Believe in People: Addiction, Recovery & Stigma

In this special live edition of Believe in People , we're celebrating a podcast first. For the very first time, we took the podcast to the stage, recording live in front of more than 500 audience members at the DDN Conference , one of the UK's largest events dedicated to drugs, alcohol and recovery. Joining us for her third appearance on Believe in People, Michelle Heaton reflects on mor...

In this episode of Believe in People, Lewis Raymond Taylor shares the extraordinary story of how he went from addiction, violence and repeated prison sentences to becoming the founder of a global coaching business that has trained more than 15,000 coaches across 87 countries. Lewis opens up about childhood trauma, addiction, prison, violence, personal responsibility and the moments that forced him...

The TikTok sensation known to millions as "Sober Queen" joins us on Believe in People. Carole Watson's story is unlike anything we've featured before. Her addiction began at just ten years old and continued for more than 45 years through drugs, alcohol, crime, prison, abusive relationships, health scares and repeated brushes with death. Known online for her brutally honest reco...

In this episode of Believe in People , Kaitlin Reeve , known online as Sober As A Mother Focused , joins us to discuss motherhood, addiction recovery, trauma, shame, and the unique barriers women face when seeking support. Kaitlin shares her deeply personal journey from childhood trauma and early substance use to cocaine addiction, cannabis dependency, and ultimately long-term recovery. We explore...

In this special episode of Believe in People: EXTRA, recorded on the road at the British Podcast Show in London, we sit down with broadcaster Richard Bacon for an honest conversation about alcohol addiction, cocaine use, stigma, and what it means to live with risk while trying to build a stable life. Richard traces the story back through family history, from a grandfather who died of alcoholism to...

In this episode of Believe in People, playwright Ed Edwards joins us to discuss The Political History of Smack and Crack - his award-winning play exploring addiction, recovery, Thatcherism, political unrest, and Britain’s heroin epidemic. Drawing on his own experiences of addiction, prison, relapse, and long-term recovery, Ed reflects on stigma, Narcotics Anonymous, consumer culture, creativity, a...

Melissa Love joins Believe in People to share how working as a nurse in addiction services challenged her own hidden fears, internalised stigma and understanding of dependency. Through personal reflections on her brother’s addiction, family trauma and her father’s rejection, Melissa explores how these experiences reshaped her view of recovery, compassion and what real care looks like. This episode...

In this episode of Believe in People, The Secret Drug Addict joins us to discuss anonymous recovery, addiction stigma, and the reality of long-term sobriety. We explore themes of addiction recovery, trauma, peer support, mental health, and the lived experiences that shaped their journey. This conversation challenges assumptions about addiction and visibility. We explore why anonymity can be a form...

In this episode of Believe in People: Addiction, Recovery & Stigma, Kieran McCartney joins us to discuss cocaine use, ADHD, grief, and recovery. Best known for his "win or walk" deal with Lord Sugar on the BBC show, The Apprentice , Kieran opens up about the pressures behind success, the loss of his father, and how that led to increased cocaine use. We explore the normalisation of co...

This short episode of Believe in People EXTRA features a short focused clip from our conversation with Dr Caroline Copeland Dr Copeland is a Senior Lecturer in Pharmacology & Toxicology at King’s College London, and the Director of the National Programme on Substance Use Mortality . Today she explores ketamine use, polydrug risks, drug adulteration, and the growing dangers within today’s drug...

She had the “perfect” life on paper and still didn’t want to wake up.  In this episode of Believe in People: Addiction, Recovery & Stigma , Cara Cox joins us to discuss trauma, addiction, repeated relapse, and long-term recovery . We explore how childhood loss, family alcoholism, emotional instability, and internal loneliness shaped her relationship with substances from an early age. Cara spea...

In this special episode of Believe in People: EXTRA, we present a unique collaboration with Apple Music and the Radio Academy Award-winning podcast Classical Connections, hosted by world-renowned pianist and composer Alexis Ffrench . Originally broadcast as part of the celebrated 60-Second Sonata segment, Alexis invited host Matthew Butler to share a deeply personal reflection on trauma, addiction...

