From Rock Bottom to Sober Strong: Jazmin’s Recovery, Motherhood, and Return to Elite ThrowingOn Rock Bottom with Ryan, guest Jazmin shares how alcohol and benzos escalated after her 21st birthday into drinking alone, dangerous decisions, and worsening consequences while trying to balance life as a D1 athlete. Her drinking contributed to the end of her throwing career after an ectopic pregnancy and emergency surgery before conference championships, and she later endured an abusive relationship, a suicide attempt leading to a 72-hour hospital hold, a three-day bender, job losses, a DUI, and severe withdrawals from pills and alcohol. Jazmin got sober on January 9, 2020 after a positive pregnancy test, relapsed for about five months in 2023 amid stress, a miscarriage, and parenting her autistic/ADHD son, then recommitted after a devastating hangover. She returned to training through the Highland Games and discus with disciplined routines, support, and a sports psychologist, discusses an adult autism diagnosis, and explains her involvement with Sober Strong while setting a goal of LA 2028.00:00 Athletic Career Collapse00:59 Aha Moment Tease01:26 Podcast Intro and Sponsor02:30 Meet Jasmine and Sober Basics03:45 Childhood Red Flags05:59 Turning 21 and Bar Life10:05 Isolation and Drinking Alone11:26 D1 Athlete Double Life12:56 Miscarriage and Abuse17:00 Work Drinking and Withdrawal19:16 Suicide Attempt and Hold20:51 Trap House Bender22:06 Jobs Lost and Relapse Triggers25:24 Pills and Rehab Attempts29:19 Pregnancy Sparks Sobriety30:59 Relapse and Parenting Stress31:44 Relapse Rationalization32:37 Miscarriage and Overwhelm32:58 Five Month Spiral33:44 Hangover Wake Up Call35:13 Finding Purpose Again36:24 Highland Games Gateway37:32 Discus Training Commitment37:56 Tools and Giving Back40:07 Training Without Meetings42:37 Handling Failure and Patience45:48 Late Autism Diagnosis47:30 Advice to Past Self51:29 Goals LA 28 and Yips54:38 Sober Strong Ambassador57:23 Closing Advice and Shout Outs01:00:08 Final Quote and Wrap

Lauren Brown: From Alcohol & Heroin to Recovery, Motherhood, and Becoming a Counselor | Rock Bottom with RyanOn Rock Bottom with Ryan, Lauren Brown from Long Island shares her story of growing up around alcoholism, family dysfunction, and early trauma, first drinking at 8–9 and quickly chasing “more.” She describes bullying and self-harm in adolescence, escalating teen drug use (cocaine and opiates), functional success in school, and later severe alcoholism intensified after gastric sleeve surgery, leading to blackouts, violence, a 2017 accident, and a 2019 DWI. After her marriage ended, she became involved with a partner, relapsed into heroin, progressed to IV heroin/fentanyl, crack, and meth, became homeless, accumulated multiple charges during COVID, and survived a near-intentional fentanyl overdose. Facing prison time, she entered detox and long-term treatment, relapsed in early rehab, then self-reported drinking on Nov 3, 2020—her sobriety date—committing to recovery, AA, therapy, and steps. She later became a drug and alcohol counselor, built a family, and created an art business focused on finding beauty in the life cycle, emphasizing openness, teachability, boundaries, and balance.00:00 Early Friendship Hook01:03 Detox Decision01:31 Show Intro Sponsor02:46 Meet Lauren Brown04:25 Childhood Alcohol Normalized06:17 Dad Mental Health Secrets08:10 Siblings Divorce Codependency12:13 New Town Teen Turmoil14:00 Finding Misfit Crowd17:41 Older Friends Shoplifting Rush19:57 High School Drugs Escalate24:17 Functional Drinking Adult Life24:31 Surgery Blackouts Spiral27:59 Marriage Collapse After DWI30:18 Violence New Relationship DWI34:04 Dating App Recovery Guy36:04 Heroin Kit Discovery36:26 Back to Opiates37:06 First Time Shooting38:17 Homeless and Spiraling40:02 COVID and New Charges42:26 Fentanyl Overdose45:36 Detox Setbacks48:02 Treatment and Breakup51:12 Rehab Drama to Womens Program54:58 Rebuilding a Life01:00:14 Art as Healing01:04:05 Service and Harm Reduction01:06:01 Advice and Closing

