In this conversation, Alex Kaplan, the founder and executive director of Substance, shares his personal journey through addiction and recovery, and how it inspired him to create a platform that uses short films as tools for mental health professionals. The discussion explores the intersection of art and mental health, the importance of storytelling in healing, and the innovative approach of using film to facilitate deeper conversations about shame, trauma, and emotional growth. Kaplan emphasizes the need for vulnerability in both storytelling and therapy, and the potential for films to bridge gaps in understanding and connection among individuals facing various struggles.
Of Substance website: https://www.ofsubstance.org/
Having survived his own challenges with substances, Alex considers himself living proof that by changing your relationship with struggle, you can build the life you envision. Now, he supports others in doing the same.
In his early 20’s, Alex started a promising acting career in Manhattan while bartending at night to get by. The unexpected death of his father sent him into a tailspin and he began to numb himself with substances to ease the pain. This turned into a full-blown addiction that lasted almost 4 years. Disconnected, disillusioned, and plummeting ever deeper into crisis, Alex was finally convinced by his closest relationships to leave New York and seek help. Over the past five years, surrounded by the steadfast support of family, friends, and colleagues, Alex has climbed his way out of addiction and into a very successful career as a writer, director, and producer, and is now the Executive Producer of a well-regarded commercial production company on the East Coast.
On his journey, Alex saw that his issue was far less about using substances than it was about WHY he used substances; it was about shame, isolation, a fear of not belonging, and a fear of not being good enough. But that’s not unique to addiction, we all experience these feelings. It’s part of being a person! Alex believes that, no matter what we struggle with, when we all feel more seen, heard, and loved, the world will be a better place. And he’s doing this through movies. In everything he does, Alex works to transform people's relationships with themselves, others, and their belief in what's possible.
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