5 Min or Less Visit: www.realrecoverytalk.com for all the episodes Ben and I Can be reached at: Ben@realrecoverytalk.com Tom@realrecoverytalk.com Also Follow us on FB and YouTube @RealRecoveryTalk Just want to say thank you! Tom and I just wanted to take a moment to thank everybody for allowing us to be a part of their recovery. In this segment we discussed a few phone calls that we received in the past weeks from clients who are doing exceptionally well. They reported getting their families bac...
Feb 12, 2020•7 min
5 Min or Less Visit: www.realrecoverytalk.com for all the episodes Ben and I Can be reached at: Ben@realrecoverytalk.com Tom@realrecoverytalk.com Also Follow us on FB and YouTube @RealRecoveryTalk When we only have very little sober time, we should hang with people that have more sober time than us! When we have a few years sober, we should hang with people that have very little sober time! The idea behind this is when we are young and sobriety we need to be surrounded by wisdom. Often times peo...
Feb 11, 2020•4 min
5 Min or Less Visit: www.realrecoverytalk.com for all the episodes Ben and I Can be reached at: Ben@realrecoverytalk.com Tom@realrecoverytalk.com Also Follow us on FB and YouTube @RealRecoveryTalk I love you man! In this excerpt, I discuss the importance of brotherly love in recovery. It is not weak to tell another man you love him. Many of us were raised to think that we have to be big, strong, tough and brutal. When we recover we find that we have to be inspirational leaders and caring protect...
Feb 10, 2020•5 min
5 Min or Less No need for a romantic relationship at this time! Visit: www.realrecoverytalk.com for all the episodes \Ben and I Can be reached at: Ben@realrecoverytalk.com Tom@realrecoverytalk.com Also Follow us on FB and YouTube @RealRecoveryTalk There is a reason why people suggest to not get into a relationship when establishing a foundation of sobriety. When we get sober we need to focus on nothing but ourselves. Getting into a relationship means that we are taking away from ourselves and pu...
Feb 07, 2020•4 min
Here we are with Real Recovery Talk! Have you or someone you loved relapsed back into drug and alcohol addiction? Today, I’m going to talk about five different types of mindsets, which can lead to relapse. If you notice yourself or your loved one in one of these mindsets, make sure to reach out and get support and help - avoid the relapse cycle! The first mindset to watch out for is complacency. We hear about this all the time in rehab. Complacency is the thought process that leads us to believe...
Feb 06, 2020•24 min•Ep. 124
5 Min or Less Prioritizing time when getting sober Visit: www.realrecoverytalk.com for all the episodes Ben and I Can be reached at: Ben@realrecoverytalk.com Tom@realrecoverytalk.com Also Follow us on FB and YouTube @RealRecoveryTalk When getting sober we find that we are likely unemployed, lacking any meaningful relationships with family or loved ones due to our addiction, and have a lot of extra time on our hands. The question is, what do we do with all of this time? 🤷🏻♂️ Well, if you are i...
Feb 04, 2020•4 min•Ep. 123
Often times people will look at failure as a setback. I encourage you to look at failure as an opportunity to improve. When people relapse continuously it’s easy for them to fall into the mindset of “I will never be sober”. This is unrealistic thinking, just because we relapse doesn’t mean we’re not going to ever be able to achieve long-term sobriety. This does not lessen the effect of relapse. We often times hear relapse is a part of recovery, that couldn’t be further from the truth. Relapse is...
Feb 04, 2020•3 min•Ep. 122
5 Min or Less There are certain things that we can do when in early recovery that will help us feel better mentally emotionally and spiritually. It is vital for us to do all three of these in conjunction with our support program and or treatment. These three things are: Exercise: 🏃🏃♀️🏀🏊♂️move a muscle change a thought. This doesn’t mean that we have to take on CrossFit, powerlifting or Pilates. Start small, go for a walk. Anything is better than nothing Eat right: 🍏🍌🥑🥦🌽🥔 not 🍔🍟🌭🌮...
Feb 03, 2020•6 min•Ep. 121
5 Min or Less Visit: www.realrecoverytalk.com for all the episodes Ben and I Can be reached at: Ben@realrecoverytalk.com Tom@realrecoverytalk.com Also Follow us on FB and YouTube @RealRecoveryTalk When having a conversation with somebody it’s important that we try and practice active listening. Active listening will let that person know that we hear them, although we may not be able to relate, we understand what they are saying. Active listening is a great way to have healthy communication with ...
