Rock Bottom With Ryan

From Airborne Ranger to Author: Jim’s Rock Bottom, Rehab, and Recovery | Rock Bottom with RyanOn Rock Bottom with Ryan, Jim shares how his identity was shaped by being the oldest of five, chasing productivity, titles, and his father’s approval, and serving five years in the Army. After a surprise divorce before 30, he began drinking alone to numb shame and resentment. Years later, after remarrying...

Why You Never Got to Be a Kid: Parentification, ACA, and Healing | Rock Bottom with Ryan ft. Lauren DennellyIn this episode of Rock Bottom with Ryan, therapist, professor, and author Lauren Dennelly discusses parentification and how growing up with alcoholism or other dysfunction can force children into adult roles. She shares her emotional recovery date of September 4, 2022, when she found ACA (A...

Luke’s Recovery Story: Benzo Addiction, Rehab, and Building Substance Awareness at the University of Miami | Rock Bottom with RyanIn this episode of Rock Bottom with Ryan, Ryan interviews Luke, who shares his journey from early substance experimentation in high school—including fake Xanax “school buses,” ketamine, and alcohol—through escalating addiction fueled by anxiety, depression, and ADHD. Lu...

From Rock Bottom to Healing Out Loud: Hayley on Sobriety, Self-Worth & The Hot Girl’s Healing GuideIn this episode of Rock Bottom with Ryan, Hayley from England shares her sobriety date (December 8, 2019) and her history with alcohol, partying, and mixing drinking with opioids, describing escalating consequences including blackouts, public incidents, and a breaking point after driving hungover...

From Trauma and Oxy Addiction to Faith-Fueled Recovery | Keri’s Story (Rock Bottom with Ryan)In this episode of Rock Bottom with Ryan, guest Keri from San Diego shares her sobriety date (February 24, 2024) and history with alcohol (especially tequila), marijuana, pills, cocaine, and OxyContin. She describes early trauma, including her father leaving, childhood sexual abuse, later sexual assaults,...

From Prison to Purpose: Kelvin’s 17-Year Recovery Journey & the Power of Sound Healing | Rock Bottom with RyanIn this episode of Rock Bottom with Ryan, Ryan talks with Kelvin, who shares his sobriety date (March 6, 2009) and journey from early drinking in Connecticut to escalating use of marijuana, cocaine, heroin, and prescription drugs, leading to repeated arrests, DUIs, probation, and priso...

Gillian’s Sobriety Revelation: From High-Functioning Drinking to an Expanded Life | Rock Bottom with RyanOn Rock Bottom with Ryan, Gillian shares how a lifelong, normalized relationship with alcohol—shaped by family divorce, early exposure, and chaotic environments—led her to become a high-functioning daily drinker and “professional partier” through college, hospitality work, and extensive travel...

Gerald Lott on Crack Cocaine, Relapse After 14 Years, and Building Sauk Valley Voices | Rock Bottom with Ryan Gerald Lott joins Rock Bottom with Ryan to share his story of addiction and recovery, including early feelings of isolation as a Black student in a private school, escalating substance use through college in New Orleans, and repeated stints in treatment that culminated in jail. After 14 ye...

Mel’s Rock Bottom: Alcohol, Cocaine, Anxiety, Forced Rehab, and 13 Months Sober | Rock Bottom with RyanOn Rock Bottom with Ryan, Mel (from Brazil, living in Portugal) shares her story of alcohol and occasional cocaine use, severe anxiety, and how her drinking escalated after her father’s death. She describes hiding alcohol, withdrawals, and becoming consumed by secrecy and shame, including a perio...

Magnat: The Alcohol Alternative Built for Social Confidence | Rock Bottom with Ryan (Andrew from PapaMag)On Rock Bottom with Ryan, Andrew from PapaMag shares how alcohol became his social-anxiety “cure” starting at 16, led to years of heavy beer drinking, and began hurting his workouts, work performance, and parenting. After a nine-month sober stretch during his wife’s pregnancy, he returned to dr...

From Crack, Heroin & Homelessness to Recovery Reps: Niall’s Rock Bottom Story | Rock Bottom with RyanIn this episode of Rock Bottom with Ryan, Niall from Stourbridge, England shares how hyperactivity/undiagnosed ADHD, his parents’ divorce, and escalating substance use led from alcohol and cannabis to cocaine, crack, and heroin. He describes blowing a £10,000 inheritance on cocaine, entering cr...

Holly’s Rock Bottom: Alcohol Withdrawal Hallucinations, Ruining a Wedding, and One Year Sober | Rock Bottom with RyanIn this episode of Rock Bottom with Ryan, Ryan interviews Holly from a small town in Worcestershire, England, who is approaching one year sober with a sobriety date of July 30, 2025. Holly describes starting alcohol at 14, underage street drinking and clubbing, and quickly gravitati...

