Recovery Internet Radio

Steve Ferrone has lived a couple of lives; an entertainer from an early age, he was opening for The Who at age twelve and has been a sought after drummer his whole career.  He's done stints with bands as diverse as progressive jazz guys like Brian Auger and the Oblivion Express to well known rockers like Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.  Steve's value runs much deeper however than music...

April Fisher has been in the DUI business for enough years to know the “ins and outs” of the process.  All kinds of folks get DUIs and most don’t know what they’re stepping into.  They don’t know the rules and they don’t understand the treatment process.  Most know only that they have been stopped and charged with driving while intoxicated but have little idea of the costs, the steps to completion...

In this show we plan a departure from our standard pattern to highlight Sophie Swire and her International efforts to empower women in places where this is not the norm.  We feel lucky to have Sophie in our studio this week to give us some glimpses into other cultures and other ways of life.  We sometimes take for granted the freedoms we have.  In the countries where Sophie and her co-workers oper...

Surrounded by Alcoholism as a kid she was predisposed but how could this happen to a nice girl like Karen?  A good marriage, great kids and wanting for little…was it a mid-life crisis or a mid-life CRISIS? She fought a lengthy and costly battle with alcohol for ten long years and finally surrendered and accepted the truth.  She changed drinks, changed towns and did everything to avoid it but in th...

Could a disorganized desk, a disorganized room or house be a symptom of a disorganized head? Are you holding on to THINGS as an emotional suppport or because you can't let go of other things? Let's find out about the addictive side of messy.  Le's talk to our guest Jane Caroo, owner and operator of Clutter Coach Company and a self described "recovering clutter bug"In Jane&...

Some say that addiction is an attempt to fill an emptiness inside. Many with addictive disease say that they never felt like they were enough; that they never fit in or belonged even if, to all appearances they were popular, successful and happy.  Our guest is one such person who despite outward success always felt he had “a hole to fill”.   “Good” was not enough and “best” was only a temporary fi...

Nobody is arguing that heroin has become a suburban epidemic.  It wasn’t until her boyfriend of eight years, Michael, overdosed and died that our guest went from naïve young girl to determined and passionate young woman.  She now raises a child, goes to school, works three jobs and in her spare time trains people in the use of Naloxone commonly known as Narcan, a drug that counteracts the effects...

 We spend a lot of time and money on the treatment of chemical addictions but often not enough on the subtler process addictions; things like compulsive gambling, spending, hoarding, or eating, and least of all on compulsive sexual behavior.  Process addictions don’t come to our attention often until they are well beyond crisis because they are so neatly masked by the notion of normalcy.  But like...

What would it be like to look in the mirror and not be able to trust your perception of yourself?  What if, no matter how thin you were, to you, your appearance was overweight?  What if you had to spend time purging food to stay thin when in fact you weren’t overweight in the first place and then compulsively over ate?  Couple this distortion with a growing need to hide the shame and ignore the si...

Truth really is sometime stranger than fiction and life happens in ways we would never aspire to or predict.  How can things that appear tragic be our path to awareness and enlightenment?  Starting with feelings of abandonment and insecurity Barb found her way through her family disease and out the other side with happiness and success.  Facing losses of relationships with family, potential death...

Addiction isn’t supposed to happen to educated people, right?  It’s not supposed to happen to people who come from a good family, who are nice people and it’s especially not supposed to happen to people who are supposed to help others like doctors, nurses, therapists and other health care pros; but it does.  Listen to “Jack’s” story to find out how addiction is not only a disease but an equal oppo...

Most people wouldn’t consider an alcoholic or drug addict a good candidate for enlightenment.  How is it then that recovering alcoholics and addicts find a “spiritual program”, a “power greater than themselves and are able, with the guidance of that new found power to recover.  It seems nothing short of miraculous that people with this devastating disease are able to swim up from the depths of des...

