Voices In Recovery Podcast

This week, with Floyd on my lap and my friend Darcy sitting in my living room we talk about our dads a little bit. Darcy lost his dad 15 years ago and I recently lost my own. It seemed like we both needed to talk about it and for good or ill we did just that. Remembering how tricky and heavy grief can be, even if the loss was half a life time ago.

Our guest this week, John, from Vancouver came in and shared his story of recovery. John began drinking in junior high and he remembers liking it a lot right away. As he grew and changed, his drinking continued to be destructive. The progression of his illness provided him with increasingly challenging consequences. He began utilizing cocaine alongside the alcohol and this ultimately led him to lo...

This week Darcy and I catch up and chat about all manner of stuff and things. He suggests we solved some things, or was it stuff... I can't remember, you'll have to listen to find out. All I know is that I am fortunate to work with Darcy and that we connect every so often and laugh and laugh. Happy birthday buddy. Have a wonderful week!

This week's guest, Alan, stops by and shares his experience, strength and hope with us. His journey illustrates how process addiction, like sex addiction can bring about a bottom with or without a chemical dependence. Alan found meth along the pathway and that paved the way for sex addiction to run rampant in his life. Now through several years of sobriety, he offers up his experience, strength an...

This week's guest, Darren, stops by to share his courage, strength and hope with us. Injured young, he struggled through difficult symptoms of the injury and it created a lot of shame for him. He grew up spending time with his older brother and his friends. As a young fellow, he lost his brother in a car accident. Darren has  survived incredible losses and is in the process of his journey where he...

Our guest this week is Morgan and she stopped by to share her experience, strength and hope with us. She is a survivor. She is a badass. She is embracing who she is more and more each  day, but that hasn't been an easy road for Morgan. At every turn she not only struggled with the world around her, but that which consumed her mind as she grew through repeated trauma. Morgan has given herself the o...

This week's guest, Brianne, stops by and shares her experience, strength and hope with us. Growing up indigenous and being adopted led her to being bullied regularly. Struggling with addiction, codependency, and other challenges made her journey take the twists and turns she took. Listening to her share, reminded me of how recovery really seems to work. It can be a process we start long before we...

This week's guest, Katy stopped by to share their story of pain, addiction, recovery, and of course hope. Katy's dedication to finding her way in recovery is commendable. They identify as multi addicted, including sex and love addiction which have had devastating effects on their life. Thank you for being here Katy, the world needs and we appreciate you.

This week's guest is Glen and he stopped by to share his story. He grew up confronting dogma and he found a lack of spirituality along the Christian vein. Glen survived abuse as a young fellow and this contributed to the darkness he wrestled with using alcohol and drugs to cope. Being Cree Metis, he reconnected with his culture and this decision had an immediate impact on him and the direction of...

This week, Darcy and I get together celebrating our survival of another year. Through grief, struggle, obstacles, and whatever else came our way. I won't speak for Darcy - I feel like maybe I slid, flailing arms and legs, into 2023. For that, I am grateful to be here relatively unscathed! Hopefully we are both a bit wiser and able to be of greater use in the year ahead. Thank you for listening 🙏...

This week's guest, Benji stops by and shares his journey with us. He and his family moved up to Canada from California after the Rodney King assault, the not guilty verdicts for officers involved and the following 1992 riots. His journey through alcohol and drug addiction is filled with grief, love and loss. From coming out as a young person to finding his group of humans later in life where he wo...

This week's guest, Darren stops by and shares his experience, strength and hope with us. From a difficult childhood where alcoholism was modelled into young adulthood where he first tried his drug of choice. His story illustrates the incredibly destructive and progressive nature of addiction. Thank you for your story and recovery Darren!

This week's guest is a friend, Joshua. He shares his journey out of a place of fear, confusion, and judgment into a place of light and healing. Josh's story includes battles with substances, self doubt, and self loathing. He has worked diligently through the last few years in utilizing different treatment options to overcome some of the blockages in his path. In order to become and share his authe...

This week's guest is our friend, Jeannine. She shares her experience, strength and hope with us and it is our honour to share it with you. When Jeannine was young, her parents divorced and she experienced a verbally abusive home life. She developed disordered eating systems as a you human, which required incredible energy and obsessive focus. Laying fertile ground for further addictive behaviours...

This week I sit down and share my coming out story with Darcy. Well, and now all of you. I have never gone into what it means for me to be queer, however this year when the day came around to share our coming out stories - it felt like it was time to put it together. Sitting down with my friend Darcy and his young human Sam, I felt safe as I had their permission to open up. They also encouraged an...

This week, my friend Mitch comes back on for an in person chat with Darcy and I. His story is an amazing journey from the darkness in addiction into the beautiful light he basks in today. Living a life he never dreamt of... Mitch, you're an inspiration and being around you is a gift for everyone! I appreciate you and your family my friend; keep up the great work you're doing in your life and all a...

This week our guest, Odessa stops by and shares her journey of recovery. Her childhood found her growing up in a family riddled with potential alcoholism. It took some very tough years of active addiction to bring her into the twelve step fellowships. She finds that doing the work has changed her way of thinking in so many ways. Thank you Odessa, you're doing it!

This week we are sharing a special short episode on Jayme Minor. He shares his story of addiction and being sober for 3 years. He wants to share his music and energy as his way of remaining sober. We wanted to let anyone interested know about Jayme Minor's upcoming show, OktSOBERfest! Tickets are 30.00 and details can be found here https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/octsoberfest-tickets-421088195127 This...

Our guest this week, Cade, shares his story of addiction and recovery. Cade survived an abusive childhood to find himself deep into addiction. So deep that he lost his home and family. A couple of years ago he entered treatment and has been sober since. He now works in a treatment centre, helping others get and remain sober.

This week's guest is David M. He stops by to share his story including 42 years of sobriety. Not only has his life done a 180 since sobering up four decades ago, he's done several 180's finding healing in places he never imagined he would or could. Today David works with many humans in sobriety and has created a program for dads in recovery. It was fun getting to know a fellow we had never really...

This week my friend, Chris stops by to share his story with us. Fear was a regular part of Chris's life growing up. From a difficult home life, Chris endured bigotry at the hands of the church for being gay. As life in active addiction progressed, Chris found himself falling deeper and deeper into the darkness. Chris was raped and when he reported the offense he was demonized by the police. This i...

This week Priya stops by and shares her pathway into recovery. She talks about the journey with her family through addiction and into recovery. We learn how she came to be the Chief Administrative Officer of Simon House Recovery Centre. She is a part of some incredible existing programs and those that are on the horizon for the centre.  Thank you Priya, we appreciate you!

This week, I get riled up by my besties and we celebrate not only our 200th podcast, but we start our 5th season of Voices in Recovery as well! Thank you to all of our guests and every listener who's tuned in for our very human stories through these last four years. We appreciate you! A huge thank you to Darcy for his continued work and support as we navigate the waters of podcasting. Another than...

This week's guest, Samantha Ann stopped by and wow; she shared a story of compassion, love, strength, and acceptance of the human wherever they are at. Sadly, she lost her soul mate to drug poisoning over a year ago and her life was forever changed. Today, she is driven and her mission has become one of love, advocacy, and tolerance. Thank you Samantha Ann; your courage, intelligence, and compassi...

This week, Mike stopped by to share his journey from trauma into recovery. Mike's story, like many others we hear, is one of tragedy. The kind of evolving tragedy, which led him to many bottoms. Where he imagined his bottom to be, kept changing and bringing him lower and lower into the darkness of his life. Mike's perseverance throughout his life has been his saving grace from a higher power. It h...