities heavily employ group-based treatment, 12-step methods such as AA, and counselors without medical or psychological expertise in their limited one-on-one sessions. As she expected, she hea…
Sep 6, 2018
47: Nate's Recovery Story
Our guest on this episode of The Addicted Mind podcast is Nate Postlethwait, who joined us to share his recovery journey. Nate grew up in a very religious environment in a rural southern town, which had a profound impact on his childhood and his eventual recovery from the trauma he experienced and his resulting sex addiction. Sexual dysfunction was a generational issue with his family that was never properly handled, and he was the victim of multiple abusive encounters as a child, but it was not until his early 20’s that Nate realized that his compulsions were not typical. He came to understand that he was putting himself in physical danger due to his addiction which led him to feel tremendous shame. Acknowledging that he did not want his life to continue this way, he sought counsel and therapy within the religious community for several years, but he found that they were not equipped to address the biological roots of his trauma or addiction.
In his first week at a treatment center,…
Aug 24, 2018
46: The Healing Power of Equine Therapy with Marla Berger
On this episode of The Addicted Mind podcast, our guest is Marla Berger, a clinician in the field of experiential therapy, who joined us to talk about equine-assisted psychotherapy. Research and experience show that treatment centers, which incorporate some experiential treatment into their program, see their clients make more progress more quickly. Equine-assisted psychotherapy and other similar activities give clients an opportunity to apply the insights they have gained through their talk therapy sessions.
During an equine session, an equine specialist and a clinician create a custom environment for the client or group of clients based on their needs and other environmental factors, and they facilitate the framework of the session. Clients then have the opportunity to interact (or not interact) with the horses or donkeys and ascribe meaning to what is happening. Animals are incredibly intuitive by nature because of their survival-driven need to be in tune with their environment, s…
Aug 16, 2018
45:Psychedelics & Post Traumatic Stress Disorder with Amy Emerson and Shannon Carlin
On this episode of The Addicted Mind, we are joined by Amy Emerson and Shannon Carlin of the Multidisciplinary Approach for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) research group. Amy and Shannon’s group has had 107 participants complete their MDMA-assisted PTSD therapy program in the last several years, with promising results. As you may know, PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) affects 7% of the US population who have experienced life-threatening events such as military combat, car accidents, natural disasters, or childhood abuse. Individuals with PTSD experience prolonged instability in their lives, perhaps resulting in hypervigilance, fear, difficulty sleeping, and lack of trust.
MDMA, the active ingredient in ecstasy, allows participants to experience the opposite of their PTSD symptoms, ideally increasing trust and dampening fear. Participants go through 3 previous therapy visits to establish a baseline and get them familiar with the therapy process, then they have their first MDMA sessi…
Aug 9, 2018
44: Healing Complex & Developmental Trauma with NARM with Brad Kammer
Our guest on this episode of The Addicted Mind podcast is Brad Kammer, a therapist specializing in somatic psychotherapy to solve shock and developmental traumas. Brad’s interest in somatic psychotherapy began during his time as an aid worker working with Burmese refugees. He observed their healing rituals, which frequently involved physical actions such as singing, chanting, or performing, and while he was going through his own healing process from the secondary PTSD from his time with the Burmese people, he realized that talking through trauma is not always effective.
By working through the complex traumas experienced during childhood or other traumatic events with the body, healing can be much more attainable. Additionally, using more natural and realistic relationship-focused alternatives to the typical therapy session involving closed shades, a locked door, and no interruptions make people much more likely to share openly and get to the root of their traumas.
Whether we realiz…
Aug 2, 2018
43: Anxiety & The Anxious Story We Tell Ourselves
Our guest on this episode of the Addicted Mind podcast is Lori Kandels, a therapist in the Bay area specializing in anxiety. Anxiety is often the result of trauma and can manifest as fear, stress, self-doubt, and persistent negative stories ruminating in the mind, and can sometimes lead to addictions as a way to escape. The repetition of these stress responses creates neural pathways in the brain that become a cycle that can be difficult to break and usually negatively impacts the individual’s metabolism, concentration, sleep patterns, and ability to relax.
The key to understanding and treating anxiety is realizing that anxiety is only about the past or the future. With discipline and intention, anxiety can be overcome with practices such as mindfulness, meditation, EMDR, and the Emotional Freedom Technique or tapping. By identifying the triggers and developing a practice that gets the person used to relieve the anxiety, there is absolutely a way out of this stress cycle.
Lori want…
Jul 26, 2018
42: Eating Disorders & Addiction with Adina Silvestri
On this episode of the Addicted Mind podcast, we are joined by a returning guest, Adina Silvestri of Life Cycles Counseling in Richmond, Virginia. Adina’s practice works with individuals battling eating disorders partnered with addictions with the goal of transferring their shame to hope and healing.
The combination of eating disorders (anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, or binge eating) with substance or other addictions is very harmful to the health and wellbeing of those struggling and can even lead to death in untreated cases. It is common for men and women to struggle with eating disorders and addictions for years, silently suffering due to their shame, before reaching out for help. While there is not much literature available on treating these two disorders together, Adina has found that mindfulness and support and accountability groups are effective and life-changing resources for those struggling.