Jan 31, 2020•6 min•Ep. 120
Check out my new website where you can download any episode right from my site along with other useful information for those in recovery. Look for our new daily shows, which are five minutes or under! Listen in for yourself or for a friend. You can also find our new short episodes on our Facebook page . Today Ben and I will talk about the importance of helping other people in sobriety and why this is significant for your own recovery. When we help other people, we are helping ourselves, which is...
Jan 30, 2020•32 min•Ep. 119
5 Min or Less It is not weak to admit defeat! I am an addict. I am an alcoholic. In this video we discuss the importance of qualifying. We have the only disease, that tells us we don’t have it, that has to be self diagnosed. If I do not admit to myself that I have a problem, I am most likely not going to seek out a solution. Admitting that I am an alcoholic or a drug addict, is simply stating that I need to change. When the pain of staying the same, becomes greater than the pain of change, is wh...
Jan 29, 2020•4 min•Ep. 118
Does it need to be said? Does it need to be said by me? Does it need to be said by me right now? After putting down the drink and drug, my next goal was to figure out how to live life. How can I live life in such a way that minimizes anxiety, worry, resentment or the like? I know that if I live my life feeling these negative feelings as a constant, I will eventually go back to the “ease and comfort” of a substance. So my new job is to minimize the amount of time that I have these feelings. The q...
Jan 28, 2020•4 min•Ep. 117
You are who you surround yourself with! The people that we choose to hang around with will directly affect the level of success we achieve throughout our sobriety. If we choose to hang out with losers, we will lose. If we choose to hang with winners, we will win. This goes for anybody in life. Not just people getting sober. If you want to be a successful business person then hang out with successful business people. If you want to be a successful mountain climber hang out with successful mountai...
Jan 27, 2020•3 min•Ep. 116
So you think you know what it means to surrender in recovery? A term that gets thrown around a lot in recovery is the word surrender. It sounds good when you say it, but do you really know what it means? Do you really know what you’re committing to? I thought surrender meant to go over to the winning side, or give up. Come to find out, it means “to agree to the terms of peace.” Meaning, if you want peace, there is going to be terms. There may still even be consequences. Just because I surrender,...
Jan 25, 2020•3 min•Ep. 115
5 Min or Less You Gotta Put In the Work! please visit www.realrecoverytalk.com Follow @realrecoverytalk Join @realrecoverytalksupportgroup If you are going to take the plunge into getting sober, you have to understand that it is going to take a lot of hard work. I sometimes think that people are under the misconception that getting sober is just about stopping using drugs and alcohol. That is very far from the truth. I have noticed that when things get hard for people that is when they tend to q...
Jan 24, 2020•3 min•Ep. 114
5 min or Less I can see straight through your “stage-character!” There is a reason 30 days is not enough to get to the underlying issues and the root of the problem. Every client comes into treatment presenting their stage character. This is the person that they want everybody to think they are, so they can get the reputation they think they deserve. Funny thing is, this usually gives way after about three weeks. When a client is under the watchful eye of a facility, they can only keep their cha...
Jan 23, 2020•4 min•Ep. 113
Check out my new website where you can download any episode right from my site along with other useful information for those in recovery. Look for our new daily shows, which are five minutes or under! Listen in for yourself or for a friend. You can also find our new short episodes on our Facebook page . Today I will talk about the process and path of a person moving from being a "normie" to using drugs and alcohol and becoming an addict. In this episode, I talk with Brad Jensen, the founder of K...
Jan 23, 2020•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 112
MTV Real World: “the halfway house” In this video I will discuss the abundance of stimulus one feels while living in a sober support community. There is always something entertaining going on. It is the excitement of a new environment. It is the chaos of living with others. I discuss this topic to bring awareness and preparation for the day that you move out into the adult world. All of a sudden you will find yourself alone and dependent upon the outside support community that you have either bu...
Jan 22, 2020•5 min•Ep. 111
Have you ever tried having a conversation with someone and it just isn’t going the way that you thought that it would? 🙋🏻♂️ I know for myself when someone is not responding to me in the way I don’t want to be responded to, I get on the defense. I will start to justify why I am right and you are wrong, I will get angry, I will get defensive and in the end it’s not a productive conversation at all. In this video I discuss why it’s important to try and have healthy conversation as an adult in re...
Jan 21, 2020•3 min•Ep. 110
5 Min or Less To cannabis or not to cannabis in recovery? A very popular subject amongst the recovery community is whether or not utilizing marijuana is a relapse or not. The sober support community that I surround myself with does consider it a relapse; Though, one will find individuals who fall into both camps. Who is to say what is sober and what is not? I believe this is for every individual to decide for themselves. We have the only disease, that tells us we don’t have it, that has to be se...
