On today's episode, Duane speaks with Jan Winhall, the author of Treating Trauma and Addiction with the Felt Sense Polyvagal Model: A Bottom-Up Approach. Jan's book is a combination of over 40 years of working with trauma and addiction and reflecting on how to bring an embodied approach to addiction treatment. We currently understand trauma and addiction from more of a top-down cognitive approach. For example, the DSM, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, sees it through a pathologizing lens. ...
Oct 25, 2021•41 min•Ep. 152
On today’s episode, Duane speaks with Dr. Karol Darsa about how to recognize trauma as well as some of the first steps you need to take to deal with trauma. Karol is the author of the book, The Trauma Map: Five Steps to Reconnect With Yourself. She dives deep into how trauma impacts us in our everyday life as well as what we can do to deal with our traumatic histories so we can heal and feel better. If you have struggled with some trauma in your past, hopefully you will get a lot of insights fro...
Oct 18, 2021•38 min•Ep. 151
We cannot overstate the impact this pandemic has had on our healthcare providers. When you think about all the stress and pressures these front-liners are going through day in and day out, you can see how a lot of aspects are playing in that are leading to clinical burnout and, ultimately, addiction. Yet, we need to recognize that this is just a part of a larger system that's going on in the individual. On this episode, Duane talks with clinical psychologist Michael Tkach as he shares about addi...
Oct 11, 2021•41 min•Ep. 148
Entrepreneurs and high-performing individuals are highly persistent and driven. Oftentimes, they are in control as they push themselves to success. They look really good on the outside. However, when they have an undercurrent of hurt and pain that is never expressed or paid attention to, they’re also likely to numb out from the pain through alcohol, drugs, sex, or something else. Let’s add to that the fact that drinking is pretty normalized in Canada, the US, and Western Europe. It’s even more n...
Oct 04, 2021•52 min•Ep. 149
On today's episode, Duane speaks with spiritual leader and author Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswati. In her book Hollywood to the Himalayas, she shares the journey of her transformation from trauma and abuse to healing and freedom. Her hope is to bring people into the natural state of freedom, peace, and joy and, ultimately, free people from suffering, pain, and addiction. Although Sadhvi has written other books on her teachings, she reveals that this was the first time she shared her actual full story...
Sep 27, 2021•39 min•Ep. 148
On today’s episode, Duane speaks with Michelle Chalfant, host of The Adult Chair Podcast, about being our best selves by sitting in the adult chair and how our adult self can help us navigate all parts of our trauma, inner child, and ego. Michelle gives practical advice that can help you move forward in your life in a way that will create meaning and purpose. A therapist and coach, Michelle currently does coaching certification and workshops based on the Adult Chair Model, which was a culminatio...
Sep 20, 2021•52 min•Ep. 147
There are a lot of negative consequences that can come from behavioral addictions. They include everything from financial problems to legal repercussions to health issues. Whether it’s gambling, gaming, sex, or pornography, it’s important to understand why some people are susceptible to certain behaviors. In fact, the same mechanism that influences chemical addiction could be responsible for behavioral addiction as well. On this episode, Duane speaks with Amanda Giordano, a licensed professional...
Sep 09, 2021•47 min•Ep. 146
Sophie Aghdami is an addiction recovery coach in Australia. Today, she shares her own story of recovery from alcoholism as well as how a particular parable helped change her whole perspective on recovery, find success in healing, and create a thriving life. Sophie grew up in Switzerland and the UK and moved to Australia just two years ago. Her drinking started as an early teen. In the UK, it’s a cultural thing to start drinking early or at least be around it a lot. It was just the norm for Sophi...
Sep 06, 2021•38 min•Ep. 145
On today’s episode, Duane talks with Charlie Gray about his journey of hope and resiliency through his toxic relationship with vodka and the one thing that allowed him to stay sober. In his memoir, At Least I’m Not The Frog: A Zany Memoir of Alcoholism & Recovery, Charlie Gray tells his story of being a recovering alcoholic sharing his experience of addiction, relapse, and recovery. Living as a high-functioning alcoholic for 11 years, his plan was to keep his job, make some good money, and just ...
Aug 30, 2021•37 min•Ep. 144
In this episode, Duane speaks with Robert Kanter, an international recovery advocate addressing the opioid epidemic. Today, he talks about his advocacy work with the opioid epidemic. He also tells his own story of recovery from alcohol and substance use disorders and how his daughter's struggles became the genesis of his advocacy work. In 2020, overdose fatalities hit 93,000 in the US. This was a record-breaking amount with COVID exacerbating the existing opioid crisis. It was an epidemic within...