In these situations, there is always an underlying issue that the individual…
Jul 19, 2018
41: Veterans & First Responders with Timothy Wienecke
On this episode of the Addicted Mind podcast, Timothy Wienecke joins us to discuss his work in advocacy, clinical mental health, and an educational institute for veterans and first responders. A military veteran himself, Tim recognized the need for clinicians to focus on the mental health of veterans and first responders, who are prone to mental injury on a daily basis. He found that non-combat veterans and combat veterans with a dishonorable discharge have almost no access to resources to help them cope with PTSD and/or traumatic brain injuries, not to mention the typical struggles with finding purpose, integrating into civilian life, and learning how to be present with their families again. During their time in the service, members of the military are required to make very few major life decisions, but when they get out, they are bombarded with decisions but their identity is so wrapped up in their roles in the military that they struggle to process it all.
We have all heard that 22…
Jul 6, 2018
40: Invitational Interventions - The ARISE model with Jack Bloomfield
Our guest on this episode of the Addicted Mind podcast is Dr. Jack Bloomfield, a specialist in the ARISE model of interventions. This model is an alternative to the “traditional” form of confrontational interventions created in the 1960s by Dr. Johnson. In this confrontational model, the focus is very much on the addict, usually involving an ambush-type situation where several family members trick the addict into coming to a certain location where they are presented with some type of “go to rehab tomorrow or else…” ultimatum.
Due to the heartfelt emotions in this situation, addicts are likely to agree to go to rehab, but 70% of them will leave rehab within 2 weeks because they didn’t make the decision to enter on their own terms.
They usually feel anger and resentment towards their family which proves to be counterproductive to the family’s original desires and plan.
The ARISE model of intervention is different and successful in 3 areas:
* It is an invitation model. *…
Jun 28, 2018
39: Understanding What Works - Feedback Informed Treatment with Scott D Miller
On this episode of the Addicted Mind podcast, our guest is Dr. Scott D. Miller of the International Center of Clinical Excellence in the field of mental health. Dr. Miller has used his decades of experience in the industry to develop outcome measures with the goal of increasing the effectiveness of therapy. These outcomes are not merely “milestones” or objective progress markers, but are more subjective and are focused on the client’s well-being and function.
Previous training for therapists had been targeted towards treating the symptoms that the client had, but often even when the symptoms had gone away, the person wasn’t feeling much better. Using the ORS and SRS scales that Dr. Miller developed allows the therapist and the client to maintain an open dialogue regarding the effectiveness of their treatment and their satisfaction with their relationship overall, which is key to the success of the therapy. This practice of consistently tracking and reporting results allows the…
Jun 21, 2018
38: You Are Worth Recovery - Women & Sex Addiction with Amy Smith
Our guest on this episode of the Addicted Mind podcast is Amy Smith, founder of the Worth Recovery podcast, which has grown into a community of mutual support. Amy began her recovery journey in 2011 when she realized that her multiple failed “relationships” were a result of sex addiction and the notion that intimacy was nothing more than a transaction. On the very same day that she promised to do something to change her situation, her father – with whom anger had characterized her relationship – told her that he had been diagnosed with terminal brain cancer.
Because women with sex addiction seem to be a taboo subject, where Amy had to overcome stigma and shame that men with the same issue would not have to deal with due to the social acceptability. At the time, she was living in Seattle, where she found a great therapist and women’s 12-step group that embraced her on her road to recovery. A couple of years later, she moved to Salt Lake City and expected to find similar resou…
May 10, 2018
37: The Digital Age - Relationships, Intimacy & Porn with Robert Weiss
On this episode of The Addicted Mind podcast, we are joined by Robert Weiss, a digital-age intimacy and relationship expert and author of several insightful books on the topic (links below). Rob’s non-alarmist approach to the impacts of our digital age on intimacy and relationships as well as on the minds and futures of our children is refreshing and encouraging, while still reminding us to be aware and informed. In his 25 years in the industry, Rob has noticed significant shifts in the accessibility of pornography, leading to an increased prevalence of problems with porn in today’s society.
While previous generations had to wait until a certain age to legally purchase or rent pornographic magazines and videos – usually from a grimy store in a defunct area of town – the internet has allowed today’s adolescents and adults immediate, free, and convenient access to porn. This eliminates the need for mentally processing whether gaining access to the porn is worth the effort, bec…
Apr 26, 2018
36: Trauma Sensitive Yoga with Nicki Mosley
On this episode of the Addicted Mind podcast, we talk with Nicki Mosley about trauma-sensitive movement practice and the effective impact that this can have on those suffering from long-term trauma. Trauma-sensitive yoga was developed by The Trauma Center in Boston several years ago to give individuals a safe way to access their trauma and work through the sensations felt in the body by rebuilding the neural pathways related to making choices based on feelings. This is an evidence-based technique that does not get caught up in sticking to a certain process, knowing that participants will need different things during the class to find healing.
