Chasing Heroine: Addiction Recovery and Sobriety

Today Jeannine interviews Arlina Allen, host of The One Day at a Time Podcast. Sober since 1994, Arlina hit rock bottom at age 25 and decided to stop the path she was headed down. Now married for 23 years with two teenage boys, Arlina has spent her sobriety diving into personal growth work and has developed a self-esteem course that focuses on learning to attract what you desire in the areas of &q...

Today Jeannine and Nate interview Cody Kreutz. Cody is a recovery content creator and public speaker. After a suicide attempt in 2013 following years of alcohol and opiate abuse, Cody entered treatment ready to change his life. As an atheist, initially Cody found the concept of a "higher power" difficult to internalize. Early in recovery he found a way to navigate the Twelve Step program...

**TRIGGER WARNING ** Today Jeannine and Narcan Nate speak with Jess, aka "one armd badass" on social media. Just as her handle implies, Jess lost her right arm as a result of the long term effects of Xylazine. Jess shares her story with complete candor in the hopes that she may help others who are either on the same path, or have met the same fate and feel ashamed or embarassed. Jess has...

Today Jeannine chats (and chats and chats!) with Erin Khar. Erin is an author known for her writing on addiction, recovery, mental health, relationships, parenting, infertility, self-care and occasionally her undying love for Beverly Hills, 90210. (They also discuss their 90210 astrological signs!) Jeannine and Erin talk about Erin's childhood, early drug use, the escalation of drug use into y...

TRIGGER WARNING** Today's episode is Part Two of our interview with popular TikTok creator and social media influencer Brittany Jade. Part two picks up where we left off in Part One with Brittany returning to her childhood home in Wisconsin to detox after losing custody of her children in San Diego. Part two of Brittany's story brings us into her legendary rise to TikTok stardom, the reconciliatio...

Famous Tiktoker, social media influencer and sober advocate Brittany Jade joins the #nodpod fam today for an incredibly candid interview with Jeannine. Brittany Jade shot to tiktok stardom in 2020 and spent the early years of her sobriety navigating both her recovery as well as the perks and pitfalls of social media fame and recognition. Documenting her personal life and her sobriety journey for t...

TRIGGER WARNING** Today Jeannine interviews Mary Beth O'Connor, retired federal judge, author and recovering addict. Mary Beth's book "From Junkie to Judge: One Woman's Triumph over Trauma and Addiction" chronicles the extreme abuse of her childhood, early drug use and ultimately is a guide book for anyone looking to find a recovery that is not centered around a Higher Power...

Today Jeannine interviews Rachael B. Rachael grew up in a family where active addiction and a criminal lifestyle were the norm. Continuing the patterns of addiction she saw modeled in family members, as an adult, Rachael also continued living in the chaos and turmoil of a life in active addiction. Clean now since 2017, Rachael ended up alone - truly completely alone - in prison, indigent, no money...

Today Jeannine interviews Jessie B of the organizations Never Use Alone and 229 Safer Living Access. Jessie B is in long term recovery from opiate addiction and was inspired by her child's addiction to begin harm reduction outreach in her area. Her impact has now extended far beyond Albany, Georgia now as with Never Use Alone anyone in North America may call the number to use while someone is...

Today Jeannine speaks with Scott Gerard aka Gumpy her best friend of nearly 30 years and man of honor in her wedding. Gump was present and a witness at an event where Jeannine was using before anyone knew what was really going on. Jeannine and Gump grew up together in Georgia and the quote on the engraved key tag she gave him the night before her wedding said "a true friend knows the song in your...

In today's episode, Jeannine and Kim interview Jeannine's mom, Bonnie, who is also an MSW of outstanding achievement in the fields of domestic violence, child abuse and most recently the student advocate for students at risk (unhoused or facing other turmoil) at a renowned university in California. Bonnie discusses the difference between enabling and support - as she came to see it through her per...

Today's episode is a story from Jeannine with our OG co-host and Licensed Family & Marriage Therapist, Kimberly. Jeannine talks about a particular incident involving burying herself on the beach running from the cops, escaping on a Big Wheels, and how the Third Step Prayer changed her recovery, and continues to assist her in her life now. Connect with the show: https://www.instagram.com/chasingher...

Jeannine and Narcan Nate interview Chris Stewart aka Hollywood about his experiences as an up and coming rock star in Hollywood to becoming a homeless heroin addict in Hollywood. Sober now since 2014, Chris talks about going in and out of twelve step rooms, getting periods of sobriety then relapsing again and how the "mosh pit mentality" in the punk rock scene could save the recovery community. Ch...

