LPP Podcast

By Zach Rhoads and Stanton PeeleEducation Self-Improvement

LPP Podcast episodes

October 25, 2020 Episode 38: Are harm Reduction and natural recovery really suitable for the REALLY gone?
Dr. Stanton Peele is the founder and creator of the Life Process Program: http://LifeProcessProgram.com
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Dr. Peele and Zach Rhoads return for episode 6 of "Sundays With Stories".
They select two more prominent non-12-step “recovery” stories — these with “addicts” who, themselves, were earmarked for hell — Lindsay Lohan and Robert Downey Jr. Lohan seemed doomed by her alcoholism (according not only to her father, but seemingly Oprah). She instead partnered in a group of beach clubs, made borscht and helped her mom and younger siblings.
Downey, who was really at the bottom of the well after years of turmoil, drug use, and coerced rehab, in his late thirties had a Jewish wedding which did the trick. (Dr. Peele actually met Mr. Levin, his father-in-law, in a hotel breakfast line.)
Zach and Stanton do these stories in anticipation of a podcast Ethan Nadelmann has solicited Dr. Peele's inputs for, in which he will interview famous drug users. Not hobnobbing with the famous, they instead use public material to describe famous people’s paths to recovery, starting with Drew Barrymore. (In future episodes Zach will interview regular people about their drug use.)
Enjoy the sixth episode of Sundays With Stories (Ep. 37 of the podcast)!
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Subscribe to our YouTube CHANNEL! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSYridYK8h1uXu0Gx0Kl2Og
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46 min
October 19, 2020 Episode 37: Standard Addiction and Recovery Myths DEBUNKED!
Dr. Peele received an email from a documentary film company, asking him to participate in a documentary about addiction. He happily agreed, and then the company sent him a list of questions that he needed to be prepared to answer.
Unfortunately, they were all leading questions-- ones which implied that a.) addiction is a disease; b.) drugs cause addiction; c.) addiction is unescapable and none of us are safe!
Stanton had to wonder, "have these people ever read any of my work?"
But he's a man of his word, so he did answer the questions, but they won't like his answers.
Happily, I recorded Stanton's debunking the standard addiction and recovery mythology embedded in the questions. We hope that you enjoy either the video or audio version of Sundays with Stories!
Until next week!
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Email: [email protected]
Instagram: http://instagram.com/lifeprocessprogram
Twitter: http://twitter.com/lifeprocessprgm
Facebook: http://facebook.com/lifeprocessprogram
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LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/life-process-program
Call or Text us: (802) 391 - 4360
38 min
October 13, 2020 Episode 36: Trauma Theory and "The Good Place"
Today, Dr. Stanton Peele and Zach Rhoads talk about two popular shows and their satire of standard AA / Trauma addition theories.
The two shows are "South Park" (a classic episode poking fun at AA) and "The Good Place"-- which is, in essence, a show that pokes fun at the idea of over-focusing on past events, as per the extremes of Trauma Theory.
For more about Stanton and Zach's addiction ideas, you can connect with the Life Process Program:
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Email us - [email protected]
Text us - +1 (802) - 391 - 4360
LPP MAIN WEB SITE - http://lifeprocessprogram.com
Instagram: http://instagram.com/lifeprocessprogram
Twitter: http://twitter.com/lifeprocessprgm
Facebook: http://facebook.com/lifeprocessprogram
29 min
October 07, 2020 Episode 35: Steve-O's (not so) Recovery Story
Today, Zach and Dr. Peele discuss Stephen Glover’s (AKA Steve-O) addiction story.
Steve-O is the TV personality who produced and starred in the Jackass movies. During and subsequent to his rise to his movie career, he developed addictions to drugs and alcohol.
He went to a disease-based rehab and has abstained from alcohol and drugs ever since (which LPP doesn’t necessarily discourage, but we don’t demand it either).
Later in life, however, Steve-O developed a sex addiction, and decided he wanted to kick this addiction as well. At first, he abstained from sex (just as he did drugs and alcohol). But after abstaining from sex for a year, he realized that the best way to beat a sex addiction is not to abstain, but to form more healthy and stable sexual relationships and ditch the destructive cycle (Steve-O is now a stand-up comedian and podcaster, and he’s in a healthy relationship.)
In other words: Steve-O discovered, on his own, that the best tools for beating addiction are harm-reduction, moderation, and overall life-balance, via meaning, purpose, and personal responsibility— all of which he achieved without support groups or disease-based therapies.
Whether Steve-O can generalize the common sense thinking that he established for kicking his sex addiction as a way of kicking drugs and alcohol addictions. . . Well, that’s discussed in today’s episode.
We hope you enjoy!
Email: [email protected]
Instagram: http://instagram.com/lifeprocessprogram
Twitter: http://twitter.com/lifeprocessprgm
Facebook: http://facebook.com/lifeprocessprogram
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LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/life-process-program
Call or Text us: (802) 391 – 4360
31 min
October 01, 2020 Episode 34: Elton John and Bob Weir's (not so) Recovery Stories
Welcome to Episode 34!
In this episode of Sundays With Stories, Dr. Stanton Peele and Zach Rhoads tell the not-so-recovery stories of two ultra-famous musical legends, Elton John and Bob Weir. Some key notes from the episode:
I. Addiction and recovery narratives, and why people adopt them
II. There is a Grateful Dead / Jerry Garcia narrative which may be more or less true. But it wasn’t true for Robert Hunter (who died last December), and ceased to be true for Bob Weir. And, when tells his truth, he speaks of the burden — not of drugs — but of expressing his counternarrative.
III. Elton John movie, Rocketman, does the recovery narrative in spades (being a musician = addict; rehab). But in an interview before movie release with Bernie Taupin, he says (a) music saved him (purpose), and (b) he developed a purpose (AIDS) after meeting Ryan White, before he ever went to rehab.
IV. Fitting into the narrative, for oneself and for others. What is lost — a person’s greatest asset — their self.
V. Implications for treatment, raising children in families with addictive histories — what narrative will they learn?
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Email us - [email protected]
Text us - +1 (802) - 391 - 4360
LPP MAIN WEB SITE - http://lifeprocessprogram.com
Instagram: http://instagram.com/lifeprocessprogram
Twitter: http://twitter.com/lifeprocessprgm
Facebook: http://facebook.com/lifeprocessprogram
31 min
September 25, 2020 Episode 33: The Drew Barrymore Story (as told by Zach and Stanton)
Welcome to episode 33!
This episode is the audio version of a new weekly segment, produced by LPP and hosted by Stanton Peele and Zach Rhoads, called "Sundays With Stories"
Each week, Zach and Stanton tell the story of a celebrity-- well, COUNTER-recovery story. That is: they tell the stories of celebrities who outgrow their addictions, and whose stories actually oppose the standard addiction and recovery bromides that we've all been told.
This week's celebrity: Drew Barrymore!
(More on "Sundays with Stories" below):
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Stanton Peele and Zach Rhoads, an addiction and a child development specialist respectively, converse about the realities of addiction and substance misuse in their Sunday conversations. Stanton and Zach work together in the on-line Life Process Program and in publications like Outgrowing Addiction: With Common Sense Instead of "Disease" Therapy.