During a trauma-sensitive yoga class, participants will be invited to be as comfortable as possible by choosing the area of the room where they set up their mats as well as by wearing clothing that allows them to move freely and then by having the ability to choose how they will participate in the movement practice based on what feels right to…
Apr 12, 2018
35: Food Addiction & The Hunger Fix
On this episode of The Addicted Mind podcast, we are joined by Dr. Pam Peeke, a physician and scientist specializing in food addiction. Those struggling with food addictions fit into two categories: (1) people who practice disordered eating which eventually takes over all other aspects of their life, or (2) those who are recovering from another addiction and have turned to junk food and beverages as a transfer addiction.
Disordered eating and food addictions mainly revolve around the chemical effects of processed foods on the brain’s reward center, which releases dopamine and conveys the feeling of pleasure to the body. When people continue to eat junk food, the reward center of the brain becomes overwhelmed and reduces the number of receptors that can process the dopamine being released, so eventually the feeling of pleasure attained by the release of a certain amount of dopamine doesn’t feel as good as it once did, which makes the person want to consume more junk food in order…
Apr 5, 2018
34: Sudden Grief - Losing A Loved One To Addiction
Our guest on this episode of the Addicted Mind podcast is Dr. Louise Stanger, a clinician, interventionist, author, and trainer specializing in the grief and loss experienced by the family members of an individual who dies of an opioid overdose. Since nearly all overdoses occur somewhere other than the hospital, there is not much scientific research on the opiate epidemic. We do know that in 2016, 155 people per day died of overdoses, and for every one of those people, at least four family members were affected. In addition to these overdoses, 88,000 people died in alcohol-related incidents in 2016.
Families often approach Louise for an intervention for their loved one after they have tried everything else they can think of, and Louise uses the intervention to encourage systemic change in the addict’s life. Addiction is a disease which is treatable, despite the stigma attached to it that claims otherwise.
Grief looks different for everyone; it could involve shame, casting/placing b…
Mar 29, 2018
33: Double Or Nothing - Gambling Addiction with Colleen Koncilja
Our guest on this episode of the Addicted Mind podcast is Colleen Koncilja, a counselor based in the Chicago area who specializes in gambling addictions. Shortly after a casino riverboat became a permanent fixture just blocks away from her practice’s office in Elgin, Illinois, the town recognized that compulsive gambling would become an increasing problem and they gave Colleen’s team funding to assist the population who would suffer from this behavioral addiction.
Problematic gambling, also referred to as compulsive or pathologic gambling, can begin when there is a progression in the amount and/or frequency of the gambling, gambling becomes consuming of other aspects of life, the individual does not do it for recreation anymore but to fulfill a need, and the individual has to start lying about where they have been and what they have been doing. Action gamblers become addicted to the euphoria or high that they feel when they are performing well and other people at the casino are…
Mar 22, 2018
32: Overwhelming Anxiety & Overcoming It With Jonathan Horowitz
Our guest on this episode of The Addicted Mind podcast is Jonathan Horowitz, founder and director of the San Francisco Stress and Anxiety Center. Jonathan is a clinical psychologist who studied anxiety research in graduate school before transitioning to being a clinician and opening the Stress and Anxiety Center.
It is a misconception that anxiety is always a bad thing; in fact, our minds were built to experience healthy anxiety when our bodies sense that they need to be alert to their surroundings. Anxiety starts to become a problem when we cross the line from heeding the warnings of our anxiety and benefiting from it to worrying about our anxiety and taking steps to try to get rid of it. A significant number of Johnathan’s clients are high-functioning, high-achieving individuals who may be having a difficult time coping with the pressures of their careers. These individuals might develop behaviors like procrastination, avoidance, or even developing an addiction of some kind in…
Mar 15, 2018
31: Under Pressure - Teens & Self-Harm with Curt Widhalm
On this episode of The Addicted Mind podcast, Curt Widhalm shared with us on his area of expertise, teens, and self-harm. Curt has observed two types of teens who are engaging in self-harm behaviors: (1) those struggling to find the opportunity to express their emotions due to their busy schedules, and (2) those whose friend groups are engaging in self-harm behavior for attention-seeking.
In general, self-harm behaviors, which could include cutting, burning, or over-exercise, are quick ways for teens to release their emotions in a very visual way because they are often too busy to adequately learn how to deal with their stress or trauma. They could also act this way because their living environment does not allow them the space to express their emotions or release their negative energy in healthy ways, perhaps due to the demeanors of their parents or complications in their living situation. In Curt’s experience, a main source of stress for teens who engage in self-harm is the fe…
Mar 8, 2018
30: Melting The Ice Cube - EMDR & Trauma with Kay Simmeth
On this episode of The Addicted Mind podcast, my guest is Kay Simmeth, a Marriage and Family Therapist certified in EMDR. Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing is a type of bilateral stimulation that activates both sides of the body and both sides of the brain. This dual action process of tapping on the client’s knees back and forth, listening to music or sounds that alternate between headphones, or feeling vibrations in alternating hands, the frontal cortex and the amygdala are both activated, which allows the client to access the portion of the brain where the trauma is stored and then shift those negative beliefs or cognitions to positive beliefs.
