Recovery in the Middle Ages - Two Middle-Aged Suburban Dads Talk About Recovering From Addiction to Drugs & Alcohol.

RMA-Episode 102 Show Notes:   RMA-Episode 102: Tough Love in the Boogie Down Bronx. This week on RMA, Mike and Nat review the 2000 documentary “Sister Helen.” Sister Helen Travis was a recovering alcoholic and Benedictine sister who spent the last years of her life running a 23-bed halfway house in the rough-and-tumble slum of the South Bronx. She embarked upon this rugged and dangerous ministry i...

RMA-Episode 101 Show Notes:   RMA-Episode 101: Drunk lawyers and sober Monksters. This week we take the pulse of the community, talk about how dry January is going, and also review the memoir The Addicted Lawyer by Brian Cuban. In The Addicted Lawyer, Cuban candidly shares his journey through addiction and recovery, and offers insight and guidance for other lawyers and law students who may be stru...

RMA-Episode 100 Show Notes:   RMA-Episode 100: Dry January. Mike and Nat talk about the spectrum of Alcohol Use Disorder, taking a break, tips and tricks to make it 30 days without the booze, and why you might want to extend your month hiatus into the indefinite future. Also, a voice-mail from Ryan and the holiday roundup, on a very special edition of RMA.   Please remember to SUBSCRIBE to the pod...

RMA-Episode 99 Show Notes:   RMA-Episode 99: The Third Annual RMA Holiday Extravaganza! We play listener voice-mails, tell holiday stories, and share our list of the top five things you can buy for your loved-one in recovery this season. Also, more tips and tricks for staying sober, and we welcome our new executive producer, ChatGPT!   Please remember to SUBSCRIBE to the podcast on your favorite p...

RMA-Episode 98 Show Notes:   RMA-Episode 98: Recovery in the News. This week on RMA, Mike and Nat drill down into some drug policy issues that have been generating some controversy lately. Should cannabis be a Schedule 1 drug? How can we make sure that medically assisted treatment is available to all who would benefit from it? What can we do to help people getting out of prison maintain their prog...

RMA-Episode 97 Show Notes:   RMA-Episode 97: Stutz. This week it’s a movie review! Phil Stutz is one of the world's leading psychiatrists. He's helped countless patients over 40 years, including world-class creatives and business leaders, and among them many therapy-skeptics. Directed by his friend and patient Jonah Hill, this film explores Stutz's life and walks the viewer through his signature v...

RMA-Episode 96 Show Notes:   RMA-Episode 96: Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing-This week, Mike and Nat review the new Matthew Perry autobiography and try to pull some whiz-bangs out of Chandler’s recovery musings. We also share Thanksgiving stories, and Recovery in the News makes a triumphant return.   Please remember to SUBSCRIBE to the podcast on your favorite platform to get the latest...

RMA-Episode 95 Show Notes:   RMA-Episode 95: BONUS Episode! Mike and Nat share tips and tricks for how to maintain your sobriety during the holiday season, and talk about what works for them. Are the usual suggestions the best ones? Listen and find out.    Please remember to SUBSCRIBE to the podcast on your favorite platform to get the latest episode delivered right to your devices as soon as it’s...

RMA-Episode 94 Show Notes:   RMA-Episode 93: The State of the Pod! Happy Thanksgiving! Mike and Nat broadcast this week’s show from the parking lot of the Yes show in Westbury Long Island. We talk about the future of RMA, how to deal with your kids getting to the age where they’re encountering drugs, navigating the holidays with sanity intact and attending concerts sober when everyone else is a me...

RMA-Episode 93 Show Notes:   RMA-Episode 93: Book Review-Russell Brand’s Recovery. Love him or hate him, it’s hard to ignore him. Russell Brand  is an English comedian and actor best known for his flamboyant, loquacious style and manner. He is also, at this writing, 18 years sober from drugs and alcohol. Russell’s outsized personality is on full display in his 2018 book Recovery, which purports to...

RMA-Episode 92 Show Notes:   RMA-Episode 92: Grant B’s Triumphant Return to RMA. This week Grant Boyken, OG monkster and editor-at large of the RMA newsroom, returns after a year’s absence to fill us in on how it feels to have two years sobriety, what it’s like to be working with Shatterproof, and how turning 53 helped him focus in on what is really important in life. We also discuss Shatterproof’...

RMA-Episode 91 Show Notes:   RMA-Episode 91: The Sinclair Method-An Interview with Katie Lain. This week on RMA, Mike and Nat explore the ins and outs of The Sinclair Method (TSM)  with Katie Lain from Thrive Alcohol Recovery. With a claimed success rate near 80%, Sinclair has been gaining in popularity as a science-based alternative to traditional 12-step recovery methods. Is this approach to med...