Their Sunday conversations tap into this overwhelming truth: people have the capacity to overcome addiction. And, in fact (like Zach himself) they regularly do so. How do we know? All life studies of people's substance use show that people successfully come to grips with their addictions. Moreover, people all around you can tell you tales of such natural, developmental recovery. Only they're not "allowed" to tell their stories, for fear of offending the dysfunctional, but all-powerful, recovery community.

This reticence extends to the highest levels of media and culture. (Do you know that progressive stalwart Kurt Andersen dutifully explained that George W. Bush invaded Iraq because he quit drinking without AA, and was thus permanently trapped in denial?) Among the many examples of this self-censorship are the cultural icon Drew Barrymore, who People labelled, age 13, America's youngest addict. Barrymore wrote Little Girl Lost, published at age 15, after she had entered rehab and subsequently attempted suicide.
But Drew grew up by the time she reached her twenties, then went on to found a winery and become a caring mother and Hollywood power player. Apologizing for “not being in recovery” (she enjoys wine), Drew can only hint at the developmental course that has freed her and the vast majority of those with addictive problems.
Hear stories like Drew’s, the silent majority’s, on Peele and Rhoads’ “Sundays With Stories.”
In fact, send in your own ideas for future episodes (through any of the channels below:
Email: [email protected]
Instagram: http://instagram.com/lifeprocessprogram
Twitter: http://twitter.com/lifeprocessprgm
Facebook: http://facebook.com/lifeprocessprogram
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSYridYK8h1uXu0Gx0Kl2Og
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/life-process-program
Call or Text us: (802) 391 - 4360
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Visit the LPP Web Site: https://lifeprocessprogram.com/

35 min
September 14, 2020 SMART Recovery and the Life Process Program: Major Differences and Welcome Similarities
Welcome to the LPP Podcast!
Today's episode is a segment of our interview with LPP Coach Dee Cloward.
In this segment, Dee talks about her work at SMART Recovery and compares/contrasts it with her work for the Life Process Program. Dee loves both programs, but notes that there are meaningful differences between them-- differences which she outlines in today's discussion!
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Here's LPP's recent blog about this topic: https://lifeprocessprogram.com/smart-recovery/
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LPP Web Site: http://LifeProcessProgram.com
Call or Text us: (802) 391 - 4360
Email: [email protected]
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Connect With LPP on Social Media:
Instagram: http://instagram.com/lifeprocessprogram
Twitter: http://twitter.com/lifeprocessprgm
Facebook: http://facebook.com/lifeprocessprogram
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSYridYK8h1uXu0Gx0Kl2Og
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/life-process-program

