The Courage to Change: A Recovery Podcast

Ashley Loeb Blassingame and new producer Scott Drochelman discuss what's new for Season 4 and check in on Ashley's Recovery Journey. Additional Information Connect with The Courage to Change Podcast Website | lionrock.life/couragetochangepodcast Podcast Instagram | @couragetochange_podcast Ashley's TikTok | @ashleyloebblassingame Podcast Facebook | @thecouragetochangepodcast Podcast Email | podcas...

It's so hard to believe that we are already at the end of Season 3! This season we produced 52 episodes, introduced our Ask the Expert, and met so many amazing people. Tune in to hear Ashley Loeb Blassingame and Ashley Jo recollect the exciting moments from Season 3, review the top 10 episodes of Season 3, review the top 10 episodes of all-time, and share some exciting announcements about what's h...

Born at only 3lbs 6oz in 1962, Lesa Thomas was sent home to die but the universe had a different plan. Unfortunately, this plan didn’t mean that Lisa’s life would be easy as she experienced severe childhood neglect and trauma. As a result, Lisa feels almost no pain. She eventually turned to alcohol to cope, but found Lionrock Recovery in early 2020.  Today she lives in Texas with her spouse whom s...

Leanette was born into an addicted family. Her father was a severe alcoholic and her mother struggled with drug use. When her parents' lives became overrun with drugs and alcohol, Leanette decided to leave. She was only 13 years old.  She dropped out of school in the eight grade and began couch surfing to make ends meet. She spent much of her life just trying to figure out how to live a normal lif...

In early 2019, Christiana was tapped to co-create The Courage to Change: A Recovery Podcast. With a background not only as a marketer and project manager, but as a professional dancer and songwriter, she knew she would cut recordings and set up processes, so that’s where she started. Over the last two (almost three) years Christiana and I have developed the show you know and love today. It has bee...

Wilderness Therapy with Evoke’s Executive Clinical Director Dr. Brad Reedy is the Owner & Executive Clinical Director of Evoke Therapy Programs where wilderness therapy is provided. He has a BS in Family Science and an MS and PhD in Marriage and Family Therapy.  Dr. Reedy’s research and clinical experience includes parenting issues, family trauma, treatment with sexual abuse victims, domestically...

In this special episode, Ashley Loeb Blassingame sits down with her mother, Hillary Clayson Loeb, to understand a mother’s perspective on addiction. They discuss everything from how Hillary felt when Ashley would disappear, to what it was like attending family therapy sessions,  and why people are so uncomfortable talking about addiction, to how individuals can support family members of those who...

Mary Beth O’Connor is a retired Administrative Law Judge who has been clean and sober for 27 years. Substance use disorder is only part of her story as she is also in recovery from abuse and trauma. Mary Beth currently serves as the Director and Secretary for She Recovers Foundation and is a Director for LifeRing Secular Recovery. In August 2020, Mary Beth had an op-ed published in the Wall Street...

Reema Zaman is an award-winning writer and speaker. She is the author of the memoir, I Am Yours, and the forthcoming dystopian novel, Paramita. She is the creator and lead writer of the TV show Snap. Born in Bangladesh and raised in Thailand, she now lives in Portland, Oregon with her rescue chihuahua, Fia the Fierce. You can find her @reemazaman and www.reemazaman.com. Episode Resources S1 E2 of...

Arlina Allen is a speaker, life coach, and host of Sobriety: The One Day at a Time Recovery Podcast. She has been free from drugs and alcohol for more than 27 years and originally shared her story in Season 2, Episode 71 of The Courage to Change: A Recovery Podcast.  She’s joining us again today for an Ask the Expert where we discuss the power of the mind. In 2020 Arlina began learning about hypno...

Tom Farley is a marketing and communications consultant, non-profit executive, and recovery advocate.  He was the Founder and President of The Chris Farley Foundation, named for his younger brother, the late actor and comedian who died in 1997 as a result of substance abuse. In 2008 he co-authored the New York Times bestselling book, The Chris Farley Show, a biography which received national media...

Victoria Abel is a therapist, chef, and certified addiction nutritionist. She began her work in 1994 within inpatient treatment, being trained as a therapist working with trauma, family systems, and all types of addiction. During this time, Victoria received her first Master’s degree in counseling. Being raised in a holistic family, Victoria was reintroduced to naturopathic medicine when her own d...