In this episode of Believe in People: Addiction, Recovery & Stigma, Neil Firbank joins us to discuss heroin addiction recovery and how connection and purpose can transform lives.  We explore themes of addiction recovery, trauma, peer support, mental health, and the lived experiences that shaped Neil’s journey - from homelessness, injecting and suicidal thoughts, to treatment, group work, and b...

In this episode of Believe in People Extra , Bea Wood joins us to challenge one of the most common myths about Tourette’s - that it is simply about swearing. Bea explains the difference between coprolalia and the more common motor and vocal tics that shape everyday life and the need for constant safety awareness.  The conversation explores intrusive thoughts and urges, why suppressing tics can mak...

Finley joins Believe in People to share his lived experience of ketamine addiction and recovery, and how a substance that first felt functional and harmless became physically and psychologically destructive. We explore how early use of cannabis and cocaine progressed into ketamine, why it can feel controlled at first, and how denial allows harm to escalate unnoticed. Finley explains ketamine bladd...

This episode of Believe in People Extra explores one of the most debated ideas in addiction: being recovered rather than simply in recovery . Young Lee unpacks the difference between cured and recovered, explaining the “twist of the mind” that precedes relapse and why the real powerlessness isn’t the first drink - it’s the thought that comes before it. Using a simple Terminator analogy, he describ...

Lucy Rocca joins Believe in People to share her candid story of alcohol misuse, trauma, and recovery, and the creation of Soberistas , one of the earliest online sobriety communities for women. Lucy takes us back to the 1990s, the rave scene, early drug use, and the beginnings of binge drinking that quickly became unsafe. She explains how alcohol escalated in adulthood, how motherhood and “outward...

This short episode of Believe in People Extra features a focused clip from our conversation with Adam Maxted - UK wrestling star, personal trainer, and two-time Love Island contestant. Adam speaks openly about steroids, testing cycles, image and performance enhancing drugs, cutting through myths around quick results and explaining the real difference between use and abuse . He reflects on gym cult...

Paula McGowan OBE joins Believe in People for a full, in-depth conversation about her son Oliver, whose death led to the introduction of The Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training across health and social care in England.  Paula explains how people are too often doubted, judged, or written off in services, how distress is misread as behaviour or non-compliance, and how bias, fear, and rigid systems can...

This short episode of Believe in People Extra shares an exclusive preview from our upcoming full conversation with Paula McGowan OBE , whose son Oliver’s death led to the introduction of The Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training across health and social care in England. This preview focuses on one critical question: why Tier 2 training matters , and why listening to people with lived experience is not...

In this episode of Believe in People: Addiction, Recovery & Stigma , Chiedu Oraka, one of the UK’s most distinctive emerging voices in rap, also known as The Black Yorkshireman, joins Matt to discuss dual identity, stigma, and the turning points that reshaped his life.  Born and raised on a Hull council estate in a Nigerian household, Chiedu grew up balancing two worlds: cultural expectations...

In this episode of Believe in People Extra , Amy Jo Johnson shares why she chose to stop drinking - not because her life had fallen apart, but because alcohol was making her anxiety louder and everyday life harder to manage. She shares the simple mindset shift that helped her most: giving herself permission to drink, and realising she didn’t actually want to. Amy Jo also reflects on how not drinki...

In this episode of Believe in People: Addiction, Recovery & Stigma , Joe Sealey joins us to discuss cocaine addiction, alcohol misuse, grief, and recovery. Known to millions as a cast member on The Real Housewives of Cheshire , Joe shares the story that existed long before the cameras - the career-ending injury that ended his football dream, the sudden death of his father, and how trauma and l...

In the first episode of Believe in People Extra , our new spin off miniseries, Michelle Heaton speaks openly about what it feels like to want to stop drinking and not be able to. She explains the medical dangers she didn’t understand, the shame that kept her stuck, and why addiction isn’t about a lack of willpower. Michelle shares the moment that changed everything: seeing someone else in recovery...

In this episode of Believe in People: Addiction, Recovery & Stigma , Patti reflects on a lifetime shaped by silence, trauma, and survival. Growing up in a dysfunctional home in 1970s San Francisco - marked by alcoholism, emotional neglect, and parents who barely spoke - she began using alcohol and drugs at just 13 to escape overwhelming pain. By 16 she had lost her mother to alcoholism, a loss...