About four years ago, in the face of what little did she know was going to be an increasing horror show in terms of deaths due to opioid use, Debra Gonsher Vinik decided to do a documentary on the opioid crisis. She also wanted to put the spotlight on women because, as she says, women are almost absent in terms of the media coverage of what's going on. Since 1999, we have lost over 200,000 women to the opioid crisis. On this episode, Duane and Debra take a deep dive into her new documentary, Att...
Apr 10, 2023•42 min
If you're trying to move away from addiction and all the falsehoods, you have to start looking through that lens and replace them with axioms or self-evident truths. Once you’re in harmony with the world you live in, you get clarity on who you really are. In today’s episode, Duane speaks with Rio Timberlane to talk about the power of decision-making, how to get clear on your identity, and understanding axioms or self-evident truth. Rio Timberlane is a relationship scientist who has spent about t...
Apr 03, 2023•44 min•Ep. 227
Have you ever heard of the phrase, “Boys make choices, men make decisions”? What’s the difference? On today’s episode, Duane speaks with Carlos Navarro, who has a 20-year entertainment career that spans from radio, television, and film, to commercials and video games. He has acted on shows and films as The Walking Dead, The Outsider, Unbreakable, and Marvel's Hawkeye. Carlos is also co-host of the number one rated Orlando, Florida talk show, Monsters in the Morning. Along with that journey, he w...
Mar 27, 2023•47 min•Ep. 226
Anybody can be impacted by addiction, whether you’re a doctor or not. And for certain people in healthcare, anesthesiologists most especially, access to drugs like opioids is super easy. On this episode, Duane speaks with Steven Orebaugh about how his own personal experiences of witnessing his colleagues get trapped in addiction inspired him to write the book, “The Stairs on Billy Buck Hill.” He wrote the book having witnessed a number of ruined careers among his peers because they have access t...
Mar 20, 2023•37 min•Ep. 225
As a parent, how do you deal with a child who’s struggling with addiction? How can you fully support your kid at this most trying time of their lives? Today, Duane speaks with Steve D. about parenting a child with addiction. A father of five children, the youngest of whom had a near-lethal addiction to alcohol, Steve retired from a 30-year career on Wall Street to learn about addiction, to help his family, and to help others. Steve’s eight-year journey includes getting trained as a parent peer a...
Mar 13, 2023•42 min•Ep. 224
Using hypnosis on ourselves is more powerful than we think. But is it also effective in treating addiction? On today’s episode, Duane speaks with David Spiegel, Wilson Professor and Associate Chair of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University School of Medicine. Having been at Stanford for over 45 years, David runs the Center on Stress and Health at Stanford and the Center for Integrative Medicine. One of his interests is to find out how people can better control their minds and ...
Mar 06, 2023•45 min•Ep. 223
Drinking when pregnant is a cultural norm. In fact, one in seven pregnant people reports consuming alcohol during pregnancy (which is pretty high). A significant number of pregnant women haven’t been told by their physicians that it’s not safe to drink while pregnant, and some even tell them it’s safe. But no amount or type of alcohol is safe to consume during pregnancy. Prevent fetal alcohol syndrome disorder (FASD) along with so many of the lifelong effects including substance use, poor mental...
Feb 27, 2023•35 min•Ep. 222
Recovery is a long and difficult process, but it can be done. And once you’re able to combine spiritual habits with behavior change, the results can be amazing! On today’s conversation, Duane speaks with Eric Zimmer, the host of The One You Feed Podcast and the genius behind the Spiritual Habits Program, where he takes spiritual wisdom and combines it with behavior change so people can make the changes they need and find joy and healing in their lives. When he was 24 years old, Eric found himsel...
Feb 20, 2023•41 min•Ep. 221
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 advo...
Feb 13, 2023•38 min•Ep. 220
There is value in your struggles. But also part of working through your struggles is the ability to ask for help and find a community that has the capacity to support you. On today’s episode, Duane speaks with Dane Ensley, the founder of Reconstruction Unlimited, a mental health coaching agency that designs therapeutic ecosystems for clients. Dane has worked as a coach for the world's leading interventionists and has traveled the world working with a broad spectrum of clients. Dane's encouraging...
