Addiction2Recovery

Boundary setting is not only important in everyday life, but it is especially important when a loved one has a substance use disorder. Although setting boundaries may seem like a 'tough love' approach, they are actually meant to protect the mental health of the one setting the boundary. In this episode, we will discuss why boundaries are important, things you may notice that you are doin...

Families and loved ones may struggle with many things during their loved one's substance use disorder (SUD): the cycle of active use, treatments, lapses/relapses, recovery and more. There are not always the greatest resources available, or known, to assist in this very difficult, stressful and scary time. In this podcast, we will go through 10 tips for loved ones who are in this place, offeri...

Part 3 of Cravings and Triggers! Now that we know what triggers are and what cravings are, we will help make it all make sense! We will put more concrete examples to triggers and cravings that will further broaden the listeners understanding of the entire put together process, while also walking you through the whys, hows, and the 'what next.' The majority of the episode, however, will d...

Part 2 of the Cravings and Triggers Series! This episode will describe the 'Addictive Process'. We will walk you through the introductory phase, the maintenance phase, the disenchantment phase and, finally, the disaster phase of substance use disorder(s).  We will describe this process evolution and how cravings and triggers make up the backbone of this process and addiction. 1. Triggers...

Cravings and Triggers are a very large part of addiction and recovery; however, they can be very confusing to understand, especially for family, friends, loved ones and the support system of the person with a substance use disorder or in recovery.  In this episode, we will define and describe what cravings are from the physiological and psychological standpoint, and then we will define and describ...

It is not un-common for individuals who are in recovery to struggle going to  weddings, graduations, holidays or other events where there will be a lot of people and/or a lot of celebrating. It is a societal norm to have alcohol at these events and this can place the person in recovery into a very difficult situation.  In this episode, we will discuss what this may look and feel like to a person i...

Kristi shares her story. What does addiction look like when you are a person who doesn't use drugs or alcohol but are married to someone who does?  Kristi has been with her husband for 19 years, married almost 16, and nearly all of it has been shadowed by his substance use disorders. She has supported him, loved him and has endured a lot of emotional pain because of him, but she has also stay...

In the last episode we discussed what an ACE score was and the correlation between ACE scores and the lasting effects on health, life potential and behaviors. As elevated ACE scores are a risk for substance use disorders, it is extremely important for all care team members to be aware of how best to care for patients with a trauma history. Trauma Informed Care (TIC) is a care-delivery model aimed...

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Scores highlight and 'score' the traumatic events people experience prior to turning 18. These traumatic events can have lasting impacts and lead to a multitude of adverse outcomes later in life. In this episode, we will discuss the origin of the ACE score, the questions that make up one's ACE score, as well as how one's ACE score can be a fa...

We are joined by Mike, a person in recovery from drug and alcohol abuse. Mike will discuss with us the different types of inpatient and outpatient treatments he has attended as well as the positives and negatives of the different types. We will discuss the things that made certain aspects of the treatments more helpful and impactful than others and what made his most recent treatment successful. W...

We are joined, in this episode, by our first guests- Certified Peer Recovery Support Specialists (CPRS) Ryan and April. Not only will they share their personal recovery journeys, but they will also share how they got to the point of giving back and finding their career paths in supporting others in their own journeys. They will explain what a CPRS does as well as how they are different than an LAD...

All family units become affected when one of its members develops a substance use disorder. Family dynamics, the type of family structure, if a family is 'open' or 'closed' more in nature, all factor in to how the family functions during active addiction as well as during early recovery. This family-based episode, the first of several, will explain different types of family dyn...

People often ask why people with active substance use disorders ("addicts" to use inappropriate language) don't just stop using drugs- Afterall  ... you destroyed your marriage... you are in jail... you lost your job.., you have kids... you have nothing...  If it was as easy and as simple as "just stop" we would not be in the middle of this epidemic. The War on Drugs tried...

So what happened after 2009 with Josh and his opioid use? We will discuss the next several years and the progression of not only his opioid story but also the next decade and more of the greater opioid epidemic. The data, the trends and the manipulation used by many are all talked about on this episode.  For questions, comments, episode recommendations or requests or to learn more, email us at: Ad...

Starting with a... (need to listen to hear this interesting tidbit)... Josh describes how he got his first opioid prescription, what it felt like, and how he managed to stay on them for 2 years. Unfortunately, his story is just one of thousands, he is just one of thousands, who was a direct victim of Purdue Pharma and the infamous "pain as the 5th vital sign". Dr. Heather will then expla...

Is addiction a choice... a huge 'hot topic' question and, unfortunately, very polarizing. Those 'in the world' of addiction (as a patient with the disease or as someone who works in the field) understand that it is NOT a choice- but then why? What causes some people to become addicted and some people not? We will discuss the factors that contribute to the disease of addiction a...

Get to know your Addiction2Recovery hosts! Dr Heather Bell is a double boarded family and addiction medicine physician and Josh Solem is a Certified Peer Recovery Support Specialist (CPRS). This episode will explain a bit of who they are- the 'why us'- and then will describe how this podcast came to be. Addiction2Recovery is a one-of-a-kind podcast, as it will not only go into the whys a...