Living Free

Today’s guest is Matt Woodley, an Ambassador for SMART Recovery Australia and he shares his story of drug and alcohol over use and how the SMART Recovery meetings helped him to take control of his addictive behaviours.   To find out more about SMART Recovery Australia visit www.smartrecoveryaustralia.com.au for details of meetings and contact information or call them on (02) 9373 5100.#smartrecove...

Jessica and Steve have experienced eating disorders from their earlies memories, where food became a treat that they treasured above friendships.  Eating was never an obvious problem to them, but they sought out large quantities of food and treats as part of their everyday lives. Their eating impacted on their work and relationships, and it was not until later in life, after years of food related...

Carol grew up with an alcoholic father and became an alcoholic herself. She describes starting drinking at 12 years old with her father, escaping the alcoholic home in her mid-teens and how alcohol became part of her social fabric. Carol went on to marry an alcoholic and when they separated her drinking took her and her young daughter on an alcohol fuelled journey to despair. After hospitalization...

Ann had an alcoholic father and came into Al-Anon Family Groups after her mum had joined Al-Anon and her dad had joined Alcoholics Anonymous. In this show Ann discusses growing up in a family affected by her dad’s alcoholism and the impact that had on the way she related to the world outside her family. In Al-Anon she was able to understand the impact of alcoholism on her family members and acknow...

Hayley was the youngest child by about 12 years and grew up in a home where her mum used alcohol regularly. Hayley was a happy kid but became more and more withdrawn after being molested at a friend’s house at an early age. She was unable to communicate her distress and turned from being friendly and outgoing to being repressed and introverted. Hayley started drinking after her first child was bor...

June is 3CR's Annual fundraising Radiothon month - give generously to support 3CR.Maya and John share aspects of their recovery stories and talk about the importance of 3CR to get their fellowship’s message of hope out to the community. We also raise funds to keep 3CR on air for another year and mention the generous donations from the listening public. We had three generous donations of over $500...

Brenden shares his gambling journey and insight into his pokies addiction and his recovery through Gamblers Anonymous. He also shares about the effect of the Covid-19 lockdowns on GA meetings in Melbourne and the benefits and shortcomings of meeting over Zoom. If you’re having trouble with gambling, or have a friend or family member that does, then maybe Gamblers Anonymous could help – phone (03)...

Our guest is Josette Freeman, an Ambassador for SMART Recovery Australia and she shares about the SMART Recovery approach and provides insights into the organisation in Australia, explains how SMART Recovery groups work and who can utilize the free recovery program. To find out more about SMART Recovery Australia visit www.smartrecoveryaustralia.com.au for details of meetings and contact informati...

Nathan grew up in a reasonably happy family, but his dad drank, and his mum was an enabler. He learnt early to influence others and was able to hang out with vastly different groups of friends at school, but he never let anyone get too close. He started drinking at a secondary school function when he was 11 years old, drank to blackout on his first drink but felt totally bulletproof. Nathan’s drin...

David grew up in a home where both his parents drank but not too badly. He felt different from other kids at school and quickly drifted to the other kids who were not that interested in school work. David realised the effects of alcohol when he was around 14 years old and that it could make him feel like he was an important part of his peer group. He used marijuana and alcohol intensely over the n...

Terry shares his gambling journey, starting as a primary school child playing arcade games excessively and ending up playing the pokies in Albury at the end of his teens.  He married and had 3 children before his gambling exacerbated problems in his marriage and he ended up as a single parent living on a pension. Terry could not stop gambling and eventually sought help from Gamblers Anonymous and...

Rosemary grew up without active alcoholism in her immediate family but did have a grandfather that was an abusive alcoholic and that affected her mum. Her second husband was an alcoholic and used coercive control to stop her from leaving him. Eventually she sought help and found Al-Anon Family Groups and with support from members at her local meeting Rosemary was able to develop the courage to sep...