Feb 06, 2023•46 min•Ep. 219
It’s so easy to get lost in the mundanity of life that we lose sight of each present moment. But what if we just focused on today, and make each day our Day One? On today’s episode, Duane speaks with J.D. Frost, author of the book, Life Ledger: How to Build a System to Reach Your Goals, where he dives into the concept of Day One, the power of writing, and how keeping a daily ledger of your life helps you gain the clarity that you need to help you reach your goals. J.D. Frost is an accountant and...
Jan 30, 2023•39 min•Ep. 218
If you found out earlier on in your youth that you actually have a genetic propensity toward addiction, would you have made decisions a lot differently? Addiction is a bio-psycho-social model, but we don't really look at the bio part of it. Sometimes, we have to look at the physiology of things to understand addiction better. And there has to be a paradigm shift in thinking about how we operate and exist in this world. On today’s episode, Duane speaks with Dr. Evelyn Higgins about genes and biom...
Jan 23, 2023•34 min•Ep. 217
There are thousands of women who are drinking and suffering in silence. And when we're dealing with our internal struggles, we feel alone. There’s pain and misery attached to that. How are we then able to provide a safe space for women to follow down a path to recovery and give them the kind of support they need? On this episode, Duane speaks with Casey Davidson about the topic of gray area drinking, what that means, what that looks like, and the benefits of being sober, curious, and maybe just ...
Jan 16, 2023•36 min•Ep. 216
Addiction does not only impact the one addicted, it also affects their family and friends. It’s hard to see your loved one hurting and struggling. But you can’t help them heal with guilt and shame. There are tools and resources to help you help your loved one make a positive change. The goal is to help them feel safe, heard and seen, supported, and understood. On today’s episode, Duane talks with licensed clinical psychologist and research scientist Kenneth Carpenter, PhD. He is the co-author of...
Jan 09, 2023•39 min•Ep. 215
A lot of us resonate with movies because we get to learn about the world through them. Making movies is hard enough. Now, imagine a documentary of someone making a movie during their rehab journey. On today’s episode, Duane speaks with Jared Callahan about his new feature-length documentary. Clean Slate provides an immersive, veritate look into the world of recovery amid the biggest drug epidemic in American history. It follows two individuals Cassidy and Josh, as they attempt to make a short fi...
Jan 02, 2023•39 min•Ep. 212
America is in the midst of a new drug crisis. Earlier this year, the CDC reported a staggering 107,000 overdose deaths in 2021. That's one every five minutes. It's up almost 15% from 2020 and nearly 70% of those deaths involved fentanyl. On today's episode, Duane speaks with Sam Quinones who has been sounding the alarm for years. A journalist and storyteller, Sam is a former LA Times reporter and author of four acclaimed books of narrative nonfiction, including New York Times bestseller and Nati...
Dec 26, 2022•40 min•Ep. 213
How do we break the stigma around addiction and mental health support for people of color? It’s important that different communities are able to change that narrative so everyone is provided the adequate support they need. On today’s episode, Duane speaks with Jessica Dueñas who shares her story of addiction, recovery, and using her voice to help other people find their way out of pain. Jessica started with binge eating in her bedroom as a Latina girl growing up in New York City. By the time she...
Dec 19, 2022•40 min•Ep. 212
Why is it that a lot of successful people, even superstars, and athletes, end up in a downward spiral of depression? Usually, what's missing is a spiritual component of life. On today’s episode, Duane speaks with Adam Jablin, a best-selling author, inspirational keynote speaker, transformational life coach, and spiritual and recovery mentor. Adam is passionate about helping people break through any traumas and old addictions or harmful patterns, and ignite the hero that lives within them so they...
Dec 12, 2022•43 min•Ep. 211
Several statistics show that children of alcoholics will grow up to either become alcoholic themselves, or marry one because they're so conditioned to that lifestyle. A huge part of that is because they could get so rooted in their own belief systems that they end up in self-sabotage without even realizing it. And somehow, transformation only occurs when intense suffering forces them to make that shift. On today's episode, Duane chats with Maggie Jenson, an alternative recovery coach. Maggie is ...
Dec 05, 2022•45 min•Ep. 210
Recovery can be more challenging when we get caught in that spiral of addiction and narcissism. Somehow, you will have to get to the point where you just have to surrender to a higher power. On today's episode, Duane speaks with recovery coach and leadership expert Bart Nollenberger. Bart shares his journey of moving from someone who was self-absorbed in his addiction to a person who is truly about giving and surrendering the self. Bart went from wrecking six cars in high school either because h...
