The Courage to Change: A Recovery Podcast

In this Q and A episode Ashley talks about navigating loss and loneliness.  Ashley Loeb Blassingame has been clean and sober for 16 years, she's a drug and alcohol counselor, interventionist, and the co-founder of a telehealth company called Lionrock Recovery that provides substance use disorder treatment. Episode Resources Connect with Ashley Loeb Blassingame TikTok | @ashleyloebblassingame Insta...

Ryan Dusick is best known as the founding drummer of the band Maroon 5. As a boy, he dreamt of pitching for the Dodgers and writing adventure novels. Arm injuries sidelined his baseball career, just as rock music became his new passion and purpose.  In 1994 he founded the band Kara’s Flowers with fellow Brentwood High School students Jesse Carmichael, Mickey Madden, and Adam Levine. Ryan spent the...

Amy LeClair grew up as a Junior Olympic Gymnast. At 11 she had her first interaction with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder while on a trip with her class. Suddenly she was bombarded by intrusive thoughts that made her wonder if she would hurt them even though she had no desire to do so.  She was able to find tools to help with her OCD until Amy went to college. As a Division 1 gymnast at San Jose Sta...

In this Q and A episode Ashley helps a listener with their question "Will My Kid End Up An Alcoholic?". The listener is wondering about how likely it is the alcoholism will be passed along genetically to her children.  Ashley Loeb Blassingame has been clean and sober for 16 years, she's a drug and alcohol counselor, interventionist, and the co-founder of a telehealth company called Lionrock Recove...

Jessica’s story started in high school with a boyfriend who seemed amazing. He was the class clown, a football player and very into her. In the early years she was able to explain his problematic behavior as expressions of his love for her. There was no physical abuse at first. If she just tried harder his behavior would stop. Then when the violence came it was only when drinking. The alcohol was...

Lee Shuer is a Certified Peer Specialist and internationally recognized expert in Hoarding Disorder and has been at the forefront of developing self-help groups for people with HD.  Lee’s own complicated relationship with things started at age 3 years old when he began asking people the question “Do you have anything that you don’t need?”.  The first object he acquired was a lawnmower that finally...

In this Q and A episode Ashley helps a listener with their question "My Partner Is Scared To Go To Detox". She really wants them to go and they know they need to, but they're scared. Ashley shares her own stories of trying to get sober without help, what to expect during a medical detox and why it's better than the alternative. Ashley Loeb Blassingame has been clean and sober for 16 years, she's a...

Michelle Farris is a Marriage and Family Therapist who specializes in codependent relationship patterns. She helps people to avoid the people pleasing behaviors and issues with boundary setting that can often become stumbling blocks for many in recovery. Michelle began her own recovery at 21. She began attending Overeaters Anonymous and Al-Anon Meetings. She found the Al-Anon meetings much more di...

Amy Farnan grew up in a loving home with three siblings and lots of laughter. Even with all the good she found at her core, the inability to feel like she had worth or a voice.  In middle school she found alcohol and immediately felt powerful and pretty. She began saying the things she’d always wanted to say and the feeling hooked her. She had some level of management of her drinking through high...

In this Q and A episode Ashley answers the listener question "How Can I Undo The Things I've Done?" It can feel like it's impossible to put the genie back in the bottle. That the mistakes made are impossible to come back from, but there is reason to hope. Ashley shares stories of how she was able to fix things that she thought were damaged beyond repair. Ashley Loeb Blassingame has been clean and...

Dane Ensley grew up in an AA home. His mother and grandmother were sober and among a long line of family members who struggled with alcoholism and addiction. He grew up feeling destined to be an addict and also in recovery. After his parents split up at age 7, he found himself looking for male role models who had the strength, bravado and macho energy that he felt drawn to. He found them, but they...

Stasia Rivera is an expert in the science behind optimized performance; whether it is flying aircraft or building wins in sports or working through a recovery program, the concepts are the same. Stasia developed these processes as a therapist working in trauma, addiction and family systems as well as being a former Division 1 athlete and coach at all levels of competition.  In both arenas, Stasia...

