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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast When we’ve had trauma in our life, we can get really disconnected from our emotions. We don’t know how to express them or how to use them. Often, we turn to the only thing that we think will work: a substance or behavior that helps us escape or avoid those emotions. However, what if we tried something different? Journaling has grown in popularity over the past few years. People have found its power as a method of getting their emotions down onto a page and helping them see their lives a little d...
Mar 18, 2021•42 min•Ep 122•Transcript available on Metacast Hiding--many addicts do it. It’s what keeps them locked in prisons of guilt and shame. It’s how they convince even themselves that they don’t have a problem. It’s the very thing that prevents them from getting the help that they so desperately need. Today’s guest, Wanja Joy, has experience with hiding. She hid her alcohol addiction from everyone in her life. Even after she reached out for help and started seeing a therapist, she hid her struggle with alcohol from him. However, today she is the h...
Mar 11, 2021•48 min•Ep 121•Transcript available on Metacast Addiction is often the result of pain in our early years of life. Whether it’s passed down through genetics or an attempt to escape the pain, many addicts can point to a hard childhood as the source of their addiction. This is why it’s so important to recognize our family patterns and root out the disease of addiction while we still can. Today’s guest, Kate Russell, grew up in just such an unhealthy environment. She was physically abused as a child and was raised by an alcoholic mother. However,...
Mar 04, 2021•39 min•Ep 120•Transcript available on Metacast When we go through extreme pain, it’s easy to feel like we’re all alone. We doubt that anybody has felt the level of pain that we are currently experiencing. Life begins to feel hopeless and we start believing that there is just no reason to carry on. However, there is always some good ahead. Think of the countless stories of those who have survived unimaginable circumstances and lived to tell about it. If we will just do what we can at the moment, taking as few steps as we can muster, and keep ...
Feb 25, 2021•41 min•Ep 119•Transcript available on Metacast Ever seen or heard of people who would come in for addiction treatment over and over again – like they almost always come in for the same problem with the same sense of empowerment? You could throw as many drugs at them or do all kinds of physical interventions but nothing changes. If you're just living in your physical body, doctors can help you just fine. But if you're living in your physical body and your spiritual body is in need of healing, then they would have a hard time doing that. Weste...
Feb 18, 2021•37 min•Ep 118•Transcript available on Metacast Children who grow up in an addictive home internalize a lot of toxic shame where they lose the ability to believe in their own worth and value. For some people, it has never been instilled in them, to begin with. But there is an emotional connection between the addict and their family. Regardless of how old you are – if you were raised with addiction, you deserve to be acknowledged. On today’s episode of The Addicted Mind Podcast, Duane talks to Dr. Claudia Black, a world-renowned expert on addi...
Feb 11, 2021•43 min•Ep 117•Transcript available on Metacast 
