In this episode of Believe in People Extra, Amy Jo Johnson shares why she chose to stop drinking - not because her life had fallen apart, but because alcohol was making her anxiety louder and everyday life harder to manage.

She shares the simple mindset shift that helped her most: giving herself permission to drink, and realising she didn’t actually want to. Amy Jo also reflects on how not drinking changed her friendships, why some social situations stopped feeling fulfilling, and how having support at home made it easier to follow through.

This short episode explores:

• Why you don’t need rock bottom to change your drinking
• How removing alcohol can reduce anxiety and mental noise
• What happens to friendships when drinking is no longer the focus

If you’re questioning your relationship with alcohol, feeling unsure about stopping, or wondering whether you’re “allowed” to want something different, this clip may help you take a first step.

To listen to the full episode:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/amy-jo-johnson-alcohol-free-loving-life-pink-power/id1617239923?i=1000653697345

Click here to text our host, Matt, directly!

🎧 Enjoyed this episode? Please take a moment to leave a review — it helps others find us.

🔗 Then share this episode with someone you know who could benefit from it.

Browse the full archive at 👉 www.believeinpeoplepodcast.com

This podcast is a toolkit for recovery & resilience. Whether you’re in recovery or seeking to understand addiction, there’s something here for everyone.

If you want to change your direction, grow as a person, and live life to its full potential, Change Grow Live is here to help you. We’re here for you if you need help with challenges including drugs or alcohol, trouble with housing, domestic abuse, or your mental and physical wellbeing. Change Grow Live services are free and confidential. Click the link below to refer yourself to your local service.

https://www.changegrowlive.org/local-support/find-a-service

📩 Podcast Contact: [email protected]
🎵 Music: “Jonathan Tortoise” by Christopher Tait (Belle Ghoul / Electric Six)

🔗 Listen & Subscribe
Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/4Cr4wzZ6bxku1cRcoYKbGK
Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/believe-in-people/id1617239923

...

In this episode of Believe in People: Addiction, Recovery & Stigma, Joe Sealey joins us to discuss cocaine addiction, alcohol misuse, grief, and recovery. Known to millions as a cast member on The Real Housewives of Cheshire, Joe shares the story that existed long before the cameras - the career-ending injury that ended his football dream, the sudden death of his father, and how trauma and loss of identity pulled him into addiction.

We explore themes of addiction recovery, trauma, peer support, mental health, and the lived experiences that shaped Joe’s journey. Joe describes the moment cocaine felt like it saved his life, how quickly things escalated into dependency, the cycle of relapse and secrecy, and the impact addiction had on his family. He also reflects on what finally changed, why honesty became his turning point, and how routine, communication, and taking recovery one hour at a time helped him rebuild.

This episode offers practical insight for people in recovery, family members, frontline practitioners, and anyone interested in real stories of change.

Search terms: addiction recovery podcast UK, lived experience stories, peer support, trauma and recovery, substance misuse.

Click here to text our host, Matt, directly!

🎧 Enjoyed this episode? Please take a moment to leave a review — it helps others find us.

🔗 Then share this episode with someone you know who could benefit from it.

Browse the full archive at 👉 www.believeinpeoplepodcast.com

This podcast is a toolkit for recovery & resilience. Whether you’re in recovery or seeking to understand addiction, there’s something here for everyone.

If you want to change your direction, grow as a person, and live life to its full potential, Change Grow Live is here to help you. We’re here for you if you need help with challenges including drugs or alcohol, trouble with housing, domestic abuse, or your mental and physical wellbeing. Change Grow Live services are free and confidential. Click the link below to refer yourself to your local service.

https://www.changegrowlive.org/local-support/find-a-service

📩 Podcast Contact: [email protected]
🎵 Music: “Jonathan Tortoise” by Christopher Tait (Belle Ghoul / Electric Six)

🔗 Listen & Subscribe
Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/4Cr4wzZ6bxku1cRcoYKbGK
Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/believe-in-people/id1617239923

...