Without being able to access both sides of the brain simultaneously, the client will just continue to feel the negative beliefs related to the trauma and not be able to go any further by consciously and logically thinking about the situation. Doing so through the 8-phase process of EMDR allows the client to “melt” the tr…
Mar 1, 2018
29: Lighting Up The Brain - Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation With Suzanne Jessee
Susanne Jessee is with us today to talk about Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS). TMS is a relatively new treatment, at least in the United States, for individuals who are struggling with depression.
Depression is often present in addiction and TMS is something that may help people that are struggling with addiction and treatment-resistant depression.
Susanne Jesse is the CEO and founder of Anew Era TMS in Huntington Beach, California.
To start, Susanne breaks down what TMS stands for. Transcranial means “beneath the cranium,” and magnetic stimulation means “stimulation using magnets.” The technology behind MRI magnets is used in TMS. But the big difference between TMS and MRI magnets is that the TMS magnetic technology creates a field of energy that is fairly intense that penetrates beneath the cranium into the brain.
TMS focuses in on the mood center of the brain that is responsible for the depressive symptoms. That area is stimulated to wake up those neurons again s…
Feb 22, 2018
28: Hearing The Muse - Music Therapy with AmyLynn Dimaano
Today our guest is board certified music therapist Amylynn Dimaano. She speaks to us today about music therapy and how music can help us deal with underlining issues in recovery.
What is music therapy? Music therapy is the scientific use of music to effect a change of non-musical goals. It is not a music lesson, and Amylynn is not a music teacher. Music therapy isn’t about to learning music. Her goals are to help people through mental health therapy that are struggling with depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), addiction, etc.
Music therapy includes elements of traditional therapy as well, such as regulation, relaxation, communication, and accountability. In this therapy, she uses music to open up the wisdom of the individual.
We need to use our entire brain to process music - jazz, rock-n-roll, classical, show tunes - to "hear" music you need to use both sides of your brain. Whereas in traditional therapy we mainly use the analytical side. When we add music…
Feb 8, 2018
27: Seeking Sexual Satisfaction In Recovery with Liz Dube
Welcome to this week's Addicted Mind podcast. Our guest today is the wonderfully humorous and informative Liz Dube, and she’s here to talk about healing our sexuality, and finding our sexual satisfaction once we’re in recovery from addiction.
Liz is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist and AASECT Certified Sex Therapist with a private practice in Long Beach and Huntington Beach, California. Most of her clients are looking to increase their levels of intimacy and improving sexual and relationship satisfaction.
How does addiction impact our sexuality? Sometimes, clients meet with Liz before they have found a balance between obsessive and compulsive sexual behaviors, and they’re trying to figure out how to have satisfying sex. And other times, people are in recovery wondering how to have satisfying sex now that they’re sober. To feel uninhibited during sex, they often used a substance to numb uncomfortable thoughts and feelings.
Some clients have a lack of comfort in sex, so…
Feb 2, 2018
26: Awaken The Essential Self - Conscious Recovery with TJ Woodward
TJ Woodward is with us today to talk about a system of care that he has developed called conscious recovery.
Conscious recovery is a groundbreaking and practical approach to viewing and treating addiction. It’s how we see addiction and addiction treatment through the spiritual lens. Your spiritual life is a big part of recovery and finding a place of calm within yourself is a critical stage.
TJ has worked, with remarkable results, for over a decade in spiritual care at top-tier treatment centers, and he has been in recovery for 31 years.
TJ explains that conscious recovery started with a question: What might happen if I were to view all of his clients through the lens of wholeness imperfection rather than looking through the lens to see whats broken.
Typically in western medicine, we look at symptoms and behaviors and try to eradicate them. Addiction is quite different. Once we view addiction as the problem or the client as broken in some way, we have limited the capacity of the…
Jan 25, 2018
25: Figuring It Out The Power Of Psychological Assessments with Tracy Zemansky
We have a fantastic guest today. Dr. Tracy Zemansky is here to speak about the fascinating topic of psychological assessment, and how it can help you or your client on a journey of healing.
What is a psychological assessment? It’s not what we typically see in the movies. It is a way of evaluating a particular part of an individual and trying to understand it more. To get as much information as possible psychological tests, interviews, questionnaires, behavioral observations, and sometimes collateral interviews, which are interviews with people that know the individual well, are used.
Tracy explains that this process is like being a detective looking into someone's personality. Searching with the client, and possibly their therapist, at any concerns that may be getting in the way of their goals.
We give the example of a client that is stuck and may not be able to gain long-term sobriety, or they may not be able to form the long-term relationships they want. Going through the proces…
Jan 18, 2018
24: Changing Your Mindset with Megan Fenyoe
We are excited to have mental health therapist, and Air Force veteran, Megan Fenyoe as our guest today as we discuss trauma, addiction, and changing your mindset toward a more positive life.