Jeannine interviews Britt Frank and gets allll the specifics on exactly HOW anxiety can be leveraged for good and just how we can STOP procrastinating and get "unstuck." Britt Frank is a licensed psychotherapist, speaker, and author. Prior to becoming a functional adult, she was a self-described hot mess of a human. Britt KNOWS what it’s like to be stuck— and how to crack the procrastination code....

Jeannine and Nate interview Will out of Portland, Maine. Will was a long time heroin addict and alcoholic who had done the rounds in twelve step with little success until landing in what he describes as a "twelve step bootcamp." Sober now since October of 2011, Will shares his experience with the twelve steps as they were taught to him in a subtle but clear manner that finally worked.  Connec...

Jeannine and Nate interview Jane Parillo. Sober now since September 15, 2020, Jane takes Jeannine and Nate on a ride from opioid prescriptions for migraines to heroin addiction to making meth in Florida, getting arrested, losing custody of her children and ultimately getting clean and working on rebuilding her relationship with her family and children. Connect with the show on IG: https://www.inst...

Jeannine interviews Dr. Chad Davis who shares specific tools and methods to manage stress and anxiety, why "relaxing well" after stressful situations is vital for overall wellness in life, how meditation allows us to "reprogram" our brains and much more. From Dr Davis: "Addiction is an epidemic, stress is a pandemic, and whether you currently struggling with mental health issues or you simply want...

Today Jeannine interviews Dr. Laura Petracek, Phd.  Dr . Laura Petracek is a Clinical Psychologist, author, and speaker who has over thirty years of experience in the field of psychotherapy.  Jeannine and Dr Petracek discuss her latest book, "The DBT Workbook for Alcohol and Drug Addiction." When recovering from addiction and managing a mental illness, it can feel like both have the abil...

Today Jeannine and Narcan Nate interview Matt, creator of the popular IG and Facebook recovery platform, "A Life Recovered." After a privileged childhood and upbringing, Matt went down a rabbit hole of drug use that led him to drop out of college and join the Navy. Eight years later, Matt left the Navy with an "other than honorable" discharge and an IV meth habit. Arrested TWICE by the same CHP of...

Today Jeannine and Nate are joined by Jeannine’s hair stylist and friend, Taylor Baroni. As a hair stylist, Taylor was completely out of work for several months in California and during the lockdowns Taylor's drug use significantly increased. Sober now since March 8, 2021, Taylor shares her story of finding "top tier employment" as a coke dealer, overdosing on her own product, losing friends and c...

We’re one month into the new year - how are your new years goals coming? Need a boost of motivation to get back on track? If so, today’s episode will be perfect for you. Jeannine shares the motivation formula she learned from Jim Kwik in his book, “Limitless.” This formula is a quick easy way to regain motivation for any goals you currently have for yourself. https://www.limitlessbook.com/

At 19, while playing professional hockey in Canada, Ryan Phillips was introduced to the beginning of the B.C marijuana boom, and that perked his interest because of the large sums of wealth that could be accumulated in a short time. Hockey fell to the wayside and Ryan took his networking skills and used them by forming a smuggling ring that generated millions of dollars a year. His luck ran out af...

Today Jeannine interviews Marci Hopkins, an award-winning TV Personality, host and creator of  Wake Up with Marci, a Recovery Expert on Fox, CBS, NBC and ABC and the author of ‘Chaos to Clarity: Seeing The Signs and Breaking The Cycles’. Marci experienced sexual abuse and trauma at a young age, which contributed to ongoing alcohol abuse later in life. Even as her life progressed and she achie...

Sunday January 15, 2023 Jeannine celebrated eight years of sobriety. In today's episode, Jeannine shares the story of how she got started using, the progression of her use over fifteen years, how she stopped in 2015 and most importantly how she has stayed stopped.  Connect with the show on IG: https://www.instagram.com/chasingheroine/ Connect with Jeannine on IG: https://www.instagram.com/jeannine...

Today Jeannine and Nate interview Hannah Sward, author of "Strip: A Memoir." 'Born in the Bohemian seventies, Hannah was abandoned by her mother, and lived with her poet father on an island with no stores or cars. Kidnapped and molested by a stranger at age six, she grew up to be a stripper and prostitute with a taste for crystal meth - which seemed to be a sure fire way to lose weight - with stop...