In the first episode of Believe in People Extra, our new spin off miniseries, Michelle Heaton speaks openly about what it feels like to want to stop drinking and not be able to.

She explains the medical dangers she didn’t understand, the shame that kept her stuck, and why addiction isn’t about a lack of willpower. Michelle shares the moment that changed everything: seeing someone else in recovery who had what she wanted - and realising she didn’t have to do this alone.

This short episode explores:

• Why stopping alcohol suddenly can be unsafe
• How peer support works when willpower doesn’t
• Why rehab helped, but free AA and CA meetings keep her sober

If you’re thinking about recovery, supporting someone else, or searching for a place to start, this clip may help you take the next step.

To listen to the episode in full 

https://open.spotify.com/episode/1THTnfwpdcL22CaDFTkvNm

Click here to text our host, Matt, directly!

🎧 Enjoyed this episode? Please take a moment to leave a review — it helps others find us.

🔗 Then share this episode with someone you know who could benefit from it.

Browse the full archive at 👉 www.believeinpeoplepodcast.com

This podcast is a toolkit for recovery & resilience. Whether you’re in recovery or seeking to understand addiction, there’s something here for everyone.

If you want to change your direction, grow as a person, and live life to its full potential, Change Grow Live is here to help you. We’re here for you if you need help with challenges including drugs or alcohol, trouble with housing, domestic abuse, or your mental and physical wellbeing. Change Grow Live services are free and confidential. Click the link below to refer yourself to your local service.

https://www.changegrowlive.org/local-support/find-a-service

📩 Podcast Contact: [email protected]
🎵 Music: “Jonathan Tortoise” by Christopher Tait (Belle Ghoul / Electric Six)

🔗 Listen & Subscribe
Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/4Cr4wzZ6bxku1cRcoYKbGK
Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/believe-in-people/id1617239923

...

In this episode of Believe in People: Addiction, Recovery & Stigma, Patti reflects on a lifetime shaped by silence, trauma, and survival. Growing up in a dysfunctional home in 1970s San Francisco - marked by alcoholism, emotional neglect, and parents who barely spoke - she began using alcohol and drugs at just 13 to escape overwhelming pain. By 16 she had lost her mother to alcoholism, a loss that profoundly shaped her understanding of addiction, identity, and generational trauma.

Patti shares candidly about early experiences with hallucinogens during the counterculture era, the years she spent bartending in Alaska amid heavy cocaine use, and the moment she chose life over self-destruction. She describes the powerful impact of her first women-only 12-step meeting, the birth of long-term sobriety, and the choice to get clean before having children so she would never repeat the patterns she grew up with.

After nearly 13 years in recovery, Patti later faced relapse - driven by disconnection, loss of community, motherhood identity shifts, and the seductive “yummy mummy” drinking culture. She unpacks how secrecy, co-dependency, and convincing self-talk sustained her relapse, and the moments that finally brought clarity: writing her first book while still drinking, confronting her own hypocrisy, and acknowledging that recovery requires honesty, therapy, and belonging - not just abstinence.

Together, Patti and Matt explore the deeper roots of addiction: trauma, loneliness, the search for meaning, and the societal and gendered pressures that shape women’s drinking. Patti critiques patriarchal elements of traditional 12-step structures, highlights the importance of women-centred spaces, and explains why she has gone on to start recovery groups in New Zealand, Portugal, and beyond.

This is a rich and layered conversation about breaking generational cycles, redefining identity in motherhood, and building a recovery community grounded in compassion, inclusion, and truth.

In this episode:

• Growing up in silence, emotional neglect and an alcoholic home
• Early use of alcohol, speed and acid from age 13
• Hallucinogens in 1970s San Francisco drug culture
• Losing her mother to alcoholism at 16
• Bartending in Alaska, cocaine use, and the “f

Click here to text our host, Matt, directly!

