Life Recovery Podcast
Episode 11: Creating Art Inspired by Your Own Story

Art and creativity have a powerful way of changing our perspective.
Be inspired by your own journey and create art that helps you recover.

We all want to be heard, seen and understood. We also all have past experiences that inform who we are as people today, whether they’re good or bad. What does it look like to make art that’s inspired by your own story? Your own feelings? Your own struggles? And what does it look like to connect to other like minded artists? In this episode of Life Recovery Podcast, Josh sits down with Northwest Indiana artist, Brendan Bercot, shares his story as an artist in recovery and how we can use art as a practical tool in recovery.

Life Recovery Podcast
Episode 10: Guidelines for Family Relationships During Recovery

We don’t want to just watch from the sidelines while our loved one recovers.
We need helpful tips and guidelines to build strong family relationships.

In this episode of Life Recovery Podcast, we again sit down with Director of Peer Services at Three20 Recovery Center, Christine Paul, to talk about how to handle parenting and family relationships, both as someone in or beside recovery. Christine first walks us through the fundamentals and mindset we should hold as someone wanting to love another through recovery. She then shares tips for us parents like, active listening, finding support for ourselves, staying current on drug trends, and setting healthy boundaries.

Life Recovery Podcast
Episode 9 : Hiking Improves Your Physical, Mental, & Spiritual Health

Contrary to popular belief, hiking doesn’t just improve your physical health.
Hiking can, and often does, improve your mental and spiritual health too.

In this episode of Life Recovery Podcast, Josh chats with Ron Seman, founder of Indiana Dunes Hiking. Ron shares his personal journey of discovering and using hiking with his dog, Aslan, and others as a means to stave depression. He encourages us to get outside wherever we can, put ourselves in a new environment, and leave our struggles behind. No matter the weather, we can improve our physical, mental, and spiritual health by taking a walk through nature.

Life Recovery Podcast Episode 8
Tips to Building a Less Destructive Lifestyle

Time, resources and people were once centered around our addiction.
Now, we have to change how we interact with them to change our life.
In this episode of Life Recovery Podcast, Josh sat down with the author of Why Do I Work Here?, Mark Chamberlain, to talk about the things in our environment that encourage our destructive behavior. Mark then offers the flipside of that coin. He shares some of the things we can do to remove and replace our addictive lifestyle.

Life Recovery Podcast Episode 7
Let Spoken Word Speak to Your Recovery

So many things in our culture are shouting nonsense at us. We need to start speaking back to ourselves in a positive way.

In this episode of Life Recovery Podcast, Josh had a chance to chat with spoken word artist, Roberto Montes, about using spoken word, poetry and songwriting as a way to strengthen ourselves in recovery. Roberto shares how spoken word and other rhythmic writing forms are an excellent way to capture our honest and heartfelt thoughts, feelings, and emotions in the moment, creating a “positive space within negativity.” 

Life Recovery Podcast Episode 6
Art Teaches You to be Calm, Focused & Patient with Yourself

Most of us are so busy, we often neglect important and unseen parts of life. Creating art can help us slow down and focus on what really matters.

Life Recovery Podcast host, Josh Jones, sits down with Jena Maldonado, lead facilitator at Celebrate Recovery, to talk about Jena’s story of recovery and how painting and other artforms helped her create and cultivate a sober lifestyle. She shares with us how putting her feelings and emotions onto the canvas helped her learn to be more patient with herself and gave her a greater sense of calm and focus.

Life Recovery Podcast Episode 5
Setting Fitness Goals and Getting Started

Getting started and setting goals with a new habit can be hard. Take up fitness today as one of your recovery pathways with simple tools.

Life Recovery Podcast host, Josh Jones, chats with Lindsay Violanti, Peer Recovery Coach at Three20 Recovery Center, about how she chose fitness as her pathway to recovery and how we too can take up fitness as a way to not just heal our bodies, but our minds too. You don’t need to be an expert to get started. You don’t need to even go to the gym. You can use fitness as a way to strengthen your recovery at home with a few phone apps, YouTube tutorials, and a little bit of determination.

Lindsay works as a Certified Addiction and Peer Recovery Coach (CAPRC-II) at Three20 Recovery. She is in long term recovery, and in April 2022, Lindsay received her Bachelor’s of Science degree in Psychology in Addictions from Purdue University Global. She has lived personal experience relating to both addiction and mental health. Lindsay is passionate about this type of work and is excited to continue her education.

Life Recovery Podcast Episode 4
The Role of Faith & Music in Recovery

There is often a stigma around the bible and how it’s presented. But there is a statistical correlation between successful recovery and discovering one's “higher power.” Senior Pastor of The Bride Church, Aaron Podgorski, sits down with Life Recovery Podcast host, Mike Plebanski, to connect the clinical and biblical application of recovery, discuss the do’s and don'ts of presenting faith as a practical tool for mental health, and share how music creates a space for those in recovery to open up about their deeper motivations for using. 

Whether you’re a devout Christian seeking a way to connect your faith to the recovery process or someone who doesn’t want anything to do with that stuff but is looking to understand their recovery journey more effectively, this show is for you.

Life Recovery Podcast Episode 3 
Finding Acceptance, Love, & Purpose Through Music

Recovery can often feel isolating and daunting at times. You feel like you have this huge mountain to climb all by yourself. But that doesn’t have to be true. Life Recovery Podcast host, Mike Plebanski, reunites with Fellow Strugglers, a music group formed in Frontline’s Music Program, to share about how they found acceptance, love, and purpose through their musical endeavors together and how that has impacted their recovery journey in an immensely positive way.

Whether you’re a longtime musician in recovery, someone who loves to listen to music and talk about how it impacts their life, or just picking up a shaky egg for the first time, this show is for you.

Life Recovery Podcast Episode 2
Recovery 101: What is a Recovery Coach?

Treatment and therapy are excellent resources to begin your recovery journey. But in order to continue and build lasting, lifelong change in your life, you need someone in your daily life that has been where you are and has been trained to guide you through it. Director of Peer Services at Three20 Recovery Center, Christine Michiaels, sits down with Life Recovery Podcast host, Mike Plebanski, to talk about what a recovery coach does and the benefits of peer support and shared experiences in recovery.

If you’re new to the recovery process, wanting to understand what a loved one is going through, or looking for more resources to boost a client’s recovery journey or even your own, this show is for you.

Christine Michiaels is the Director of Peer Services at Three20 Recovery Center. She is a Certified Addiction Peer Recovery Coach and holds a degree in psychology. She has worked in the treatment and recovery field for over 5 years. She brings personal and professional experience. She is passionate about recovery and helping to bridge the gaps for those seeking it.