Let's Talk Addiction & Recovery

Writer Maggie Moe and composer Joshua Vranas are telling a new story about addiction and recovery that does away with shame and stigma. Instead of normalizing old stereotypes and outdated archetypes, Moe and Vranas wrote and scored a musical, My Pet Dragon , that tells a different story–one that's centered in hope, trust and courage and, when taking things a day at a time, just how powerful a pers...

Susie Brooks, PhD, founder of Veritas Academy, felt powerless when students came into the classroom with substance use issues, or knew someone struggling. She recognized addiction as a disease—one that injures every community—but she didn't know how to help. So she attended the Graduate School of Addiction Studies to gain the tools and skills she needed to walk alongside her students and make an e...

Bullying causes long-term damage on students' mental health, often resulting in anxiety, depression or PTSD during a critical developmental stage. But evidence-based approaches provide healthy solutions to complex situations—involving parents, teachers, administrators and other community members at every stage of the process. Jan Urbanski, Ed. D., Director of Safe and Humane Schools at Clemson Uni...

When Willie Burton was taken ninth in the 1990 NBA draft, he lost his defenses against addiction—a sensational talent through high school and college, his teammates and coaches looked out for him. But then the coping mechanisms he learned as a child in Detroit came back to haunt him when he hit the League. Tune in to hear his story, his message to people who are struggling, and how he intends to h...

Intergenerational trauma. Unresolved grief. Stigma and isolation. Such complex and compound stressors can make recovery from substance use and other mental health conditions all the more challenging. But there are successful paths forward. Listen in to learn about the life-changing work of the Native Dads Network. The nonprofit organization helps indigenous fathers and families reconnect with cult...

On set, Dedee Pfeiffer hears from other actors, crewmates and directors who are inspired by her forwardness—fearless in her pursuit of love and light and publicly accepting her disease of addiction. Tune in as she shares everything she's learned about loving recovery, why she's so vocal about her story, what keeps her heart open and full, and how she plans to help more people fall in love with the...

Addiction is often surrounded by shame and stigma—and both have dominated the different arenas of public discourse for much of human history. No more. Join experts Jeremiah Gardner, Director of Communications and Public Affairs, and Emily Piper, Chief Legal, Advocacy and Compliance Officer, as they debunk popular myths about addiction and recovery and shed light on reality—on hope, on healing, on...

The next workplace revolution will likely hinge on employers' efforts to empower recovery. Post-covid, 20 percent of employees reported drinking during work. Last year, more people died from alcohol than ever before while the opioid epidemic waged on. What are top employers doing? How do they create a business culture where it's safe to seek lifesaving help? Leading expert Bob Poznanovich chimes i...

Honesty. Compassion. Respect. Humility. Many of the guiding values of the Red Road way of life—a Native American path of wellness, balance and spirituality—parallel Twelve Step recovery principles and practices. "The Red Road is a path of human wellness, and everyone is invited," says clinical innovator and addiction counselor Albert Titman, Sr. Listen in as he discusses culturally integrated addi...

Serving as Chair of the American Indian Advisory Council and spending the past twenty years as an addiction counselor for his Native brothers and sisters, Donald Richard Wright, Elder of the Leech Lake band of Ojibwe, is still finding ways to lift people up and bring them home. Now he joins host Andrew Williams to talk about his journey and how we can better serve the Native community moving forwa...

Philip Robert won't stay silent about the exploitation of his Native brothers and sisters: in Arizona, unregulated sober houses are taking advantage of vulnerable people. But Blue Sage Healing, where Philip works, is providing a safer home for recovery, a place of belonging, with a rich cultural connectedness that reunites Native folks with themselves, their ancestry and their people.

Parents are rightly terrified of fentanyl. But what behaviors should set off alarm bells? And how can parents keep the conversation pointed in the right direction when panic and big emotions start arriving? Clinician Sarah Polley, MD, joins host William C. Moyers to explain what teenagers are thinking about fentanyl, the signs they're using, and how you can intervene and make a difference. 

Shame and stigma kept Kathryn Burgum silent about her recovery for fifteen years. After she became First Lady of North Dakota, she learned from host William Moyers himself after an event where they both spoke: "The solution is so simple—we end stigma by talking about it." Now she's leading head and heart first, putting her own story front and center, and providing invaluable input to steer policy,...