🎧 Enjoyed this episode? Please take a moment to leave a review — it helps others find us.

🔗 Then share this episode with someone you know who could benefit from it.

Browse the full archive at 👉 www.believeinpeoplepodcast.com

This podcast is a toolkit for recovery & resilience. Whether you’re in recovery or seeking to understand addiction, there’s something here for everyone.

If you want to change your direction, grow as a person, and live life to its full potential, Change Grow Live is here to help you. We’re here for you if you need help with challenges including drugs or alcohol, trouble with housing, domestic abuse, or your mental and physical wellbeing. Change Grow Live services are free and confidential. Click the link below to refer yourself to your local service.

https://www.changegrowlive.org/local-support/find-a-service

📩 Podcast Contact: [email protected]
🎵 Music: “Jonathan Tortoise” by Christopher Tait (Belle Ghoul / Electric Six)

🔗 Listen & Subscribe
Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/4Cr4wzZ6bxku1cRcoYKbGK
Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/believe-in-people/id1617239923

...

In this episode of Believe in People: Addiction, Recovery & Stigma, we conclude our two-part conversation with Andy Woodward, who reflects on the long-term psychological effects of childhood trauma and how those experiences shaped his later struggles with alcohol use, anxiety and identity.

Andy shares how a false rape accusation in 2015 became a devastating turning point - stripping away the structures that once grounded him, including careers in both professional football and policing. Without those frameworks, unresolved trauma resurfaced, and alcohol became a way to cope with fear, panic and overwhelming emotional distress.

Through honest reflection, Andy discusses

• the spiral into binge drinking,
• the psychological impacts of trauma,
• the difficulty forming safe relationships,
• the misconceptions around addiction,
• and the challenges of seeking meaningful help within rigid or judgemental systems.

He also speaks candidly about the profound media attention following his 2016 disclosures, and the lack of aftercare that left him vulnerable and unsupported. A central theme of this conversation is the recognition that substance misuse often develops as a response to prolonged emotional pain - and that sustainable recovery begins with understanding that link.

This episode is a powerful and compassionate exploration of trauma, survival and change - and what it means to rebuild life with honesty, humility and hope.

In this episode:

• How childhood trauma resurfaced later in life
• The psychological fallout of a false rape accusation
• Alcohol use as coping, binge cycles and relapse psychology
• Anxiety, panic, fear and relationship difficulties
• Media exposure, vulnerability and lack of aftercare
• Rehab, 12-step work and multiple recovery pathways
• Mindset, meditation and living in the present
• Hope, acceptance and rebuilding life after collapse

Search terms: trauma and addiction recovery, false accusation lived experience, alcohol recovery UK, mental health and panic, relapse and recovery psychology, lived experience stories, stigma and trauma.

Click here to text our host, Matt, directly!

🎧 Enjoyed this episode? Please take a moment to leave a review — it helps others find us.

🔗 Then share this episode with someone you know who could benefit from it.

Browse the full archive at 👉 www.believeinpeoplepodcast.com

This podcast is a toolkit for recovery & resilience. Whether you’re in recovery or seeking to understand addiction, there’s something here for everyone.

If you want to change your direction, grow as a person, and live life to its full potential, Change Grow Live is here to help you. We’re here for you if you need help with challenges including drugs or alcohol, trouble with housing, domestic abuse, or your mental and physical wellbeing. Change Grow Live services are free and confidential. Click the link below to refer yourself to your local service.

https://www.changegrowlive.org/local-support/find-a-service

📩 Podcast Contact: [email protected]
🎵 Music: “Jonathan Tortoise” by Christopher Tait (Belle Ghoul / Electric Six)

🔗 Listen & Subscribe
Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/4Cr4wzZ6bxku1cRcoYKbGK
Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/believe-in-people/id1617239923

...