Aug 23, 2021•39 min•Ep. 143
We have to work and deal with our internal and early trauma. This can be more difficult to see and process without a reliable, trustworthy “other” in our lives. Sometimes it even takes an expert who can walk us through that journey in order for us to get to that safe space for healing and recovery. Today, Duane talks with Andrew Susskind about his book, It's Not About the Sex: Moving from Isolation to Intimacy after Sexual Addiction. They go into depth about attachment, emotional regulation, the...
Aug 16, 2021•40 min•Ep. 142
Patients with substance use disorder have every right to be pregnant and have children as much as anyone else. Some people look at it as being irresponsible but who are we to judge? In fact, our guest today explains how certain medications for substance use disorders could have played a part in improving the hormonal milieu of patients enough that a pregnancy might occur. On this episode, Duane speaks with Dr. Charles Schauberger, an OB/GYN and Addiction Medicine doctor who specializes in helpin...
Aug 09, 2021•40 min•Ep. 141
What happens when your pain is greater than your fears? On this episode, Duane speaks with Recovery Pastor Craig Brown and author of the book, Stop Hiding, Start Healing. Craig shares his recovery journey coming out of an abusive, dysfunctional family and how he peeled off the layers of his pain, shame, and guilt, and finally found freedom again once he decided to surrender and give his life over to Christ-centered recovery. One of the striking things Craig also mentioned during this interview i...
Aug 02, 2021•37 min•Ep. 140
Addictions are many things. But to simplify, they represent parts of our personalities that are out of balance. They represent a part of our body, mind, soul, or spirit that needs a lot of attention and that perhaps was neglected in childhood. As we continue using external substances, these imbalances get louder and louder until they have to be dealt with. Eventually, we get stuck in a cycle of shame and guilt that leads to hopelessness. On this episode, Duane speaks with Paul Churchill, the hos...
Jul 28, 2021•37 min•Ep. 139
When we are in deep pain or we have these hardships in our life, we have to learn how to transmute them and turn them into something different – not just overcoming it. As for KL Wells, she decided to transmute her pain into service by helping others whose loved ones are struggling with addiction. KL is a businesswoman and she has a 30-year-old son who is a recovering addict. Through the course of her life, she has lived the generational story around addiction, not struggling with addiction hers...
Jul 19, 2021•35 min•Ep. 138
For most people who get into recovery, at some point, food and sugar become an issue in their life. It serves as a secondary feel-good mechanism when they're not feeling great. But why is sugar so appealing? Why do some people struggle so much with it that it causes problems in their life? On today’s episode of The Addicted Mind Podcast, Duane speaks with Mike Collins about the science behind sugar addiction and how it negatively impacts people in recovery. When Mike got sober, he went right bac...
Jul 12, 2021•52 min•Ep. 137
Being in the restaurant industry, serving alcohol is such a big part of it. It’s intended to create an experience, just like the food, music, and the interior of the space. But if you're struggling with alcohol or drugs, it would be such a hard industry to be in because you're going to be around those all the time. In fact, about 17% to 24% of restaurant workers around the country have issues with alcohol and drugs. And that’s because it’s the only industry where drinking and drugging have becom...
Jul 09, 2021•36 min•Ep. 136
Mindfulness – everybody hears about it and they have all kinds of ideas of what mindfulness is. A lot of times, they think it's this really complicated thing and that you have to do the whole kung fu thing to be mindful. But you don't have to. On today’s episode, Duane carries an inspiring conversation with Janet Fouts, the author of Microdosed Mindfulness. Janet devolved into depression when her partner was diagnosed with cancer. She found it hard to handle things well, considering how she had ...
Jun 23, 2021•35 min•Ep. 135
Our guest today is AdaPia d'Errico and she is going to talk about intuition and paying attention to our authentic self. Her book is titled Productive Intuition: Connecting To The Subtle. Often, our intuition and our authentic self can be very subtle and difficult to pay attention to, especially if we've struggled with trauma and hardship. AdaPia is really passionate about her work, sharing her story, and sharing her wisdom. Her Story AdaPia was at a point in her life where she was so completely ...
Jun 16, 2021•38 min•Ep. 134
Why is addiction so hard to control? Does that mean addiction can’t be treated? On today’s episode of The Addicted Mind Podcast, Duane talks to Dr. Paul Kaloostian. Dr. Paul Kaloostian is a neurosurgeon in Los Angeles as well as an author. His books include The Young Neurosurgeon: Lessons from My Patients and two different poetry books, From The Eyes Of A Doctor and My Surgical Cases Told In Poems. As a neurosurgeon for 17 years now, Dr. Kaloostian has dealt with thousands of cases of people wit...
