Topics covered : Addiction, shame, awareness, compassion, recovery.

In this week’s episode of Ready to Be Real, I speak to Dr. Brian Pennie - neuroscientist, podcast host and former heroin addict.

I first met Brian back in 2020 when his memoir Bonus Time was released, and I remember being completely blown away by his honesty and insight. Since then, life has continued to evolve for Brian. He’s now living a very fulfilled life with his partner Natalie, continuing his work in neuroscience, delivering talks, hosting his own podcast and helping people better understand addiction, behaviour and recovery.

Brian spent 15 years addicted to heroin before getting clean in October 2013. In this conversation, we explore addiction from both a neuroscience point of view and through Brian’s lived experience - what happens in the brain when addiction takes hold, why recovery can be so difficult, and what can genuinely help somebody who is struggling.

Following on from last week’s conversation with Tony O’Reilly about gambling addiction, this feels like a really important companion episode.

You can find Brian online BrianPennie.com – Change is Possible and through his podcast Change is Possible.

And as always, thank you so much for supporting the podcast.

If you enjoyed this episode, please follow, rate and review Ready to Be Real wherever you get your podcasts - it really helps.

Watch Brian's documentaries :

Hooked: How Addiction Hijacks Your Brain - RTE Player

Other episodes to listen to on addiction : Tony O'Reilly, Nikki Hayes and Gavin Meenan.

Books :

Bonus Time - A true story of surviving the worst and discovering the magic of every moment by Brian Pennie

In the realm of hungry ghosts by Dr. Gabor Maté

Dopamine Nation by Dr. Anna Lembke

Tony 10: The Astonishing Story of the Postman Who Gambled €10,000,000…and Lost It All

Resources & Support

If you’re concerned about yourself or someone you love, please know that support is available and you are not alone.

Support links:

Samaritans Ireland

​Ireland helplines and hotlines

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This is The Real Take and in this snippet, Tony O’Reilly — co-author of the bestselling book 'Tony 10: The Astonishing Story of the Postman Who Gambled €10,000,000…and Lost It All' — speaks about the point where his gambling addiction escalated into stealing €1.75 million from An Post while working as a branch manager.

It’s a shocking and deeply heartbreaking insight into the reality of gambling addiction and the lengths a person can go to when completely consumed by it.

Tony now works as a gambling addiction counsellor and psychotherapist, helping people whose lives have been impacted by gambling harm.​

You can connect with him here: 

Tony O' Reilly - Gambling Addiction Counselling & Workshops

Ireland is in the grip of a gambling crisis that many people still don’t fully recognise.

Gambling addiction is insidious because it can remain hidden for years, devastating lives behind closed doors.

If you or someone you know is struggling, please know that help is available and you are not alone.

Resources & Support

If you’re concerned about yourself or someone you love, please know that support is available and you are not alone.

Support links:

Extern Problem Gambling - Free Counselling for Problem Gambling

Gamblers Anonymous Ireland

Home - Cuan Mhuire

Samaritans Ireland

​Ireland helplines and hotlines

Follow the pod on Instagram

@readytoberealpodcast

To hear the full two-hour conversation with Tony O’Reilly, listen anytime now.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

​Topics covered: insecurities, psychology of addiction, secrecy, manipulation, shame, suicide ideation, finding meaning.

My first guest of this brand new season of Ready to be Real is someone I’ve wanted to sit down with since the podcast launched back in 2019.

Tony O’Reilly is the co-author of the bestselling book Tony 10: The Astonishing Story of the Postman Who Gambled €10,000,000…and Lost It All ​ - the extraordinary true story of how a one pound bet in his early twenties spiralled into a devastating online gambling addiction that completely consumed his life.

Over time, Tony gambled more than €10 million and stole €1.75 million from An Post while working as a branch manage​r and ultimately losing almost everything: his job, his marriage, his peace of mind and very nearly, his life.

But behind the sensational headlines is a​ real story.