In this episode of Believe in People: Addiction, Recovery & Stigma, we begin the first of a powerful two-part conversation with Andy Woodward, the former professional footballer whose bravery exposed one of the biggest safeguarding scandals in British sporting history.

Andy was the first to go public with his experience of childhood sexual abuse at the hands of youth coach Barry Bennell, a predator enabled by a culture of silence that protected reputations instead of children. With striking honesty, Andy explains how abusers groom not only children but entire families, using trust, authority and the “position of trust” to create a fortress around their behaviour.

This episode also explores the wider emotional toll of Andy’s early experiences, including the devastating connection between his abuser and the man who murdered his aunt - a trauma that echoed across generations and shaped the course of his adult life.

Part One lays bare the origins of a profound reckoning: how childhood trauma fractures identity, how the football world concealed the truth for decades, and why speaking out became the catalyst for change. Part Two will explore Andy’s journey through pain, addiction, survival and healing - a testament to how recovery begins with telling the truth.

In this episode:

• Growing up in football and the culture that enabled abuse
• How Barry Bennell groomed families as well as children
• The weaponisation of trust, authority and reputation
• The psychological and emotional impact of long-term abuse
• The connection between Bennell and the murder of Andy’s aunt
• The beginnings of a personal reckoning that would change British sport

Search terms: childhood trauma podcast, football abuse scandal, Andy Woodward interview, lived experience stories, trauma and recovery, safeguarding in sport, mental health, addiction and trauma

Click here to text our host, Matt, directly!

🎧 Enjoyed this episode? Please take a moment to leave a review — it helps others find us.

🔗 Then share this episode with someone you know who could benefit from it.

Browse the full archive at 👉 www.believeinpeoplepodcast.com

This podcast is a toolkit for recovery & resilience. Whether you’re in recovery or seeking to understand addiction, there’s something here for everyone.

If you want to change your direction, grow as a person, and live life to its full potential, Change Grow Live is here to help you. We’re here for you if you need help with challenges including drugs or alcohol, trouble with housing, domestic abuse, or your mental and physical wellbeing. Change Grow Live services are free and confidential. Click the link below to refer yourself to your local service.

https://www.changegrowlive.org/local-support/find-a-service

📩 Podcast Contact: [email protected]
🎵 Music: “Jonathan Tortoise” by Christopher Tait (Belle Ghoul / Electric Six)

🔗 Listen & Subscribe
Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/4Cr4wzZ6bxku1cRcoYKbGK
Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/believe-in-people/id1617239923

...

In this episode of Believe in People: Addiction, Recovery & Stigma, we are privileged to sit down with Taz, whose life story spans racism, identity conflict, culture, trauma, addiction, and the long path to redemption.

Born in Britain to Pakistani parents, Taz grew up between cultures – navigating violence, racism, and confusion around faith, masculinity, and belonging. Forced into an arranged marriage, his life spiralled into addiction, offending, and prison before honesty, therapy, and self-reflection helped him rebuild with compassion and clarity.

This episode examines how culture and religion are often conflated, how expectations can fracture identity across generations, and how misunderstanding faith can deepen shame, anger, and emotional repression. Taz speaks with rare openness about guilt, forgiveness, fatherhood, and the truth that recovery begins when survival mode ends.

In this episode:

• Growing up British-Pakistani in 80s and 90s England
• Racism, violence, identity confusion, and early trauma
• The clash between cultural expectations and personal faith
• Arranged marriage, shame, anger and emotional repression
• Prison, relapse, and the realities of addiction
• How honesty, therapy and understanding shaped long-term recovery
• Rebuilding life with compassion and purpose

Search terms: addiction recovery podcast UK, lived experience stories, trauma and recovery, British-Pakistani lived experience, culture and identity, substance misuse.

Click here to text our host, Matt, directly!

🎧 Enjoyed this episode? Please take a moment to leave a review — it helps others find us.

🔗 Then share this episode with someone you know who could benefit from it.