Megan has been a mental health therapist for over 15 years, primarily focusing in the areas of trauma and substance abuse. As an officer in the Air Force, Megan provided mental health services to veterans and active duty members mostly in the field of substance abuse. Most recently she has worked with patients in a hospital struggling with addiction. While working with patients throughout her career, she has focused on mindset and how your mindset can change the course of our lives.
To help in her personal and professional life, Megan has developed some great mindset tools to help her get “unstuck” in those moments when life gets you down.
We discuss what it means to have a positive mindset. We all have negative thoughts that alter our mood, and we all tend to say more negative than positive…
Jan 11, 2018
23: Getting Smart Using Smart Recovery With Pete Finger
Our guest today is Pete Finger from Sioux Falls, South Dakota. In this episode, he shares his recovery journey and how the support group Smart Recovery helped him to overcome addiction and helped him to enjoy the life he lives today by helping others through the same program that helped him.
Mr. Finger had struggled with alcohol addiction for 20-30 years. Growing up in what he describes as an “addictive family” where cocktail parties were a big part of their lives, he used alcohol to cope with the trauma of abuse by a teacher. His addiction continued to escalate through college and beyond. An intervention at work helped Pete get into recovery.
Pete’s history of trauma is not uncommon with people who struggle with addiction. To cope they find behaviors or substances to help them feel better and it slowly becomes unmanageable until we learn to stop beating yourself up and allow yourself to recover.
Pete was fortunate enough to find a Smart Recovery facility in San Diego called P…
Jan 4, 2018
22: Relational and Betrayal Trauma with Marnie Breecker - Part Two
Marnie Breecker from the Center for Relational Healing in Los Angeles joined me for the second part of our discussion on relational and betrayal trauma. She walked us through the Six Dimensions of Relational and Betrayal Trauma as well as the steps in the process of partner healing.
The Six Dimensions are:
*Shattered Inner World* – In this initial dimension, the four core beliefs (the world is benign and a source of pleasure; the world is meaningful, controllable, and just; people are trustworthy and worth relating to; and the self is worthy, lovable, good, and competent) are threatened by the traumatic event(s) of betrayal. This has been compared to the trauma of finding your house burned down and losing all of your belongings.
*Life Crisis* – The disparity between belief and reality that develops after the discovery of the addiction causes the trauma symptoms discussed in Part One of our discussion with Marnie in Episode 21. This dimension can include wondering who to te…
Dec 21, 2017
21: Relational and Betrayal Trauma with Marnie Breecker - Part One
Our guest today is Marnie Breecker from the Center for Relational Healing in Los Angeles. In this first episode of a two-part series on the topic of relational and betrayal trauma, we will be defining what this type of trauma looks like and its impacts on both partners in the relationship.
As a sex addiction therapist and a marriage and family therapist, Marnie is an expert identifying and assessing the traumatic impact of the discovery of infidelity or betrayal on relationships as a whole and on the individuals involved. She shares with us that there are two types of trauma that affected partners go through: the trauma of discovery and the trauma of their own response to the betrayal.
It is very rare for addicts to come forward for help on their own, so it is likely that the partner has discovered the betrayal either intentionally or unintentionally through their partner’s computer history, text messages, or receipts and bank statements. Upon this initial discovery of betrayal, th…
Dec 14, 2017
20: The Opioid Crisis with Chris Shorrock
Our guest today is Chris Shorrock, a psychologist in private practice in Medicine Hat. Our point of discussion is the opioid addiction and opioid epidemic, and Chris understands this topic very well.
He’s got experience in treating addicted disorders in different treatment centers that he’s been working with after being a registered psychologist. He’s also worked at the methadone maintenance treatment program. So we can certify he’s got first-hand experience dealing with opioid addiction.
An opioid is a powerful form of painkiller that’s known to suppress very intense pain. Nothing can compare to how effective opioid can be at masking or lowering pain. It must be noted that there’s a considerable difference between opioid and other forms of drugs like cocaine, alcohol, marijuana, etc. However, opioid does not in any way help to heal a particular disease but really what it does is it numbs your feelings so you won't feel pain intensely.
It's been puzzling to psychology pr…
Nov 30, 2017
19: Sacrificial Helpers Syndrome with Katie Vernoy
In this episode, we talk about sacrificial helpers’ syndrome, great for people who are in the helper profession or volunteer helpers. Sacrificial help syndrome can be defined as people giving more than they have for the people they serve.
Our guest today is Katie Vernoy. A licensed family therapist, a coach, and consultant with helpers based in Torrance, California. As she says, she helps helpers to help better.
Most people who’ve had traumatic experiences that completely changed their lives can end up with this syndrome because they just want others to get through it better than they did and in between that they don't think of taking care of themselves.
For therapists, they put their own needs at bay and focus on what other people need and how they can help them. Working past normal working hours, neglecting own self-care practices, scheduling in clients during personal time, foregoing meals just to help someone out are mostly signs that you're sacrificing yourself too much.