Nov 28, 2022•52 min•Ep. 209
It’s so easy to break down and find yourself in an emotional spiral when adversity strikes at the height of your career and then all the things you’ve worked hard for are suddenly taken away from you. On today’s episode, Duane speaks with Ryan, as he talks about his journey through addiction and recovery. As the founding drummer of the band Maroon 5, Ryan Dusick was busy touring for years, until a chronic injury caused him to lose everything. And the way he coped with all the pain and trauma w...
Nov 21, 2022•43 min•Ep. 208
Did you know that your eye movements could free you from all the trauma and pain? Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, or EMDR for short, is a unique type of psychotherapy proven to help people recover from trauma and improve the quality of their lives. On today’s episode, Duane speaks with Dr. Deborah Korn and Michael Baldwin, co-authors of Every Memory Deserves Respect: EMDR, the Proven Trauma Therapy with the Power to Heal. Deborah is a clinical psychologist with a private practice ...
Nov 14, 2022•46 min•Ep. 207
We’re sharing a special episode from another podcast, A Slight Change of Plans, from Pushkin Industries. In this preview, four-time Grammy Award-winning musician Jason Isbell discusses how his early career was plagued by addiction. Getting sober allowed him to re-examine aspects of his personality that he once saw as his greatest weaknesses. Hear more from A Slight Change of Plans at https://podcasts.pushkin.fm/scp5?sid=addicted. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Nov 09, 2022•41 min
Addiction recovery is a long process that’s why we need long-term solutions to help people move into a recovery state. We need a community and we need all the resources around us to maintain a sober world. But what do blockchain and cryptocurrency have to do with addiction and recovery? On today's episode, Duane speaks with Dr. Harold Jonas, a licensed mental health counselor and the founder and CEO of the Soberverse. They discuss how his projects including Sobercoin and the Sober Systems mobile...
Nov 07, 2022•51 min•Ep. 206
Addiction is not the problem, it's the result of not knowing how to access a safe place within – and a lot of that has to do with regulating your emotions. When you don’t have the toolbox for emotional regulation, that’s when addiction starts to arise. You start to feel this void and so you fill it up with food, drugs, alcohol, or something detrimental to your health and well-being. Learn how to equip yourself with the right tools and techniques to help you on this journey to finding peace and c...
Oct 31, 2022•44 min•Ep. 205
Change is possible. There is hope. You just need a roadmap toward that change. On today's episode, Duane speaks with Lee LaMee, a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner who has a lot of wisdom and experience in the field of change. Lee talks about his book, The Theory & Practice of Well-Being: Your Comprehensive & Actionable Guide to the Good Life, which he has put together in a digestible, down-to-earth, pragmatic way so people can take action. He also shares his personal experien...
Oct 24, 2022•43 min•Ep. 204
Imagine if you were in college right now, do you think you could ever survive it? Today, college students are met with so many issues. At this stage of their life where they’re exploring their identity, they’re presented with all of this information on social media telling them that they're not enough and not doing enough. Add that to the already massive amount of academic pressure, especially in prominent universities. Plus, the pandemic, which has exacerbated the mental health concerns of many...
Oct 17, 2022•46 min•Ep. 203
Addiction is not a new problem in the workplace. In fact, about 70% of folks that are using illicit drugs are employed in the workplace, either full-time or part-time. However, this is not a comfortable topic for people to talk about obviously due to the stigma around it. How do we then bridge that gap and break the silence so people get the help they need, and for total recovery to take place? On today's episode, Duane speaks with Cheryl Brown-Merriwether, HR professional and recovery support p...
Oct 10, 2022•46 min•Ep. 202
It’s important to look at addiction from the perspective of seeing how the body operates, specifically our nervous system. By figuring out what changes can be done from a neurological approach, we then begin to heal, treat, and change for the better. If your nervous system isn't in tune, then you're not going to be able to make those connections. You go down the path of loneliness and because it’s too painful, you try to find a way out. And if you don’t know what’s going on in your nervous syste...
Oct 03, 2022•44 min•Ep. 201
Many people go through their day always having to do something. Whether that’s getting involved in your kid’s activities, running errands, or working – you do things every day to ignite your fire. Even when you work out, you think the harder, faster, or heavier it is, the better. The question is, do you still have the time to breathe? It’s important to understand that as much as you’re igniting your fire within, you also have to find your breath. On today’s episode, Duane speaks with Michelle Hi...
Sep 26, 2022•44 min•Ep. 200