Our guest is Daniel Raffell, the National Program Manager and Trainer at SMART Recovery Australia and he shares his recovery story and explains the SMART Recovery approach and how it has helped him. As the show was pre-recorded Dan shared some additional information that couldn’t be included in the 1 hour segment. This has also been included and is presented as the last 10 minutes of this podcast....

Anna and Frances grew up loving lollies and sweetened foods and they spent a lot of their lives dieting to control their weight. Both suffered depression and anxiety and food was a way to cope with not being able to cope with their feelings. Their eating impacted on their work and relationships and it wasn’t until later in life, after years of food related misery that they found recovery in Food A...

Ingrid grew up in a home where both her parents drank, and her dad was often angry and unavailable. Being dyslexic, bulimic and a migrant meant that school was not a pleasant experience either.  Ingrid left school at 15 years old and met and subsequently married a man whose drinking was a serious problem. She also binge-drank but did not consider her drinking was problematic. It was not until her...

Michael shares his gambling journey and how his pokies addiction eventually meant that he would gamble even though he knew he would get found out. He had to get help to save his marriage but found that some help was well meaning but not effective for him. Michael eventually found Gamblers Anonymous and that enabled him to break the isolation, understand his addiction and address his real gambling...

Anthony grew up with an alcoholic father and his mum was quite eccentric, so his early family life was dysfunctional. Anthony had a nervous breakdown in his late teens and early twenties and then went on to marry an alcoholic.  After his wife went through a few rehabs, Anthony was encouraged to go to Al-Anon Family Groups to assist his families’ recovery and found that much of his own dysfunction...

Don grew up with an alcoholic father and went on to have a son who became an alcoholic. He did not realize the problems that the family disease of alcoholism caused in his life until he tried to help his son recover through rehab. Don was encouraged to go to Al-Anon Family Groups to assist his son’s recovery and he found that much of his own dysfunction stemmed from growing up in an alcoholic home...

Lisa grew up in a home where her parents were separated, and her mum drank. She took on responsibility for her mum at a young age, deciding never to become an alcoholic herself. Lisa drank socially in her twenties and realized that although she drank like her friends, she did setup opportunities where she could drink alcohol. It all changed seemingly overnight when she had children and Lisa became...

Ram shares his gambling journey and how his addiction eventually meant that he would reach for his phone first thing each morning to gamble on online slot machines. Ram found it very difficult to stop gambling particularly when he was being offered money to gamble by online casinos. Ram eventually found Gamblers Anonymous and realizing the importance of his recovery in Gamblers Anonymous and how t...

Rita grew up with a lot of dysfunction in her home as her parents were both alcoholics. Growing up in a migrant family and feeling a little rebellious Rita became a recreational drug and alcohol user in her late teens and early twenties. Her dad stopped drinking but her mum struggled with giving up. After lots of therapy she found recovery after spending some time in Alcoholics Anonymous, Adult Ch...

Samantha and Rosanne grew up loving lollies (candy) and sweetened foods and they spent a lot of their lives dieting to control their weight. Both suffered depression and anxiety and food was a way to cope with not being able to express their feelings. Their eating impacted on their work and relationships and eventually they found 12th Step recovery fellowships that helped them to cope better. But...

Jane grew up in a home where both her parents drank and her brother also went on to develop drug and alcohol dependence.  Jane craved attention and started drinking at around 13-14 years old and continued drinking for many years. Initially it was with her boyfriend (then husband) at parties but as she settled down and had a daughter her drinking was pretty much every day and to blackout. She found...

Grant shares his journey of gambling and where it took him, the damage done to his relationships and his search for the reasons why he sought solace in gambling in the first place. Grant found Gamblers Anonymous but drifted away and returned to gambling before realizing the importance of his recovery in Gamblers Anonymous and how that enabled him to break the isolation and address his real problem...

Chrissy grew up with a lot of dysfunction in her home and her parents separated when she was quite young. She went on to marry and alcoholic and have two children but left the marriage due to his drinking. She found herself attracted to another alcoholic and his daughter helped Chrissy find help and recovery in Al-Anon Family Groups. If someone else's drinking is causing you a problem then you can...