Browse the full archive at 👉 www.believeinpeoplepodcast.com

This podcast is a toolkit for recovery & resilience. Whether you’re in recovery or seeking to understand addiction, there’s something here for everyone.

If you want to change your direction, grow as a person, and live life to its full potential, Change Grow Live is here to help you. We’re here for you if you need help with challenges including drugs or alcohol, trouble with housing, domestic abuse, or your mental and physical wellbeing. Change Grow Live services are free and confidential. Click the link below to refer yourself to your local service.

https://www.changegrowlive.org/local-support/find-a-service

📩 Podcast Contact: [email protected]
🎵 Music: “Jonathan Tortoise” by Christopher Tait (Belle Ghoul / Electric Six)

🔗 Listen & Subscribe
Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/4Cr4wzZ6bxku1cRcoYKbGK
Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/believe-in-people/id1617239923

...

In this episode of Believe in People: Addiction, Recovery & Stigma, Katie Price and Kerry Katona sit down for a raw, unfiltered conversation about cocaine addiction, recovery, motherhood, mental health, and the double standards women continue to face in the public eye.

Recorded live behind the scenes at Hull City Hall during their UK tour, Katie and Kerry speak candidly about ADHD, bipolar diagnoses, self-medication, toxic circles, fame, exploitation, and how accountability transformed their lives.

They share how friendship became a protective factor, why authenticity matters more than gossip or headlines, and the practical tools that helped them rebuild after the darkest moments. This episode offers a rare, honest insight into women’s experiences of addiction, shame, media pressure, relapse, and long-term recovery.

In this episode:

• How cocaine became a “best friend” and how they broke the cycle
• Why disclosures still carry more stigma for women
• Exploitation, tabloid culture and the pressure to fail in public
• Motherhood, relapse, and choosing healthier circles
• Practical recovery tools: therapy letters, affirmations, exercise, boundaries

Katie Price:
instagram.com/katieprice

Kerry Katona:
instagram.com/kerrykatona7

Click here to text our host, Matt, directly!

🎧 Enjoyed this episode? Please take a moment to leave a review — it helps others find us.

🔗 Then share this episode with someone you know who could benefit from it.

Browse the full archive at 👉 www.believeinpeoplepodcast.com

This podcast is a toolkit for recovery & resilience. Whether you’re in recovery or seeking to understand addiction, there’s something here for everyone.

If you want to change your direction, grow as a person, and live life to its full potential, Change Grow Live is here to help you. We’re here for you if you need help with challenges including drugs or alcohol, trouble with housing, domestic abuse, or your mental and physical wellbeing. Change Grow Live services are free and confidential. Click the link below to refer yourself to your local service.

https://www.changegrowlive.org/local-support/find-a-service

📩 Podcast Contact: [email protected]
🎵 Music: “Jonathan Tortoise” by Christopher Tait (Belle Ghoul / Electric Six)

🔗 Listen & Subscribe
Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/4Cr4wzZ6bxku1cRcoYKbGK
Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/believe-in-people/id1617239923

...

In this episode of Believe in People: Addiction, Recovery & Stigma, Mel shares a powerful and deeply honest account of her journey through alcohol misuse, escalating substance use, mental health struggles, and the non-linear path toward recovery.

Growing up as a triplet in a family where drinking was normalised, Mel describes early identity struggles, belonging within pub culture, and how her use escalated in Brighton – from drinking to dangerous encounters with dealers and a chaotic lifestyle that felt increasingly out of control. A moment of clarity in Spain shifted everything.

Mel reflects on the complexities of giving up alcohol while continuing to use cannabis, the emotional roots behind her coping behaviours, and how recovery eventually took shape through boxing, community, medication, 12-step fellowships, and building a personal sobriety toolbox that actually works.

This is a grounded, practical, and compassionate story about rebuilding identity, finding strength in healthy routines, and learning what recovery really looks like beyond abstinence or expectation.