The line is sometimes blurry and sometimes crystal clear.  Does one cause the other?  How are the two illnesses related and how do they interact?  Where does medication come in?  Our guests this week have stories that may help to clarify some of these questions and give us a glimpse into the complexities of recovering from two things rather than one.

Is it a relapse…a slip…a calculated and willful decision?  We have a panel of three recovering people who have been there and who may help us better understand the inner workings of this phenomenon.  Our focus is not only to look at the structure of how a relapse can occur but also to look at how recovery can continue post-relapse.  Our panel represents a sample of people from 20 + years, 5 years...

Join us for a lively discussion with Ray Chlebicki, the former national sales manager for Roxand Labs, one of the three largest manufacturers of methadone.  Methadone, originally a drug developed by the Germans during the Second World War as a synthetic opiate pain reliever, has been used in this country both as a pain reliever and as a substitution therapy for heroin addiction.  Many have found s...

  Jim’s been “around” a long time.  He says that he, “didn’t get it for awhile” and that the “spiritual part of the program was a real struggle.”  His experiences range from service work in hospitals just as “rehab” was becoming popular to work at the district levels  corrections and other positions.  He’s been in on the early local wanderers group movement and despite retirement hasn’t missed a b...

A recovering alcoholic who was looking for a place to be more frank about his Christian faith went to his well-known pastor and together they developed an international program called Celebrate Recovery; a scripturally based program that bridges Christianity and the twelve step programs.  Many Christians find their way to the twelve steps of recovery and many twelve steppers find a place to celebr...

A long-time friend to the recovering community, Father Jim Swarthout has a new role with Rosecrance Health Systems, one of the area’s largest treatment providers. He’ll tell us about all the interesting things he’s been up to and how his particular skillset fits like a glove with his position.  Attitudes about alcoholism and helping alcoholics have changed in the last 30 years and Father Jim will...

He was always drawn to the natural world.  Hunting and fishing were an early escape from his alcoholic environment but as life proceeded other escapes became “necessary”.  A stint in the military and always on the lookout for a good business opportunity, a post military run at an illegal “sales position” led our guest to his first spiritual experience.  Always a seeker he drank and drugged his way...

This isn’t a story about talking to deceased loved ones but it is a story of dedication, perseverance and giving back.  The newspapers and comedians sensationalized the “sober bar” concept and missed the point.  These guys, Chris and Steve, along with a number of other young sober people took a concept and gave it legs despite controversy, doubt and mistrust.  This is also the story of a community...

Welcome to our one year anniversary show.  We'd like to take you behind the scenes and give you a little straight talk about "Straight Stuff on Addictions" and Recovery Internet Radio.  Rick's son, engineer and co-producer and his wife Moe will co-host the show and give you an inside view of some of our highlights, laughter and touching moments. The show has had it's share...

People want and need to know what happens in the world of high school age drug and alcohol use.  We’d all like to think that it won’t affect our kids but we all know that it is present, accessible and dangerous.  We’d all like to look into the crystal ball and see what’s there and how it all works but we can’t.  Fortunately we have people like Connee Meschini who know kids, talk to kids and have t...

I don’t think we can generalize about war and addiction but let’s just say that Vietnam was a “substance rich environment”. I also don’t think that any of our panel guests this week would say that war caused their addiction problems but I’m certain it didn’t help in any other way than to add velocity towards the bottom.  Each of our panel guests this week served in the Vietnam War, found their way...

The treatment program introduced her to Alcoholics Anonymous then told her to “get a sponsor and work the steps”.  I’m sure it sounded like a good idea, sorta like “hey, grab the life preserver or you’ll drown” sounds like a good idea to a lousy swimmer in deep water.  So who is this “sponsor person” supposed to be; a buddy, a triage nurse, the alcohol police or some kind of booze sensei?  To our...

This week we'll be talking about the importance of diet and fitness to help get back into balance, particularly in early recovery but also as it applies to maintaining quality long term sobriety.  Abuse of any substance can lead to serious nutritional deficiencies and health problems which effect mental function and mood as well as slow the recovery process.  Fortunately, most of these proble...