From Cocaine to Crack Rock Bottom: Lorne’s Recovery Story (Rock Bottom with Ryan)Ryan interviews Lorne, a Montreal DJ and longtime cocaine user who transitioned to crack for four years and got sober on December 8, 2022. Lorne describes a normal upbringing, early experimentation with hash and psychedelics, and a pivotal first line of cocaine at a party that led to decades of escalating use. As addi...

Nicole’s Rock Bottom: Air Force Retirement, Isolation, and Finding Recovery Through Rehab, AA & The Dry SideIn this episode of Rock Bottom with Ryan, Nicole—recently retired after 21 years in the Air Force and living in Texas—shares how alcohol gradually became a problem after years of high functioning and social drinking. She describes an introverted childhood in a military family, early drin...

Recovery Jon: Oxy, Heroin & Alcohol Addiction, Arrests, Rock Bottom, and Rebuilding a Life on Life’s TermsJon shares how a seemingly stable childhood in Connecticut shifted after multiple traumatic near-death experiences and mounting anxiety and anger, leading to heavy drinking, then rapid addiction to OxyContin, heroin (snorting), and later alcohol and cocaine, alongside seven arrests and yea...

From Xanax Blackouts to 18 Years Sober: John Campbell’s Rock Bottom & Recovery JourneyIn this episode of Rock Bottom with Ryan, John Campbell shares his story of getting sober at 21 after escalating drug and alcohol use, arrests, and stealing tens of thousands of dollars from his family while working at a bank. Raised in Dallas with early behavior issues and ADHD, John gravitated to the wrong...

Paige Calentino: From Party Girl to Sober Coach | Rock Bottom with RyanIn this episode of Rock Bottom with Ryan, Ryan interviews Paige Calentino, who shares her sobriety date (December 26, 2022), her alcohol and drug use history (martinis, tequila, cocaine, MDMA), and how binge drinking began at 15 and escalated through college at SMU and into corporate consulting’s “work hard, play hard” culture....

From White-Collar Crime to Redemption: David Watson on Prison, Purpose & Going Forward Only | Rock Bottom with RyanOn Rock Bottom with Ryan, guest David Watson from Fort Worth, Texas shares how a stable childhood with his grandparents shifted after his grandfather’s cancer diagnosis, leading to running away and escalating theft and fraud. He describes early schemes, meeting his first wife and...

From Polysubstance Addiction to Counselor: Adam’s Recovery Story | Rock Bottom with RyanIn this episode of Rock Bottom with Ryan, guest Adam shares how early feelings of isolation, learning issues, and clashing with his parents led to a long search for escape that escalated from alcohol to marijuana, benzos, opiates, and other substances. He describes struggles in high school and college, depressi...

Boundaries vs Ultimatums: Enabling, Rock Bottom, and Real Recovery | Rock Bottom with Ryan (ft. Amber)Ryan and guest Amber discuss the difference between boundaries and ultimatums, emphasizing self-respect, accountability, and how recovery helped them stop people-pleasing and codependency. They explore enabling in addiction and relationships, including how rescuing someone can delay consequences a...

Vernon West: Two Sobriety Dates, Higher Power, and Beating Leukemia | Rock Bottom with RyanRyan welcomes Vernon West (Out of the Blue podcast) to discuss recovery, Vernon’s two sobriety dates (Jan 30, 1990 and Aug 2, 11 years ago), and his path through addiction and the 12 steps. Vernon shares growing up with an alcoholic father, attending Al-Anon at 14, and his father’s relapse and death from cir...

Bruce Haataja on Chaos Between My Ears, Bipolar 1, and Recovery | Rock Bottom with RyanOn Rock Bottom with Ryan, Bruce Haataja discusses his debut book Chaos Between My Ears and the internal “committee” of voices that fueled his depression, confusion, and addiction. Raised in small-town Minnesota, he describes leaving traditional school, joining the National Guard at 17, and progressing from presc...

From Rock Bottom to Sober Boozers Club: Ben’s Story + The Truth About NA BeerIn this episode of Rock Bottom with Ryan, Ben from the UK’s Sober Boozers Club shares how he went from daily weed use as a teen to heavy drinking fueled by late-night TV shifts, cheap lager, cocaine, and MDMA, escalating after a traumatic marriage breakdown and a toxic relationship during COVID. After a final blowup that...

Your Problem Isn’t Pornography: Hypnotherapy, Shame, and the Root Cause of Addiction | Rock Bottom with RyanOn Rock Bottom with Ryan, host Ryan interviews clinical hypnotherapist and author Nelson Whiting of No Limits Hypnotherapy about his book "Your Problem Isn’t Pornography" and how pornography, alcohol, and other compulsive behaviors are symptoms of deeper subconscious issues. Whiting explains...

From Rock Bottom to Naturally High: Trauma-Informed Recovery, Nervous System Regulation & The Recovery Concierge (Jeanne Foot)Ryan interviews Toronto-based addiction counselor and trauma-informed practitioner Jeanne Foot about her polysubstance use, entering recovery in August 1993 after a husband’s ultimatum, and how outpatient treatment and 12-step approaches didn’t address her childhood sex...