Marketed as safe and cool with fun flavors and clever devices, vapes are hooking a new generation on nicotine. Health experts warn that it's not only water vapor and nicotine surging into the lungs: All kinds of other chemicals are ingested too. Psychiatrist Sara Polley, MD, talks with host William C. Moyers about the prevalence, known health risks and highly addictive potential of vaping among yo...

Out on tour after getting sober, indie-rocker John Solomon made a point of hosting conversations about addiction, mental health and recovery wherever he went. The experience inspired his next career move: Going to graduate school and becoming an addiction and mental health counselor. Today he serves as CEO of the Alaska Behavioral Health Association. From a patient to a clinician to a leading voic...

His birthday. His death day. Holidays. Family celebrations. That's when Linda Morrison feels the loss of her youngest son, Mike, most profoundly. But with time, she is finding more space in her heart for gratitude and hope—for the happy life Mike wanted for her. Morrison's achingly honest mother-son love story, Dear Heroin: A Memoir of Goodbyes , helps other families feel less alone in the darknes...

As author and advocate Dawn Nickel likes to say, "we're all recovering from something." For her, those somethings include alcohol, cocaine, anxiety, marijuana and workaholism. Tune in as the co-founder of the global SHE RECOVERS movement talks with host William C. Moyers about the inspiration behind her daily meditation book for "like-minded, like-hearted" women in their own recovery practice. Dis...

Steve thought the world would come crashing when he packed his bags for treatment. A savvy businessman and CEO, he considered himself too successful, or perhaps too important, to go to treatment: after all, three families relied on him for financial support. Now he admits that was only an excuse, and everything that comes after—hope, healing and connection—are the only accomplishments that matter....

Cómo ayudar a alguien que tiene una adicción Nuestro primer impulso es ayudar y proteger a nuestros seres queridos. Pero cuando tienen una adicción, ese impulso no es el correcto: puede que nos lleve a hacer cosas con las que no estamos cómodos, y cuando protegemos a nuestros seres queridos de las consecuencias de sus acciones, es menos probable que cambien. ¿Qué deberíamos hacer en su lugar? ¿Qué...

Proteger a nuestras familias y comunidades de la adicción Aunque disponemos de más recursos para hispanohablantes que en años anteriores, la cantidad de muertes por adicción en nuestra comunidad latina sigue siendo mucho más alta que en las comunidades de raza blanca. ¿Cómo podemos protegernos? ¿Qué deberíamos saber sobre la adicción, en especial con respecto a sus consecuencias para la familia y...

The search for addiction treatment is exhausting. How do you differentiate one program from the next? What factors are most important? This is uncharted territory, meaning it's okay to feel lost or overwhelmed. To provide some much-needed clarity and guidance, a panel of experts joined host William C. Moyers to explain what you should look for, including the keys to effective care and the most imp...

What did journalist Ted Alcorn learn during his seven-part investigation into drinking trends in New Mexico? From uncovering why the state leads the U.S. in alcohol-related deaths, to discovering laws and policies that ignore and even encourage alcohol use, Alcorn spotted gaps in the system that allowed one man to spend 40 years in active addiction without intervention. But there's hope: he also f...

Some obstacles to addiction recovery for the Native community are obvious and well documented, like underfunded health systems. But other, less obvious challenges are just as sticky and prevent just as many people from seeking help. These obstacles, in turn, lengthen "the journey from the head to the heart"—when a person understands that they need help, but the paradigms of recovery have yet to ta...

Millions of Americans are trying to medicate their anxiety with alcohol, marijuana and other drugs. This might work for a short time, but it opens the door for addiction and produces even more anxiety in the long run. Having seen this same sequence of events over and over again, clinician Sarah Wicks, PhD, LP, joins host William C. Moyers to talk about anxiety and addiction: how they feed off one...

This is the recovery story of Daisy Vanslyke, a gentle spirit who spends most of her time healing other people. In her every word and wisdom, she speaks from the heart: she has endured some of life's greatest adversities and hardships, but she still finds beauty and purpose in herself, her children and her recovery. And she's brave enough to see the same in others—and to help them see it too.