It is time yet again to bathe our brain in a soup of new information. The learning never ends, and as we keep trying new things, our recovery grows and becomes more secure.

In financial hardship? Want a free book? Send an email with your name, address, and the book you want to: [email protected]

March Reading and Podcast List:

The Red Road to Wellbriety in the Native American Way (book) by White Bison Inc.

First in the Family (book) by Jessica Hoppe

The Anonymous Eskimo (podcast) by Ralph Sara

The Body Keeps the Score (book) by Bessel Van der Kolk

Sober Powered: The Neuroscience of Being Sober (podcast) by Gillian Tietz

Credits/Contact Info:

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Theme music: Logan Bragg

Logo: Stevie Petet

Trigger warning: childhood neglect

In today's episode, Early interviews their friend Natalie. Natalie tells the story of her childhood growing up with a severely addicted parent, and how it affected her as a kid and into adulthood. She demonstrates the need to communicate effectively with children at an age appropriate level- because if we don't communicate to them, they create their own answers, and they often know much more than we realize. Natalie goes on to dabble with substances as she enters her teen years, and quickly sees the writing on the wall. Before things got too out of hand she decided to return back to controlled use. This is possible for folks who are in the pre-addiction phase, but once someone enters moderate or severe alcohol or substance use disorder, unfortunately returning to moderate use is most often impractical or impossible.

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Instagram: @recoverydemystified

Logo: Stevie Petet

Theme Music: Logan Bragg

Email: [email protected]

Many people have struggled or dabbled with inhalants, yet we very rarely hear it discussed. In today's episode Early discusses their own personal use of inhalants as well as their experience as an EMT treating patients who use inhalants.

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Want to be interviewed on the podcast? Send an e-mail: [email protected]

Logo: Stevie Petet

Theme Song: Logan Bragg

In today's episode, Early interviews Jakob Schaffer. Jakob's story begins with supressing deep traumatic grief with the use of substances- something he saw demonstrated by adults in his life. His story moves through dabbling and being addicted to a variety of hard drugs, alcohol, and weed. Kratom and cocaine ultimately landed him in a not very classy rehab, which he left after three days, and then returned to. He spent a while being Cali-Sober (only using weed products) until that landed him in the emergency room, with a near death experience. He tested the waters on weed again, resulting in a second round of Cannabinoid Hyperemesis Syndrome. After that he decided to leave it all behind, raw dogging the shit out of life, and he has never looked back.

In today's episode we also discuss the ultimate question: How DO you pronounce "kratom"?????

Connect with Jakob: @amerijake

Black Legacy Project: https://www.theblacklegacyproject.org/

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Logo: Stevie Petet

Theme music: Logan Bragg

Instagram: @recoverydemystified

Trigger warning: suicide attempt, domestic violence, sexual assault

In today's episode Early interviews their friend EK. They describe seeing their family use alcohol and cigarettes while they were a kid. EK's drinking and use stopped being fun at a very young age, as they navigated survival through abusive relationships. They describe self medicating after reaching out for help with the pain of experiencing sexual assault and depression. After a close encounter with the law, they had an epiphany, and received some really good advice from friends, and started a journey towards sobriety.

Donate to our cause! https://gofund.me/be6d99f7

Venmo & Paypal: @recoverydemystified

Instagram: @recoverydemystified

Logo: Stevie Petet

Theme song: Logan Bragg

Early discusses their book and podcast list for February, 2025! It is time to bathe your brain in a soup of new information! 

Support our cause! Venmo & Paypal @recoverydemystified

Stash: My Life in Hiding - book by Laura Cathcart Robbins

The Only One in the Room - podcast by Laura Cathcart Robbins

DharmapunxNYC - podcast by Josh Korda

Recovery Happy Hour - podcast by Tricia Lewis

Rewired: A Bold New Approach to Addiction and Recovery - book by Erica Spiegelman

Instagram: @recoverydemystified

Email: [email protected]

Logo: Stevie Petet

Theme Music: Logan Bragg

Trigger Warning: Brief mention of domestic violence

In today's episode Early interviews their friend Alison. Alison grew up with addiction on both sides of the family. Her mother was not very present in her childhood and her dad was a single parent most of the time. She describes meeting alcohol and becoming "thick as thieves immediately." At the age of 27, and dabbling in her third Dry January, she wonders if there's more to life than this. She discusses trying the drug Naltrexone to deter cravings, which inspired Early to discuss medication based treatements for Alcohol Use Disorder in the introduction.

Support our cause! Venmo & Paypal - @recoverydemystified

Instagram - @recoverydemystified

Logo -  Stevie Petet

Theme music - Logan Bragg

Email - [email protected]

In today's episode, Early interviews their friend TK. TK spent their high school years as a sober person, then began drinking at the age of 19, and rolled their car by the age of 21. After drunkenly signing up for the army, their partner became pregnant, and their whole world started to change. TK demonstrates that for most of us the path of recovery is not linear. It consists of trials, fuck-its, taking time to let new knowledge sink in, and peeling back the layers of the onion. If we can get down to that middle layer and figure out the wound(s) that we have been covering up with substances, and reconcile that wound, our lives can improve drastically. For TK that wound was a lack of real community, and when they found it, so many things started to fall into place.

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Help support our cause! Venmo & Paypal @recoverydemystified

Logo: Stevie Petet

Theme music: Logan Bragg

Disclaimer: Recovery Demystified is intentionally and explicitly non-religious. This episode mentions that practices of mindfulness and meditation can be traced historically back to several Eastern spiritual traditions. The episode also uses the word "spiritual." It is important to note that there is also a wealth of modern, scientific data to back these practices. Whether you believe in science, spirituality, both, neither, or something else entirely- we support you. You are in charge of your own recovery toolkit. We invite you to foster a mindset of curiousity, while remembering that instead of something being "either/or," it can often be "both/and." In the end- take what works for you and leave the rest. May you be happy and free.

In today's episode Early discusses one of their lowest points in addiction. From that low point they discovered two simple, free practices that helped heal their mind and propel forward and closer to their goals. These practices are gratitude and mindfulness. In less than five minutes a day, you can rewrite neural pathways in your brain in order to become a more grateful and content person at baseline. This isn't to say we should foster an attitude of toxic positivity- it is still normal and healthy to honor and experience difficult emotions as they arise. The purpose of these practices is to alter our baseline attitudes to be calm, appreciative, and content.

Email: [email protected]

Instagram: @recoverydemystified

Venmo & Paypal: @recoverydemystified

Logo: Stevie Petet

Theme music: Logan Bragg

If you are in financial hardship and would like a free book on the topic of addiction recovery, trauma, healing, or self-help, send us an e-mail and we will buy it for you!

Trigger Warning: Brief mentions of domestic abuse, suicide, and involuntary hold in a psychiatric facility.

In this episode Early interviews their dear friend Sara Hiatt! Her life starts with being raised in a party environment, picking up cigarette butts at the age of 7, and using alcohol and every drug under the sun before graduating high school. After a series of awful relationships and worsening addiction to drugs and alcohol, Sara's life imploded and she ended up stuck in the psych ward. After she got out she decided she wanted to "try something different"- and moved on forever.

Recovery Demystified is a 501c3 nonprofit, help support our mission to empower people to create their own unique paths to addiction recovery!

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