In this conversation, Tony speaks with extraordinary honesty about the psychology of addiction - the secrecy of online gambling, the lies, ​the manipulation, ​the fear and ​the chaos happening quietly behind closed doors ​- and the moments that still haunt him today.

We also discuss recovery, accountability and understanding the “why” behind addiction, along with the enormous amount of work Tony has done on himself in recent years. He also shares how his teenage daughter has become his greatest motivation to stay on track and keep moving forward.

This is a powerful and deeply important conversation about addiction, shame, and healing.

Tony now works as a gambling addiction counsellor and psychotherapist, helping people whose lives have been impacted by gambling harm.​

You can connect with him here: 

Tony O' Reilly - Gambling Addiction Counselling & Workshops

Resources & Support

If you’re concerned about yourself or someone you love, please know that support is available and you are not alone.

Support links:

Extern Problem Gambling - Free Counselling for Problem Gambling

Gamblers Anonymous Ireland

Home - Cuan Mhuire

Samaritans Ireland

​Ireland helplines and hotlines

Book :

Tony 10: The Astonishing Story of the Postman Who Gambled €10,000,000…and Lost It All

Documentaries​ :

​​All bets are off​/RTÉ

All Bets Are Off Baz and Tony  

​Finné/TG4 

​Finné Sr 2 Ep 2 Tony O'Reilly | TG4 | Súil Eile |

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Topics covered : Mother and Baby home, adoption, grief, faith, taboo, shedding shame, transgenerational trauma, therapy, holotropic breathwork, motherhood, inner child healing, compassion.  

In the final episode of this season, I speak to psychotherapist Deirdre Nicole Hegarty, who shares her adoption story​ with us.

Deirdre lives in Donegal with her husband Noel and their baby boy, Con​all.

She was adopted at three months old from a mother and baby home, into a loving family where her adoption was always known and spoken about openly.

But as she grew older​, and especially when she began searching for her birth parents​, her story became more complex.

What she discovered challenged her sense of identity in a profound way. Her birth parents were ​first cousins​...something that carried deep layers of secrecy and shame.

In this conversation, Deirdre speaks with great honesty about reconnecting with her birth parents, the emotional impact of those connections, and the confusion and trauma that unfolded.

She also shares the work that has helped her make sense of her experience​, particularly inner child healing​, and how she’s come to understand the impact of transgenerational trauma, and the importance of breaking patterns and releasing shame.

This is a deeply personal conversation, and I’m really grateful to her for sharing it so openly.

​​T​o connect with Deirdre : 

Email: [email protected]

Instagram: @slanu_deirdrehegarty

​* This is the final episode of this season, but I’ll be back with a new batch of conversations on the 8th of May.

In the meantime, you can dive into the archive and listen to over 200 episodes anytime and thanks so much for listening to Ready to be Real.

Tá mé fíor-bhuíoch!

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In this snippet, business mentor and change coach Niamh Ennis speaks about the power of change​, whether it arrives suddenly in our lives or is something we choose and how both can lead us closer to the life we truly want, if we’re willing to ask ourselves the right questions…and really listen to the answers.

If you enjoyed this snippet, you can listen to my full conversation with Niamh Ennis now, wherever you get your podcasts.

To connect with Niamh:

www.niamhennis.com

She is the founder of The ChangeMakers Mastermind where she supports ambitious, heart led business founders.

More here...

www.niamhennis.com/tcmmastermind

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​Topics covered : Pancreatic cancer, grief, sympathy, therapy, good girl conditioning, life changes, intuition, journaling. 

This week, business mentor and change coach Niamh Ennis is my guest.

She lives in Galway with her husband Michael and their rescue dog Bella.

She’s the author of 'Get Unstuck: Ditch Your Drama and Move from Pain to Power' but long before the work she does now, Niamh went through an incredibly difficult period in her life.

In her late 30s and early 40s, she experienced profound loss; her fiancé Tony died just nine days after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and only 6 months before they were due to be married. Not long after, she also lost her dad…and then, a number of years later, her Mum passed away.