Markisha Dryden’s story is one that truly shows that we do recover. Being born to parents who struggled with substance abuse, Markisha was the youngest of three kids raised primarily by her grandmother.  After being introduced to crystal meth by a boyfriend, her story includes having multiple children, jail, check fraud, abuse, multiple cases with child protective services, losing parental rights,...

Dr. Jason ZW Powers is the creator of the Positive Recovery© approach to treating addiction and serves as Chief Medical Officer of Positive Recovery Centers. Dr. Jason has a private addiction medicine practice in Houston, Texas, works as an interventionist, and is a published author of When the Servant Becomes the Master (2nd Edition) - the a A-to-Z guide of all things related to addiction, and Th...

Samantha & Nicole Senia are a dynamic, passionate mother daughter duo supporting each other in sobriety.  Samantha is a born entrepreneur. When her marriage fell apart, she drowned herself in chardonnay until she was no longer functioning. With sheer grit, she joined the road to recovery and started a new empire out of her garage, determined to teach her two kids, Nicole and Brandon, that they can...

Stephen Donnelly’s memoir, A Saint and a Sinner, details the rise and fall of a beloved Catholic priest living two lives. Having been enticed by a lifestyle that involved drinking and drugging in his 20’s, it may seem odd that Stephen entered seminary to become a priest in his 30’s.  But at the age of 42, Stephen was ordained as a Roman Catholic priest. He stood before God, the bishop, and the con...

Teri Homan is an award-winning filmmaker and solo piano composer who received her bachelor of arts in social work in 1991 and holds a master’s degree in IT Management. She identifies as a lesbian, is twice divorced, and has two children. Teri is known for her compassion and sense of humor and considers herself a life-warrior who manages three different, but intertwined recovery journeys - childhoo...

Kristin Arden is the lead clinician at Mindbloom, a mental health and wellbeing company on a mission to help people expand their human potential. Mindbloom offers science-backed treatments for anxiety and depression through guided ketamine therapy. Kristin is a proponent for alternative forms of treatment such as psychedelic medicine.  She is a board-certified Psychiatric NP with over 15 years of...

Charlie Gray is a mid-30’s, white, gay man living in Midwest America. For years he suffered as a high-functioning alcoholic experiencing chronic relapse. On July 8, 2020, Charlie entered sobriety and began penning his memoir as part of his healing process - At Least I'm Not The Frog: A Zany Memoir of Alcoholism & Recovery. His book begins shortly after he graduated from Drury University at the age...

Vanessa Hurr is an award-winning editorial portrait Photographer and resident Corporate Development guru for Lionrock Recovery. Her journey from entrepreneur to Lionrock teammate began in March of 2020 when a world-wide pandemic put a quick halt to her life as a photographer in the live events industry. Within weeks of coming onboard the Lionrock team to assist with an unprecedented influx of Amer...

As the drummer for the Canadian rock band Bonds of Mara and the cult cartoon and band, Sons of Butcher, Daryl Ralph is a musician.  Born and raised in Hamilton, Ontario. Daryl had early aspirations of being a rockstar. At the age of 19, he moved out west, settling in White Rock, Kelowna and Vancouver, BC. The intent was for Daryl to embed his roots in his music career, but instead became heavily r...

Dr. Nicole Labor is an addiction specialist who attended and graduated medical school in Erie Pennsylvania at the Lake Erie College of osteopathic medicine. Following graduation and residency she completed a fellowship in addiction medicine through Geisinger in northeastern Pennsylvania. She currently serves as the medical director at OneEighty, a treatment center that offers inpatient and outpati...

Archie Messersmith-Bunting is known as 'The Feelings Guy.’ He is a mental wellness professional speaker who helps people discover how leading with their feelings can improve their quality of life and save the lives of those they come in contact with. Archie’s passion stems from his personal life experience. He was adopted at a young age and grew up in a religious setting where ‘pray the gay away’...

Joshua Shea is a pornography addiction expert, certified betrayal trauma coach, and the author of three books about pornography addiction, including He’s a Porn Addict…Now What? An Expert and Former Addict Answer Your Questions. Since 2018, Joshua has given more interviews about pornography addiction and betrayal trauma than anybody in the world. During his interviews he does not portray an anti-p...

Rachel Quast is a Master's level counselor, author, national speaker, and counseling group leader. Surviving anorexia, bulimia, binge eating, and spiritual and family trauma paved the path for her career in counseling. Rachel specializes in eating disorders, emotional eating, relationship struggles, issues with faith and spirituality, and depression and anxiety.  Because of her life experience, sh...