K…
Nov 24, 2017
18: Tend and Befriend Women and Addiction Treatment with Adina Silvestri
Welcome to the Addicted Mind Podcast. Today, we are delighted to bring you the wisdom and expertise of Dr. Adina Silvestri, EdD, LPC as she talks about her research on women seeking addiction treatment.
Dr. Adina Silvestri is a licensed Professional Counselor in Richmond, Virginia and the founder of Life Cycles Counseling. One of her specialties is helping women that are struggling with substance abuse recover from shame to find hope and healing.
Nov 16, 2017
17: Inside The Addicted Mind - An Immersive Experience with Elvar Sig
We are discussing a new immersive VR experience that’s teaching teenagers about addiction. Elvar Sig has transformed personal tragedy into an innovative and generous project, a tool to build awareness and generate conversations. He shares how addiction has been a force in his own life. He walks us through the VR journey he’s created, and what he hopes young people will take away from the experience.
Nov 9, 2017
16: Therapeutic Attachment - Foundation For Healing with Anthony Ramynke
In this episode, we talk with Anthony Ramynke about attachment, empathy, and early childhood experiences. He tells us why early childhood experiences are the root cause bringing people into therapy, and what this means for the process. The therapist’s job is to attune empathically to the client, giving them the building blocks to heal. By creating a safe, intimate relationship – perhaps for the first time in the client’s life – the therapist allows the client to develop new ways of relating to themselves and others.
Nov 2, 2017
15: LifeRing - Peer-to-Peer Support in Secular Recovery with Jason Groce
Jason Groce stops by to talk about sobriety, dual diagnosis, and the recovery support group LifeRing. For 10 years, Jason was an on again off again alcoholic. He would stay sober for periods of time or attempt to moderate. Eventually, stressors would pile up and he would start drinking. He tried support groups but didn’t find them helpful. 3 and a half years ago, a social worker asked him what he was going to do differently. It wasn’t his first time to the hospital, but he was committed to making it his last. He agreed that he needed to find a community to stay sober.
LifeRing got Jason’s attention. He attended a meeting, and the format worked for him. The philosophy of secularism and personal empowerment spoke to Jason. He’d always struggled with the spiritual components of other programs, and the emphasis on powerlessness and surrender. Most of all, he liked the more conversational structure of the meeting. Each meeting, participants are invited to share about their last wee…
Oct 26, 2017
14: Getting Connected - Online Therapy for Addiction with Megan Peterson
We are talking with Megan Peterson of 2 nd Chance Counseling. 2 nd Chance is an internet-based addiction treatment provider. They have therapists in every state working to make treatment accessible, flexible, and cost-effective. Duane and Megan talk about the advantages and disadvantages of this new treatment model, who it’s for, and how it came to be.
2 nd Chance conducts therapy by video chat. The flexibility this offers creates new possibilities for treatment that is impossible for traditional outpatient clinics. Patients can communicate with their therapist earlier and later. Appointments can be any length the patient and therapist agree on. The flexibility and relative ease of meeting by video instead of in-person mean that appointments can often be set on shorter notice. Patients can utilize their therapist when difficulty arises, instead of waiting until the next scheduled appointment. Most of all, being able to access therapy without traveling eliminates the barriers that pr…
Oct 17, 2017
13: Getting Your Attention - Sex Addiction and Attention Deficit Disorder with Dr. John Sealy
Part of the work we do to treat addiction is to work through the other preexisting conditions and environmental factors that could contribute to addictive behavior. Those who suffer from a co-morbid condition will notice that addiction recovery is much harder to treat without also addressing the other condition. Recently, we have more insight than ever before how Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) plays a role in Sex Addiction in particular. Today, our guest is Dr. John Sealy, who has been an advocate and forerunner in how ADD and Addiction influence one another. As we learn more and more about the treatment of ADD, we can also change how we treat Sex Addiction.
Dr. Sealy is passionate about ensuring that people get the help they need. He does not treat addiction as a single issue but looks at the whole patient to assess the care they need. Due to the inherent stigma and shame that many sufferers carry around Sex Addiction, it has historically been difficult for these people to receive…
Oct 10, 2017
12: Overcoming the Hurt - Affair and Betrayal Recovery with Katie Leminux
Addictions can infiltrate and influence so many aspects of relationships, and affairs and betrayal are no exceptions. Here to speak to her experiences as a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist is Katie Leminux. Katie fell into working with couples in affair and betrayal recovery because she loved to see the huge potential for improvement. Time and again, she realized that addictions of all kinds play into affairs and why they happen or as a result of the trauma.
We as therapists can provide the structure and framework for couples to work through intense, emotional struggles. Katie believes in the power of the Gottman Couple Counseling Model to help couples reclaim their relationship and recover fully from any addictions. Today is your opportunity to see the hope that Katie sees, and to really understand how a complex recovery is really possible.
In this episode we also discuss:
* How Katie “fell into” working with couples.