16 min
September 04, 2020 Episode 31: Mindfulness Meditation (15 minutes)
Welcome to episode 31!
Today we want you to take care of you.
So enjoy this 15 minute mindfulness meditation and free your mind so that you can make reasoned, responsible, and good decisions about how you'll behave for the rest of today.
If you'd like to learn more about mindfulness and meditation and how they relate to overcoming addiction, make sure you check out last episode of the podcast, where I spoke to Toby Sola (the CEO of Brightmind Meditation App): https://anchor.fm/lifeprocessprogram/episodes/Episode-30-BRIGHTMIND---Beat-Addiction-With-Mindfulness-and-Meditation-eioji9
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Follow / Contact The Life Process Program
Email us - [email protected]
Text us - +1 (802) - 391 - 4360
LPP MAIN WEB SITE - http://lifeprocessprogram.com
Instagram: http://instagram.com/lifeprocessprogram
Twitter: http://twitter.com/lifeprocessprgm
Facebook: http://facebook.com/lifeprocessprogram
AND AGAIN--- for 50% off Brightmind Meditation App, go to https://www.brightmind.com/lpp
15 min
August 28, 2020 Episode 30: BRIGHTMIND-- Beat Addiction With Mindfulness and Meditation
Welcome to episode 30!
Today's guest is Toby Sola.
Toby is the CEO of Brightmind for a living; he practices and teaches meditation as a livelihood. Brightmind is a meditaion app that helps people-- of all personalities, persuasions, and goals-- achieve a more mindful way of living.
Today we discuss the ways in which mindfulness and meditation can help you notice, acknowledge, re-frame, and OVERCOME addiction.
Some relevant discussion-points:
- Toby's back-story (how he became a meditation expert)
- Three values that drive Brightmind's content (They ensure all materials are COMPREHENSIVE, PRECISE, and PRACTICAL)
- Mindfulness is to meditation as "sport" is to a specific sport.
- Three pillars of mindful awareness: CONCENTRATION, EQUANIMITY, and CLARITY
- Tactical / practical meditation and mindfulness exercises that can be used on a daily basis
- Mindfulness and meditation for addressing addiction
- Mindfulness and meditation for addressing anxiety
- How Mindfulness / meditation work in tandem with cognitive behavioral therapy (like LPP)
And even more!
--------And here is a link, created for LPP Podcast listeners, to 50% off the brightmind app http://Brightmind.com/LPP
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Follow / Contact The Life Process Program
Email us - [email protected]
Text us - +1 (802) - 391 - 4360
LPP MAIN WEB SITE - http://lifeprocessprogram.com
Instagram: http://instagram.com/lifeprocessprogram
Twitter: http://twitter.com/lifeprocessprgm
Facebook: http://facebook.com/lifeprocessprogram

AND AGAIN--- for 50% off Brightmind Meditation App, go to http://Brightmind.com/LPP
1 hr 27 min
August 21, 2020 Episode 29: Dee Cloward-- Beating Addiction With Encouragement and Common Sense!
Welcome to episode 29!
Today's guest is LPP's own Dee Cloward.
Dee has been a Life Process Program coach for four years now. Prior to that, she was with SMART Recovery for 15 years in many capacities, primarily as a volunteer, and served there as Program Manager for Court Outreach and Special Events Coordinator, and Director of Training to mention just a few. She was highly beloved in the online community and beyond and continues to facilitate SMART meetings locally in the county jail and online. In addition, she has her own small local coaching business in Cincinnati.
Dee had a highly turbulent although largely functional life for many years before ultimately finding recovery and joy in life with SMART Recovery over 15 years ago. She is an example of how well online ONLY recovery can work. She beat addiction without in-person meetings, AA (or other 12-step groups), therapy, inpatient or outpatient treatment.
She has remained abstinent from alcohol (as well as drugs to which she's had unhealthy attachments in the past) for 11 years.
That's something we discuss today-- why it is important for her, personally, to remain abstinent from those substances and involvements, and why she doesn't always necessarily recommend this approach for all.
Some other relevant topics from today's discussion:
- We talk about her background and personal professional / personal addiction experiences
- We talk about her finding SMART Recovery— which is a non 12-step support group, that functions similarly to the Life Process Program. Actually, I ask her to compare and contrast SMART and the Life Process Program— something she does well while honoring the nuance.
- She tells me the story of meeting Stanton Peele and later working with him.
- We also talk about important differences between abstinence from alcohol and drugs versus drinking and using drugs moderately
- And she also distinguishes moderation from harm reduction.
All of that and more on episode 29 of the LPP Podcast with Dee Cloward.
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Visit Dee's web site for articles and to inquire about 1-1 coaching: http://recoverydee.com
Archives from the SMART podcast, hosted by Dee : http://smartrecovery.libsyn.com
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Follow / Contact The Life Process Program
Email us - [email protected]
Text us - +1 (802) - 391 - 4360
LPP MAIN WEB SITE - http://lifeprocessprogram.com
Instagram: http://instagram.com/lifeprocessprogram
Twitter: http://twitter.com/lifeprocessprgm
Facebook: http://facebook.com/lifeprocessprogram
1 hr 22 min