In this Q and A episode Ashley answers the listener question "Why is Resentment So Dangerous?". The listener isn't sure why resentments matter so much. Ashley shares secrets from her own resentments and why they can be so dangerous to sobriety. Ashley Loeb Blassingame has been clean and sober for 16 years, she's a drug and alcohol counselor, interventionist, and the co-founder of a telehealth comp...

Growing up in rural Texas within a Fundamentalist Christian family, Allison always felt like something was missing, like an outsider looking in to a world that she didn’t belong.  In her teens, she was introduced to pasture parties, heavy drinking and drugs, and a community of counter-cultural thinkers who helped her to recognize that her sexuality, politics, and spiritual views weren’t in alignme...

Matthew Bocchi’s father was one of the many who lost their lives on September 11th. The news came in a highly censored manner. His mom and uncle told him what they thought was best for his young mind, but it wasn’t enough for him. He wanted to understand all of the story. He became obsessed with the images of people jumping from the building and wondered daily if his father had been one of them. H...

In this Q and A episode Ashley answers the listener question "Depression is Threatening My Sobriety". The listener is losing their motivation and their feelings are keeping them from doing what they need to do to stay sober. Ashley shares her own story of depression and why it's important to validate feelings even when you feel like you don't have a right to them. Ashley Loeb Blassingame has been...

Nathan grew up in southeast LA. His parents wanted a better life for him, and began moving to try to find it but lacked the resources to get him there. The neighborhood they ended up in was nearly as rough as the one he’d come from. Drugs were prevalent in his community. So much so that they were easier to come by than alcohol.  At 13 he got Speed from a friend’s family down the street and started...

Constance Scharff, PhD is an internationally recognized speaker and author on the topics of addiction and trauma recovery, and mental health. She is founder of the Institute for Complementary and Indigenous Mental Health Research. She serves the Geffen Playhouse as a consultant for their Veterans Writing and Performance Workshop.  In the past, she served Rock to Recovery, a music-based addiction a...

In this Q and A episode Ashley answers the listener question "Why Do I Need To Go To Al-Anon? It's Their Problem." It can be challenging to feel as if you need to do more when you're already sacrificed so much for your loved one. Ashley talks about what you'll gain by attending and why it matters. Ashley Loeb Blassingame has been clean and sober for 16 years, she's a drug and alcohol counselor, in...

Justin White had been using meth for 12 years when tragedy found his family. His son had been playing outside and drowned in an empty pool at age 4. The loss was more than he could withstand. His Meth use accelerated and he introduced Heroin into his daily life. He spent days and weeks motionless inside his house unable to do anything other than medicate the waves of pain. He eventually decided he...

Tim Lodgen grew up in Baltimore Maryland where he signed a skateboard contract that had him riding with Bucky Lasek and Brandon Novak. Playing sports kept him away from drugs and alcohol until he enlisted in the Marine Corps as a Senior in High School. He thought he’d let off some steam before he had to enter the highly regimented life of a soldier and during that time he did every drug he could g...

In this Q and A episode Ashley answers the listener question "I’ve Stopped Drinking, Will I Ever Have Fun Again?". It can be hard to feel like you're starting over. In our using, we might have lost the things make us feel happy. We might not have any idea about what we actually enjoy anymore. Ashley talks about her own experience getting sober and what you can do to find fun once again.  Ashley Lo...

Danny was born in New Jersey, but spent most of his childhood moving around the country before finally landing in Orange County. His drinking and using started in high school like so many but quickly got out of hand. At 17 he was caught smoking weed in a grocery store and was given a way to avoid legal trouble. If his parents were willing to send him to outpatient treatment then the charge would b...

Anna Lembke, MD is professor of psychiatry at Stanford University School of Medicine and chief of the Stanford Addiction Medicine Dual Diagnosis Clinic. A clinician scholar, she has published more than a hundred peer-reviewed papers, book chapters, and commentaries. She sits on the board of several state and national addiction-focused organizations, has testified before various committees in the U...

In this Q and A episode Ashley answers the question "How Can I Work in Sales and Not Drink?". Many jobs can feel as if drinking is a prerequisite. Even more challenging is when you drank when you started working somewhere and now you don't. You have to make choices about what you tell people, who you tell and what will become your new way of interacting with the group. Ashley gives tips and tricks...