* The Gottman Couples Counseling Model.
* Changing the…
Oct 3, 2017
11: Getting Rational - REBT Therapy with Eli Holmes
Today, I am delighted to bring you the wisdom and expertise of Eli Holmes. Dr. Holmes is a Portland-based Psychologist who is just as passionate as we are about research-based treatment. Today, Dr. Holmes is going to bring to light some of the amazing insights therapists can gain from using Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy Therapy. The REBT model is perfect not just for individuals struggling with addiction, but also those with emotional swings, obsessive thoughts, and mood issues.
In this episode, we will talk about the fascinating history of REBT and why it is such a powerful tool. We will get to parse out why we have an emotional reaction to certain events, and how we can help our patients cope with emotional reactiveness. As we continue to arm ourselves with the latest techniques and research, we can continue to make a difference in the lives of those battling addiction. You do not want to miss out on today’s episode.
Today we will also learn:
* What is REBT, and why is it ef…
Sep 26, 2017
10: Moderation Management and Harm Reduction in Addiction Treatment
Every week on the Addicted Mind Podcast, we seek to share methods and insights from mental health professionals that are paving the way to success and recovery. This week, Dr. Nazanin Moali is bringing her insights to the podcast on Moderation Management models as opposed to Abstinence Models. Are you ready to challenge what you know about recovery models? Is there more out there than a 12 Step Program?
Dr. Moali is a Sex Therapist and Addiction Specialist. Through her work with her practice, Oasis 2 Care Center, Dr. Moali has learned that the Abstinence Model for overcoming addiction is just one of the many modes professionals can use during treatment. By keeping the client’s needs and goals at the center of her practice, Dr. Moali has seen success in Harm Reduction as well as Moderation Management. Now, she is taking her knowledge to the next step as she releases episodes of her own podcast, Sexology. Dr. Moali’s knowledge is vast, and we are excited to share her perspective and…
Sep 19, 2017
09: How Motivational Interviewing Changes the Brain with Dr. Tony Mele
As therapists, we hear about Motivational Interviewing (MI) all the time. It's a technique that therapists can use to bring forward the ambivalence that a person with an addiction has, towards resolving that addiction. It's well regarded and it's a fairly well-researched intervention for people with addictions, but still, a lot of the people looking for treatment, or even those who have been in treatment, don't really seem to know what it is, or why we would use it in a treatment setting.
Today's guest, Dr Tony Mele, is the Chief Clinical Officer at Sovereign Health. He's on the show today because he came to our agency recently and did an incredible training on Motivational Interviewing, where he was able to really go in depth and look at how Motivational Interviewing actually works with the brain, to bring about change. Listen in to find out more about what Motivational Interviewing is all about and how it can be used effectively, within the treatment setting.
Show highlights:
*…
Sep 12, 2017
08: Combat Veterans: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Addiction with Dr. Jessica Naughton
Welcome back to The Addicted Mind podcast. This week, we are talking with Dr. Jessica Naughton, a Clinical Psychologists who has years of experience working with combat veterans dealing with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Many veterans struggle with addiction that also suffer from PTSD. Now we know that PTSD can be one of the underlying causes of substance abuse since addictions spring up as a way to deal with PTSD symptoms.
So how can we care for veterans as they navigate PTSD symptoms? The good news is that the stigma around mental health disorders is rapidly changing. Now more than ever before, there are people like Dr. Naughton who have the resources to help veterans and their unique experiences of trauma and addiction. Help is here! Listen to see just how much we can do for our Veternas.
* We talk a lot about PTSD, but what exactly is it?
* Trauma for combat veterans cannot be processed in the moment.
* Symptoms were actually an adaptive change to help veterans survive.
* Divin…
Sep 5, 2017
07: Quitting Addiction is Like Giving Up a Lover with Stephen Buckbee
Anyone who has worked in the field of addiction recovery will know that recovery is a long road, and often we as therapists and counselors will need to find ways to engage our client’s sense of thought and endurance. The work of Virginia Satir has been extremely influential in addiction recovery, and this week’s guest, Stephen Buckbee, has been using Satir’s methods successfully for years now.
Stephen joins Duane Osterlind on the Addicted Mind this week to explain the transformative power of embracing change. Therapy, he says, is a process that the counselor and therapist can enter into with their client. Rather than striving to “fix” a recovering addict, we have the power to generate a place of safety and self-discovery. Therapy is at its most powerful when the slow change process is fully engaged. The Satir Method is very good at embracing change and paving the way to recovery. Join us this week as we celebrate recovery and empowerment through self-discovery!
Also in this…
Aug 29, 2017
06: Emergency Mental Health Care with Eric Osterlind
There’s a bit of mystery and uncertainty surrounding Psychiatric Hospitals across the country. They are staffed with caring professionals and the goal of today’s show is to sort of demystify the process of dealing with a Psych Hospital and also understanding some best practices for getting help to the folks who need it most.