In this episode:

• Growing up as a triplet and early identity conflict
• Pub culture, belonging, and escalating use in Brighton
• Drinking, cannabis, dealers, and unsafe situations
• The moment of clarity in Spain that shifted everything
• Boxing as a recovery tool and protective factor
• Community, fellowship, medication, and building a sobriety toolbox
• The reality of non-linear recovery and self-compassion

Search terms: alcohol recovery podcast UK, lived experience stories, substance misuse, boxing and mental health, trauma and recovery, addiction recovery.

Click here to text our host, Matt, directly!

🎧 Enjoyed this episode? Please take a moment to leave a review — it helps others find us.

🔗 Then share this episode with someone you know who could benefit from it.

Browse the full archive at 👉 www.believeinpeoplepodcast.com

This podcast is a toolkit for recovery & resilience. Whether you’re in recovery or seeking to understand addiction, there’s something here for everyone.

If you want to change your direction, grow as a person, and live life to its full potential, Change Grow Live is here to help you. We’re here for you if you need help with challenges including drugs or alcohol, trouble with housing, domestic abuse, or your mental and physical wellbeing. Change Grow Live services are free and confidential. Click the link below to refer yourself to your local service.

https://www.changegrowlive.org/local-support/find-a-service

📩 Podcast Contact: [email protected]
🎵 Music: “Jonathan Tortoise” by Christopher Tait (Belle Ghoul / Electric Six)

🔗 Listen & Subscribe
Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/4Cr4wzZ6bxku1cRcoYKbGK
Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/believe-in-people/id1617239923

...

In this episode of Believe in People: Addiction, Recovery & Stigma, Emma Hardy MP returns to the podcast to discuss some of the most urgent challenges facing Hull and the wider UK – including rising ketamine harm, worsening mental health pressures, and the city’s ongoing triple flood threat.

Recorded during a period of national uncertainty, Emma reflects on the cost of living crisis, social housing pressures, sewage and drainage issues, and the wider political culture that shapes how communities experience harm, trauma and recovery. We explore why transparency is essential for rebuilding public trust and how innovation – from improved infrastructure to “poo-powered planes” – could unlock more sustainable solutions.

This is a grounded, accessible conversation about public health, community resilience, and the need for leadership that brings people together rather than exploiting division. Emma highlights why unity, purpose, and local empowerment remain central to solving long-term challenges.

In this episode:

• Hull’s triple flood threat and the reality of failing infrastructure
• The rise of ketamine-related harm and community impact
• Mental health pressures linked to cost of living
• Why transparency is essential in government
• Innovation, climate resilience and “poo-powered planes”
• Building unity across communities facing trauma and inequality
• The role of purpose, connection and collaboration in long-term recovery

Search terms: ketamine harm UK, mental health crisis, addiction recovery podcast UK, lived experience stories, community recovery, Hull public health, trauma and recovery.

Click here to text our host, Matt, directly!

🎧 Enjoyed this episode? Please take a moment to leave a review — it helps others find us.

🔗 Then share this episode with someone you know who could benefit from it.

Browse the full archive at 👉 www.believeinpeoplepodcast.com

This podcast is a toolkit for recovery & resilience. Whether you’re in recovery or seeking to understand addiction, there’s something here for everyone.

If you want to change your direction, grow as a person, and live life to its full potential, Change Grow Live is here to help you. We’re here for you if you need help with challenges including drugs or alcohol, trouble with housing, domestic abuse, or your mental and physical wellbeing. Change Grow Live services are free and confidential. Click the link below to refer yourself to your local service.

https://www.changegrowlive.org/local-support/find-a-service

📩 Podcast Contact: [email protected]
🎵 Music: “Jonathan Tortoise” by Christopher Tait (Belle Ghoul / Electric Six)

🔗 Listen & Subscribe
Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/4Cr4wzZ6bxku1cRcoYKbGK
Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/believe-in-people/id1617239923

...