Living Free

In this episode Michael and I chat with Olivia Soha about 1:1 recovery coaching tailored to the individual needs of people with eating disorders. Olivia is the founder of 'Uncovery' which she  started in 2018, inspired by her own experience of living with an eating disorder. She was keen to help others find the meaning and purpose they would need to keep going once the medical aspects of their ill...

Tracey-Lee had an unconventional childhood in which she experienced some trauma, relating to her father's outbursts of rage. At the same time she discovered a talent for performance and this gave her a pathway to self-expression. But as she enterered adulthood she felt unbalanced, developing a tendency to addictive behaviours as she searched for comfort and relief. After struggles with binge eatin...

Steve joined Michael in the studio to share his experience of getting sober in his early 20's, his early days in Alcoholics Anonymous and what his life looks like now.

Bill grew up with an active alcoholic father and as a young adult sought help through an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting and was directed to Al-Anon Family Groups. He found help in those early years in the Al-Anon meetings and over forty years later he discusses the impact of Al-Anon in transforming his life and relationships, particularly with his father and with his family and friends. If someone e...

Dan Raffell, National Co-ordinator and Trainer at SMART Recovery Australia, describes his lived experience of drug abuse as 'hands on vocational training'. He has put this training to good use over the last 22 years working in the drug and alcohol recovery field in his native Scotland and here in Australia.  Today Dan joins us to chat about, among other things, how small changes in habits and beha...

Adrian is in his 30’s and has been in Gamblers Anonymous for five years. He discusses how his gambling progressed from sports betting with the help of older kids at 13 years old, underage horse punting at TABs with school friends to becoming a serious problem in his life before he turned 18. It affected Adrian’s school and personal life and mixing betting and drinking soon made his situation much...

Mandy and Richard join Ann for a conversation about recovery from, among other things, alcohol, worry and minding other people's business. If someone else's drinking is causing you a problem, then you can phone the Al-Anon Family Groups helpline on 1300 252 666 or go online at al-anon.org.au for more information. If you would like to find out a bit more about alcoholism for yourself or a friend, t...

Kerry grew up in a home where there was violence and moved into adult life resilient but missing some of the skills for coping with life's difficulties. She developed an addiction to sugar from which she found recovery in Overeaters Anonymous, then several years later she found herself drinking too much and made her way to Alcoholics Anonymous. She discovered SMART Recovery in its early days in Au...

Jane grew up in a loving family even though both her parents were alcoholics, her dad recovering in Alcoholics Anonymous and her mum still actively drinking. Her parents split when she was around 6 years old, and her mum’s bender-drinking quickly escalated. Jane and her sister took care of her mum for a few years until her father began to look after them again for two years. Jane grew up fast, fel...

Jesse grew up in a good home with good morals. He was a small kid and often felt scared and lonely. He was bullied at school and eventually turned to alcohol and then drugs in his early teens as they made him feel like he fitted in and more relaxed. His drinking and drug use progressed, adversely affecting his work and ruining his close relationships. His mum was a significant influence in him see...

Josephine grew up in suburban Melbourne in a family where addiction was an issue. Preoccupied with success, Josephine achieved highly at school and university but not without consequences for her mental health. Encouraged by her mother, she sought the support of Al-Anon. Now living in Berlin, Josephine and her partner Dejan both attend Al-Anon. In this episode, Josephine tells her story. Towards t...

Kate began her recovery from addiction when she decided to 'live' instead of following her life-long pattern of taking 'chemical holidays'. Using alcohol and drugs from a young age had had a negative effect on Kate's happiness and she found herself in relationships and situations that were dangerous for her mental health. Kate has found through SMART Recovery renewed joy and revitalisation of her...

Katherine grew up as the eldest daughter of an alcoholic mum and became the surrogate parent in the family as her mum’s drinking progressed. She was exposed to alcohol early in life, started drinking around 12 or 13 years old but it was around 15 or 16 that she sought it out. Often drinking to blackout, Katherine regularly had to ask her friends what had happened the night before and frequently le...

Tim shares his story of developing a gambling habit through underage gambling on poker machines as part of social activity with family and friends.  He always had some anxiety and when he discovered alcohol relieved it his drinking began in earnest.  Tim’s drinking and then drug use increased in his late teens when he went overseas and was working in hospitality. He had a nervous breakdown in his...

In this episode, Ann, Mitch and Zakia discuss the common experiences of people affected by the alcoholism of a relative or friend, emphasising the inclusiveness of Al-Anon family groups to people of all ages, genders, races and creeds. Information is given about how Al-Anon can help teenagers (through Alateen), adult children of alcoholics, First Nations people and LGBTIQ+  people through sharing...

Trigger Warning - mention of sexual assault and course language.  Young walks us through his introduction to Drug and Alcohol culture in Nigeria, and how it differs from Australia

This episode was first aired in June 2024.Dr Patrick Pheasant is an addiction and trauma therapist who incorporates drama and role play into his practice, working with clients to recover from trauma via its manifestation in the mind and body. As well as his private practice, Patrick engages with addiction through his facilitation of two SMART Recovery groups focusing on the additional challenges f...

Lisa felt that she was different from the start and grew up in a dysfunctional family affected by the family disease of alcoholism. She found out at an early age that alcohol made her feel better and she gravitated towards people that enjoyed alcohol so that she could enjoy it too.  Lisa was a wild child, left school early and became a single parent in her early twenties.  As life became increasin...

Gary grew up with parents who had been affected by a drinker in their family. He went on to marry three alcoholics and was fortunate when a marriage counsellor suggested that he try Al-Anon Family Groups. Now, over twenty-four years later, he discusses the impact of Al-Anon in transforming his life and relationships. If someone else's drinking is causing you a problem, then you can phone the Al-An...

As the youngest child of a family of 9 children, Del grow up feeling invisible and often bewildered about the actions of others in the family. Del's parents drank and partied, distracted from the emotional needs of their children. As the result of this, Del found herself in early adulthood ill-equipped to recognise healthy from unhealthy relationships, leaving her vulnerable to mistaking any show...

The child of migrant parents who worked long hours, Amanda remembers feeling isolated as a child. She remembers bingeing on food at the age of 8 and has spent many years struggling with compulsive over-eating, using food to calm herself whever she feel restless, irritable, discontented or otherwise uncomfortable. Overeaters Anonymous has shown Amanda that she is not alone and that it is possible ...

Derek grew up in a conservative religious family and didn’t drink alcohol till he was in his early twenties. He liked the effect of alcohol and continued drinking socially during his twenties and then quite heavily during his thirties. Derek was 42 when he decided to control his drinking but it took him 5 years before he had to admit that all he could really manage was a maximum of 2 days sober at...

Tom was reasonably academic, enjoyed music and was quite competitive in his youth but always felt a bit different, like a square peg in a round hole.  He had depressive episodes early on which were evidence of sub-clinical mental illness that would affect him later in his teenage years. Tom was curious about drugs in his early teens and joined in with a drug culture at his school, using mainly mar...

Anne grew up in a family affected by intergenerational alcoholism, in which her father resorted to anger and violence. She had undiagnosed ADHD as a child, inevitably got into trouble at school, and continued to take risks in her early adult life. It was the drinking of her husband that led Anne to seek the support of Al-Anon. When she made the difficult to choice to leave her husband, taking her...