Our guest today is someone I have a personal relationship with because he’s my brother, Eric Osterlind! Eric is a psych nurse and he works in Psychiatric hospitals with acute patients. Eric also works in the ER, dealing with their psych cases. Most of the cases Eric works with are acute, so the first priority is to keep the patient safe, and then any treatment would come after the psych team is sure they are safe.
Most of Eric’s patients come in on a 5150 psych hold, which lasts for 72 hours. If they are a danger to others or a danger to themselves, then they can be held on this hold. Reasons for this hold could be that a person becomes suicidal or homici…
Aug 22, 2017
05: Using Mindfulness to Overcome Addiction with Robert Cox
Mindfulness. It’s all the rage on the internet, but a lot of people haven’t a clue what it means when they see it. We all have a different image and set of expectations about mindfulness, but what actually is it, and how can it help those on the road to recovery? Is it just a fad, or will adopting a mindfulness practice really make a difference in the way we think?
Robert Cox is a Mindfulness Master, and he has experience and success stories to share with the “Addicted Mind” community this week. Robert is also the host of two podcasts, so he knows a thing or two about making something “heady” like Mindfulness easy to digest. Robert shares the evidence scientists have gathered for the brain transforming power of mindfulness, and then teaches you a few tricks to try it out on your own.
* Robert defines Mindfulness based off of research.
* The subtle difference between mindfulness and meditation.
* Using mindfulness to build resistance to cravings.
* The current mindfulness…
Aug 15, 2017
04: Understanding Emotion Using Mindfulness and DBT with Dr. Debbi Kooyman
“Dialectical Behavioral Therapy” is one of the many tools we have tucked away in their tool belt to help people overcome their addiction, trauma, and behavioral disorders. While it might sound complicated at first glance, the true power of DBT comes from its practical applications. This week, we take a close look at DBT and discover a simple, non-judgmental way to understand human emotions. Mindfulness, practical action steps, and a new understanding of the brain combine to make DBT a powerful tool to beat addiction.
This week’s guest is Dr. Debbie Kooyman. Her 20 years of work in Psychology have shown her just how important it is for adults dealing with addiction, abuse, and trauma to be able to take a step back from their emotions and learn how to think again. Dr. Kooyman shares her wisdom in this episode and dispels some misconceptions you might have about DBT.
* Specializes in adults who were abused as children. DBT is a resource for people dealing with addiction as well a…
Aug 7, 2017
03: Explore the Amazing Work of Virginia Satir with Teresa McClellan
Welcome back to The Addicted Mind Podcast. This week, you will have a chance to explore the amazing work of Virginia Satir with Teresa McClellan. Teresa has been in the field for 18 years, and she’s worked with just about everyone: Couples, families, men, women, co-ed groups, and more! Thanks to her range of experience, she knows a thing or two about how we as human beings respond in therapy, and Virginia Satir’s methods really made an impact on her. Now, Teresa is employing the model for addiction recovery in a men’s prison and seeing amazing results.
Satir was ahead of her time in some of her practices, so this is a chance to really shed some light on the impact she has made. Combined with what we know now about the brain and human psychology as a whole, it is easy to see that Satir’s emphasis on human connection is exactly what an addict in recovery needs to experience. Teresa shares her wealth of wisdom and more this week, so you won’t want to miss it!
* Discover Virgin…
Aug 6, 2017
02: Food Addiction and Eating Disorders with Janet Whitney
The more we learn about the addicted mind, the more we can begin to understand how trauma, disorders, and addictions really are interrelated. Today, we are thrilled to take that exploration to a personal level through the eyes of Janet Whitney. Janet is a Licensed Family and Marriage Therapist, but she is also a devoted mother. No mom would ever want to walk with their child through a life-threatening illness, even less so when it is something as slippery as an eating disorder.
Since she was very young, Janet’s daughter, Hannah, has battled anorexia and eating disorders in a slow fight to recovery. By supporting her daughter through a long healing journey, Janet now wants to share her unique insight into the inner-workings of recovery and therapy.
Recovery from eating disorders and addiction is similar: so similar that Janet has used her own life experiences to inform and shape her own practice. Today, it is time to get out of the theoretical exploration and into the personal. The…
Aug 6, 2017
01: Introducing the Addicted Mind Podcast - My Mission to Help
Welcome to the “Addicted Mind” Podcast hosted by Duane Osterlind. Duane is a licensed Marriage and Family therapist who is passionate about helping people overcome addiction. Through years of experience and witnessing the real life change brought about by modern counseling practices, Duane developed a passion for the process. That passion led him to begin the “Addicted Mind” Podcast, built on what he thinks are the most meaningful aspects of beating addiction.
* Research: what is the current evidence about addiction treatment? What brain processes can we use to overcome addiction?
* Treatment: In what ways are we treating addiction? What’s working? What might not be working?
* Recovery: What does it look like for someone to overcome addiction?
Along the way, experience how so many people have been able to create a life that is meaningful to them. Addiction can be beaten. Let’s learn how.
Don’t forget to Subscribe on iTunes!
Learn more at http://theaddictedmind.com/