In this conversation, Niamh shares what that time was like, how it changed her, and how it ultimately led her to completely rethink her life and her career.

We also talk about what it really means to feel stuck…and how to begin finding your way back to yourself ​, especially in midlife, when so many of us are questioning what we want and what comes next.

To connect with Niamh:

www.niamhennis.com

She is the founder of The ChangeMakers Mastermind where she supports ambitious, heart led business founders.

More here...

www.niamhennis.com/tcmmastermind

If you enjoyed this episode, please do share it, rate it or leave a review...it really helps the podcast to grow.

And you can find the pod on Instagram ​@readytoberealpodcast

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In this week's Real Take, I'm sharing a short snippet of my recent conversation with Celtic wisdom teacher and guide Mari Kennedy.

Here she talks to us about the coming days, Síle's day on the 18th and later in the week, we'll be celebrating the Spring Equinox.

I highly recommend you listen to the full conversation with Mari anytime now, it's a beaut!

To connect with her :

https://www.marikennedy.com/

https://www.instagram.com/marikennedywisdom

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Topics covered : The dark feminine/An Chailleach, infertility, grief, good girl conditioning, masculine and feminine forces, patriarchy, menopause, 4 (not 3) stages of womanhood - Maiden, Mother, Sovereign Queen and Crone, Friday the 13th, Síle's day, year of the Fire Horse, Spring Equinox, Sinéad O'Connor, rebellion, new age wellness, Síle na gig, feminine rising. 

For this special Friday the 13th episode, I’m joined by a teacher and guide in the Celtic Wisdom tradition, ​the wonderful Mari Kennedy.

Mari lives in her home county of Sligo with her partner ​writer Eugene​ O'Brien, and she works with the Celtic Wheel of the Year​, an ancient framework that invites us to live in deeper alignment with nature​, cyclical wisdom​ and the cycles of life.

Her work centres on women’s relationship to power, wisdom and remembering who we truly are.

​The question she keeps returning to, and that runs through everything she does, is: how do we respond wisely and powerfully to the chaos and collapse of this time?

In this conversation we cover a lot​...from Mari’s own personal story​ that is so powerful, to conversations around feminine and masculine energies, the impact of living under patriarchy​ and unlearning the 'good girl' conditioning, along with the different stages of womanhood.

We also explore the magic of Friday the 13th, ​Síle's day and the ​Spring ​Equinox​.

I adored this conversation and I hope you do too.

The magic of Friday the 13th - 46 mins approx

Síle's Day, Spring Equinox, the balance of the masculine and feminine - 1 hour 11 mins approx

​To connect with Mari :

https://www.marikennedy.com/

​Instagram 

https://www.instagram.com/marikennedywisdom

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I'm dipping into the Ready to be Real archive for this week's Real Take.

In this snippet, I speak with the wonderfully reflective Michael Harding, as he shares his love of religion and spirituality...from Buddhism to Christianity...with the philosophical curiosity and earthy wisdom he’s so well known for.

And if you enjoy this, I highly recommend you listen to the full conversation with Michael from December 2022.

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This week I'm joined by personal trainer and online coach Iza Clarke.

Originally from Poland, Iza has been living in Ireland for the past 18 years. She’s married to Odhran and they have two tween daughters, Lanah and Keira.

I recently started training with ​her and I love how encouraging and knowledgeable she is​, so I wanted to sit down with her for an honest and informative conversation about strength training, nutrition, and how our approach to fitness needs to change as we move through different decades of life.

​* To be clear, this isn’t an ad, I’m a very happy paying client who thought this conversation might resonate with ​listeners.

​C​onnect with Iza

​Izabela Clarke PT (@iza.clarke)

​You can sign up to her monthly program and she’s also launching a perimenopause p​lan on the 16th of March, with a particular focus on training, nutrition and education during this often challenging stage of life.

​I would highly recommend connecting with her, she is fab!

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