Jun 08, 2021•43 min•Ep. 133
People going through addiction recovery deal with feelings of shame, guilt, and unworthiness that no one else can understand unless they’ve gone through a similar situation. However, if someone comes to them at their level, they can automatically pull some of that shame away. This is where peer specialists can help people through addiction treatment and recovery. Today’s guest is Kabir Singh, the CEO and Founder of Fresh Start Recovery Center and the Chief Operating Officer for Amatus Health. He...
May 31, 2021•41 min•Ep. 132
On today’s episode of The Addicted Mind Podcast, Duane talks with relationship maven Abby Medcalf. Abby is a psychologist, author, podcast host, and a TEDx speaker. Abby is the author of the #1 Amazon best-selling book, Be Happily Married: Even If Your Partner Won't Do A Thing and host of the top-rated Relationships Made Easy Podcast. Abby is in long-term recovery from heroin. She was very functional and very good at hiding it for many years. Along her journey of recovery, she got a business deg...
May 25, 2021•47 min•Ep. 131
What most people don't realize about addiction, whether it’s to alcohol, drugs, shopping, overeating, or porn, is that it’s not the core of the problem. The addicted person just uses it to cope with their real problem: their addicted mind or funky brain. For recovery to happen, people need to change their thinking to grow to new levels of awareness. On this episode, Duane talks with Dennis Berry, the author of Funky Wisdom: A Practical Guide to Life and the host of The Funky Brain Podcast. He ha...
May 17, 2021•44 min•Ep. 130
When a partner has a substance use disorder, there's a lot of mistrust. There's a lot of lying and hiding which damages the intimacy, connection, and faith in the relationship. Afterward, all of that has to be repaired. On today’s episode, Duane talks with international corporate attorney Chantal Jauvin about her journey to recovery as a partner of someone with a substance abuse disorder. As an international corporate attorney with expertise in trade law and financial services, Chantal has worke...
May 11, 2021•1 hr•Ep. 129
You could be suffering from chronic stress without knowing it. Alternatively, you might know it but are just so used to it that you think it’s normal. Well, it’s not normal. You have to act on it before it takes a toll on your health and happiness. We have many different stressors in life. The human alarm is in the brain but we are wired to ignore it because we're wired for fight or flight. Humans evolved but, like other creatures, we used to live in caves or under trees. We had to know where th...
May 03, 2021•55 min•Ep. 128
Addiction is a response to pain and trauma. Reaching out and making yourself vulnerable is challenging when you've been traumatized. You may not trust people and you may not trust the process. So what needs to be done to discharge the trauma off your body and break free from the symptoms – addiction being one of them? In this episode, Duane talks with Mike Govoni, an integrative holistic recovery coach who specializes in healing not only addiction but trauma as well. He has extensive experience ...
Apr 26, 2021•43 min•Ep. 127
You’ve probably heard of someone who’s suffered from chronic pain, gone to doctors, ran all the tests necessary, and surprisingly, none of the doctors could actually diagnose the problem. Andrew Hahn, Founder of Life Centered Therapy, joins today’s episode to explain how chronic pain, limiting beliefs, and even addictions are not physical in nature, but energetic. Hahn is a licensed clinical psychologist who received his A.B. Magna Cum Laude in Social Studies/Psychology from Harvard University a...
Apr 19, 2021•54 min•Ep. 126
You could be raised by parents who are very nice people and they may not have any drinking or drug use issues. They could be super religious. But that doesn’t guarantee it’s going to save you from drug addiction or alcoholism. It's perfectly acceptable to ask for prayers if somebody is sick. But what happens when you do a repeated bad behavior that you can't seem to control? As children, we don’t really have the power to change our environment that has been created by adults. We have been taught...
Apr 08, 2021•46 min•Ep. 125
Recovery is not one size fits all. It is also not a one-and-done situation. Rather, recovery is a process and a journey. When someone gets sober and begins recovery, they are just starting to walk down the path of healing. Many of their previous feelings and temptations may continue to come up. However, they are gradually learning the tools they need to stay on their new path. Shelby John is passionate about helping people who are in this stage of recovery. She is the host of the Confident Sober...
Apr 01, 2021•50 min•Ep. 124
Sometimes you have to fight fire with fire. That cliche is true even (and sometimes especially) when dealing with addiction. Today’s guest is a prime example. David Poses is the author of The Weight of Air: A Story About the Lies of Addiction and the Truth of Recovery. In this memoir, David covers his heroin addiction and how he used buprenorphine to help him overcome it. Throughout the show, David is sharing about the struggles he encountered when trying to find treatment. Many methods that wer...
Mar 26, 2021•55 min•Ep. 123
