All Things Substance Podcast
Recovery Stories Episodes

A Recovery Story: Brian
Episode #121 Brian was 18 when he first suspected that he had a problem with gambling. Surely 18 years old was too young to have an addiction right? He spent the next several years trying to win his way out of the hole of debt he was in. He found out that it's true...

Sex and Recovery
Episode #120 Sex is a vital part of who we are as humans. It’s a way to connect with others. A way to have pleasure. Research tells us that sex is super beneficial for our health and well-being. Experiences vary wildly depending on the people and the circumstances....

A Recovery Story: Dufflyn
Episode #118 It was all about love. That’s what Dufflyn was looking for from the time she was a small girl all the way into her 40’s. She consistently was seeking to fill a need and find a place to belong. For a long while alcohol and drugs were the answer. Recovery...

A Recovery Story: Andrea
Episode 113 Andrea Owen is an author, global keynote speaker, and professional certified life coach who helps high-achieving women maximize unshakeable confidence, and master resilience. She has taught hundreds of thousands of women tools and strategies to be able to...

A Recovery Story: Amy
Episode #107 I had the privilege of interviewing Amy Willis. Amy is a mindset and sobriety coach living in Toronto, Canada. Amy grew up with the ups and downs of living with someone who struggles with alcoholism. There are very good times and bad times. She began...

A Recovery Story: Betsy
Episode #98 Recovery stories are so important, for us to hear but also for people in recovery to tell. This is true for me as well! For this recovery week, in National Recovery Month, I’m going to share my recovery story. I’ve told this story in small bits here and...

A Recovery Story: Jean
Episode 93 I had the privilege of “meeting” Jean McCarthy as a guest on her podcast, The Bubble Hour. She was a gracious host, providing a place for people to tell their stories of recovery. It was after the interview that we talked, not as two podcasters or content...

A Recovery Story: Natalie
Episode 87 Natalie is a mom of two, wife to her husband and a therapist specializing in treating trauma and substance use. Her use history is a little different from the things we usually see in outpatient therapy. She managed to skate by several therapists without...

A Recovery Story: Gabe
Episode 79 Gabe is a dad of two children, husband to his wife who is also in recovery and a successful small business owner. He’s built his life around recovery and is celebrating 16 years of recovery. The days when he was using feel like a long time ago. But his life...

A Recovery Story: Jonny
Episode 75 Jonny is a dedicated husband, dog-dad and sponsor living in Michigan. For Jonny, most people around him weren’t able to tell he was developing an addiction. He was able to “hide in plain sight.” It wasn’t that no one was around or paying attention. His...

A Recovery Story: Sean
Episode 71 Sean is a dedicated husband and father to his four girls and committed to his recovery. For Sean, his substance use wasn’t an issue. for most of his life. He drank some here and there, but didn’t drink to cope with things. It wasn’t a big deal in his life...

A Recovery Story: Nick
Episode 66 Nick is a kind, hard-working man working each day to rebuild his life. Nick started using substances at age 12. It wasn’t a slow start for him as he felt like he had found the thing that helped him manage his worries and the feelings he didn’t know how to...

Coming Out to Find Recovery
Episode 63 Coming out was the key for Casey to find recovery. He is a passionate, creative and strong voice for recovery living in San Diego, CA. He has turned his recovery into a career and went to school to become a substance use counselor. He spends his days...

A Recovery Story: Jill
Episode 59 Jill is a holistic health nurse, certified professional recovery coach, bioenergetic practitioner, and yoga instructor. Jill’s recovery journey included healing her own significant health challenges that mainstream medicine inadequately addressed. She...

A Recovery Story: Lisa
Episode 55 Lisa is a school social worker who found herself in a pattern of problematic drinking. She kept learning and came to understand what recovery could look like for her. She discovered the concept of gray area drinking which is when someone experiences an...

A Recovery Story: Vanessa
Episode 51 On my very first meeting of She Recovers (online support) I heard this beautiful accent. I flipped back to the zoom screen to see who the voice belonged to. That's how I first knew Vanessa. Over the meetings we attended together I would hear parts of her...

A Recovery Story-Kathie
Episode 46 Kathie is a therapist, substance abuse counselor, peer recovery mentor, She Recovers coach and founder of Free Living Recovery. She spent 20 years as a paralegal and eventually found herself pursuing more education in the counseling realm. She now...

Meth: A Recovery Story
Episode 42 Meth addiction is all around us. We see it in the faces of people on the street. We see it in the news. We might even see it in our families. Recovery from meth is hard and and may seem impossible. People do come back from the dark place that is meth...

Interview with Heidi
Episode 38 Meet Heidi, a recovering alcoholic, a good friend and a fellow counselor. I love doing school-based work. One of the reasons I love it so much is my relationship with the counselors. Today, I want to introduce you to Heidi. I have had the privilege of...

Story of Recovery: Anne
Episode 32 A Recovery Story with Anne. Many therapists join the field because of their own personal experiences. Our guest today is no different. Her own journey was supposed to be macro social work. We’ll hear the story of how she moved through her education, to...

A Recovering Opiate Addict’s Perspective
Episode 24 How does opiate addiction start? What does progression look like in opiate addiction? What keeps people stuck in a cycle of opiate addiction The opiate epidemic is all around us. We hear about the deaths and the dangers. Most of us know a bit about it, but...