RMA-Episode 90 Show Notes:   RMA-Episode 90: Something Was Wrong.  This week on RMA, Mike and Nat do a deep dive into an episode from the latest season of this amazing podcast, an Iris Award-winning true-crime docuseries about the discovery, trauma, and recovery from shocking life events and abusive relationships. Why are we talking about another podcast? It’s not something we usually do, but sinc...

RMA-Episode 89 Show Notes:   RMA-Episode 89: Everything happens for a reason. Or does it? This week on RMA, Mike and Nat discuss this old bromide, how it pertains to recovery, and whether or not believing that there is a master plan for your life helps or hurts you stay sober. It’s a far ranging discussion that touches on religion, philosophy, quantum mechanics and Schrodinger’s cat, with a little...

RMA-Episode 88 Show Notes:   RMA-Episode 88: This week on RMA we explore the alleged link between substance abuse and creativity. Contrary to popular belief, creativity does not disappear when the alcohol and drugs are no longer available. Your genetic makeup remains the same, so the drive to take risks creatively is still there. Are creative people more prone to addiction? What are some strategie...

RMA-Episode 87 Show Notes:   RMA-Episode 86: This week on RMA, Mike interviews Jesse Jarnow. Jesse is a writer, a DJ and the host of the Good Ole Grateful Deadcast, the official podcast of the Grateful Dead. He is also the author of Heads: A Biography of Psychedelic America. In order to understand the present popularity of psychedelics as a treatment modality for trauma and substance abuse, it’s i...

RMA-Episode 86 Show Notes:   A triumphant return! Season 2 of RMA kicks off with a review of the BBC documentary film Drinkers Like Me. Mike and Nat talk about the perils and pitfalls of moderation and non-abstinent recovery. Is such a thing even possible? Is it advisable? Does preaching the possibility of moderate drinking to the masses harm people who should be sticking the plug firmly in the ju...

RMA-Episode 85 Show Notes:   And, We’re Almost Back! This morning we started a zoom call to catch up, Mike hit the record button, and we both realized how much we missed doing the show. What we planned as a quick discussion turned into an hour of material so we decided to release it as a stand-alone episode. Highlights include Nat visiting a “CBD” dispensary and recording the walk-through with Mik...

RMA-Episode 84 Show Notes:   Your best thinking got you here. It’s a common enough slogan in AA and other 12 Step programs, but what does it mean? Einstein said that you cannot solve a problem with the same thinking that caused it. Does that mean we shouldn’t question the methods and philosophical underpinnings or recovery programs? Or is there perhaps a place for self-empowerment and self- relian...

RMA-Episode 83 Show Notes:   This week on RMA-it’s a Take 3 Takeover! RMA and Sober Lining Playbooks’s own Grant Boyken joins Mike and Nat to discuss involuntary civil commitment, alcohol awareness month and process addictions.    Also, Monkster’s Speak,the week in Weird and the life-update, on a slowly recovering, technologically challenged, newsworthy episode of RMA.   Please remember to SUBSCRI...

RMA-Episode 82 Show Notes:   And we’re back! Sort of. Mike is still wrestling with COVID but the show must go on and so it does, in all of its audio-challenged glory. This week, spring is in the air and weed is everywhere. We continue our discussion about cannabis and kombucha, psychedelics and shamans, and where any of that fits into a recovery program. For the main event we ask the perennial que...

RMA-Episode 81 Show Notes:   This week on a very special episode of RMA, Mike and Nat do an extended news wrap-up which includes a discussion of the latest research on psychedelics for addiction treatment, a break-down of what it means to have a trauma-informed workplace, and why that is important, especially to people in recovery.    Also, a looong Monkster’s Speak and a new segment we call “A Pa...

RMA-Episode 80 Show Notes:   This week on a very special episode of RMA, Mike and Nat welcome Erin back to the podcast to talk about boundaries and codependency.  Boundaries are the rules you create to let people know how to treat you. Healthy boundaries create separation between people. In codependency, these boundaries are weak. You feel responsible for how other people feel and want to make the...

RMA-Episode 79 Show Notes:   Compare and despair! It has been said that comparison is the thief of joy, but we still do it all the time. Why? Maybe it’s grounded in self-esteem, an area that typically proves challenging to a person suffering with substance abuse disorder. One theory is that you have an unconscious belief that you lack self-worth. Because you already believe you are in some way ina...

RMA-Episode 78 Show Notes:   Can America Recover? Evan Haines sure thinks so, and he is our guest this week on RMA. In addition to being the co-founder and co-CEO of Oro House Recovery Centers, Evan, along with his partner Bob Forest, are the authors of the new book, Can America Recover, a sprawling look at the past, present and future of the recovery movement in America, and where America itself...