Jan 19, 2020•5 min•Ep. 109
5 Min or Less Please like and share Real Recovery Talk Am I the only one that I am hurting? Often times as addicts and alcoholics we think that we are the only ones that we are hurting. The unfortunate part is that we are hurting a lot of people around us. The people that we are hurting the most are the people that we hold closest to us. The loved ones tend to think as well that they are not the ones with the problem an”why can’t he/she just stop?” Or “its their problem, they can figure it out”....
Jan 17, 2020•5 min•Ep. 108
How dare you take someone else’s inventory!!! Not! Have you been told not to take other people’s inventory? Well, maybe you should not heed that advice. Reason being, if you spot it you got it. Often times, taking inventory of others is a mirror reflection of character defects that I may own myself. In addition, I had to learn how to be open to allowing others to take my inventory. If I am lying to myself, how do I know? You can’t spot self-deception by yourself. Welcoming the feedback of oth...
Jan 17, 2020•3 min•Ep. 107
5 Minutes or Less No is an “OK” Answer Often times it is so hard for parents and loved ones to say NO to the ones that they care about the most. The unfortunate thing about that is, sometimes because we never say NO, it can drive someone deeper and deeper into their addiction. I spend a lot of time talking with parents and loved ones, trying to convince then that it is OK to draw boundaries! There is nothing wrong with saying “No, I am not going to pay your cell phone bill this month” or “No, I ...
Jan 16, 2020•3 min•Ep. 106
Check out my new website where you can download any episode right from my site along with other useful information for those in recovery. Look for our new daily shows, which are five minutes or under! Listen in for yourself or for a friend. You can also find our new short episodes on our Facebook page . Today I will talk about the process and path of a person moving from being a "normie" to using drugs and alcohol and becoming an addict. In this episode, I talk about the progression of drug, alc...
Jan 16, 2020•23 min•Ep. 105
5 Minutes or Less 1/15/20 Wear Recovery like a loose garment Recovery isn’t something that is supposed to stress us out! We are being given the opportunity to start a new life, and we can create it however we want to create it! Often times people look at sobriety as a “death sentence” and think since they are sober now they they are not going to be able to have fun and now their life is going to suck! That is so. Far. From the truth! We should not be so stuck up! Enjoy the process and everything...
Jan 15, 2020•3 min•Ep. 104
Spirituality and using substances to connect Do you struggle with the concept of spirituality or God in recovery? Check out this “five minute or less” video. Were we not trying to have spiritual experiences through alcohol and substances? Come on all you hippie ravers!?! Were we not trying to connect with others through social lubricant a.k.a. alcohol? Do they not refer to alcohol as spirits? While Recovery is not black and white, maybe this excerpt will get you thinking about spirituality an...
Jan 14, 2020•4 min•Ep. 103
5 Minutes or Less Im not that bad, yet! Don’t let the “Yet” get ya! As addicts and alcoholics we tend to compare ourselves to other people and circumstances. I remember sitting at the bar and looking at all the other people around me that are “for sure alcoholics” and comparing myself to them. I would tell myself things like, “When I get that bad then I will make a change” or “I haven’t gotten a DUI, YET” or “I still have my job and I am able to pay my bills”. I would tell myself these things ev...
Jan 13, 2020•4 min•Ep. 102
What if they don’t want to get sober? When I am talking to parents or loved ones, they sometimes have the response “If they don’t want to get sober then what is the point in them going to treatment?” Although this does make somewhat sense, it isn’t entirely true. See, when someone is seeking treatment or goes to treatment, chances are they are not WANTING to go in the first place. Maybe they are, but chances are they are not. That is OK. Addiction Treatment can be a very scary thing to do, espec...
Jan 12, 2020•4 min•Ep. 101
Can I be sober and have fun at the same time? Often times when people get sober they think that they are buying into this new idea that they are going to live boring mundane lives. Done get me wrong, I do know people that are super boring and would be in better moods if they were drunk. Those are people we like too call “dry drunks” 😂 Sobriety and Recovery can be boring if we don’t take the initiative to make it fun! We need to find people that we can surround ourselves with that are going to h...
Jan 11, 2020•5 min•Ep. 100
5 Minutes or Under Stay the Course The ever changing landscape of addiction can be rather daunting. At first it’s beautiful, sunny, perfect weather and no storms. We are just enjoying the weather Eventually though, the inevitable happens. Storms start to come through. What do we do when this happens? Often times addicts and alcoholics will let this turn into an excuse to drink or drug. Rather than looking at the situation as an opportunity, we can look at it as oppression. “Why did this have to ...
Jan 10, 2020•5 min•Ep. 99