From Chaos to Clarity: Mary’s Rock Bottom, Detox & Recovery | Rock Bottom with RyanMary from Salem, Oregon shares her recovery story with host Ryan, including her sober date (August 7, 2024) and drug of choice (alcohol and cocaine, mostly alcohol). She describes a chaotic childhood marked by her father’s schizophrenia, her mother’s gambling addiction, a painful divorce, raising her younger brother, self-harm, and suicidal ideation, which led her to seek stability through weed, pills, and later heavy drinking. After a car accident ended her soccer scholarship, she became involved with painkillers and later abused prescribed Xanax with alcohol while trying to be a “perfect” mother. Her drinking escalated during marital breakdown, her husband’s affair, and her daughter leaving for college, culminating in a blackout and a near-fatal drunk-driving incident. She entered detox and residential treatment, worked Step One, relied on meetings and a sponsor, and discusses humility, accountability, boundaries, and running as part of her recovery.00:00 Chaotic Home Life01:24 Show Intro and Sponsor02:53 Meet Mary and Sober Stats05:04 Growing Up in Chaos09:40 Self Harm and Suicidal Thoughts14:44 First Highs and Escalation18:59 Soccer Dream Then Pills21:34 Motherhood and Drinking23:56 Xanax and Functioning Addiction29:24 Marriage Collapse and Last Blackout30:51 Boxed Wine Spiral31:27 Winery Culture Triggers32:03 Paddleboard Blackout Drive34:25 Rehab Ultimatum35:02 Detox Identity Crisis38:13 Treatment Breakthroughs40:49 Divorce After Rehab43:44 Meetings And Tools45:09 Character Defects Work48:27 Best Vs Worst Days50:52 Running As Recovery52:32 Advice And Closing

Bjorn’s Rock Bottom: Meth, Vodka, Needles, and the Road to Sobriety (Oct 30, 2013) | Rock Bottom with RyanBjorn joins Rock Bottom with Ryan to share his addiction and recovery story, including early drinking and drug use, frequent shoplifting arrests, and escalating use of weed, mushrooms, acid, coke, and eventually meth during culinary school and restaurant work. He describes treatment, relapse, the culture of heavy substance use in kitchens and Vegas nightclubs, opioid access through “pill mills,” severe daily vodka dependence, and a terrifying episode after injecting cocaine, plus multiple DUIs and dangerous blackouts. After a birthday binge in 2013, he called his sponsor, returned to AA, and marks October 30, 2013 as his sobriety date. He later rebuilt his life, left kitchen work to be a present father, and now runs Hold My NA Beer, sharing recovery content and offering sponsorship and coaching focused on patterns, triggers, and accountability.00:00 Petty Theft Rush00:49 Fatherhood After Recovery01:11 Show Intro and Sponsor02:27 Meet Bjorn and Basics04:35 Childhood Moves and Divorce06:23 Skateboarding as Escape08:08 Early Weed and Parties09:00 Shoplifting Spree Era10:31 Booze Hooks In11:46 Back to Minnesota and Treatment12:27 Acid House and Dealing13:23 Culinary School and First Meth14:42 Stimulants and ADHD History16:27 Kitchen Chaos and Meth Cycle17:36 Ultimatum and Rehab Entry19:42 New Orleans Externship Relapse20:55 Halfway House and Restaurant Partying24:20 Vegas Move and Pill Mills28:11 Handle a Day Drinking28:42 Needles and Near Overdose31:34 DUI Story and Consequences34:11 Army Plan Falls Apart35:20 Blacked Out Driving38:03 Court Ordered AA39:53 Relapse Into Secrets42:38 Birthday Breaking Point45:05 Rebuilding In Sobriety47:47 Divorce And Dark Night48:47 Reinventing Identity50:07 Meeting Future Wife51:44 Fatherhood Career Shift55:17 Hold My NA Beer Mission56:44 Coaching Vs Sponsorship01:03:14 Advice And Closing Quotes

Heather’s Journey: Alcohol, Food Addiction, and Building a Balanced Life in Recovery | Rock Bottom with RyanIn this episode of Rock Bottom with Ryan, Heather shares her sobriety date (April 30, 2014) and discusses alcohol and food as her addictions. She describes a turbulent childhood with teen parents, frequent moves, feeling “less than,” depression, suicidal thoughts, and early compulsive overeating after losing a close friend. Heather explains how drinking began socially in college, escalated with career stability and money, and was reinforced by enabling and lack of consequences, including dangerous behavior. After quitting alcohol for four years as a “dry drunk,” she resumed drinking and later spiraled in Florida after an injury ended martial arts training, contributing to the collapse of their business. She found AA through women at church, embraced long-term recovery support, and later addressed food compulsions, emotional regulation, and balance through therapy, coaching, and wellness work, now helping high-achieving women pursue whole-person wellness.00:00 Drinking Escalates Fast00:34 Rewiring After Success01:02 Podcast Intro Sponsor02:17 Meet Heather Basics03:57 Chaotic Childhood Moves05:11 Facade And Survival Mode08:07 Food As First Escape12:19 College Independence First Drink14:45 Career Money Enabling16:32 Dry Drunk And Relapse21:44 Florida Injury Final Spiral24:08 Therapy Church AA Path27:07 Last Drink Surrender28:33 Early Recovery Rewiring29:13 Wisdom and Tough Love29:57 Humble Recovery Work30:54 Trading Wine for Sugar31:25 Rebuilding Fitness Safely31:53 Food as Escape33:53 Therapy and Guardrails34:23 Breaking Competition Cycles37:36 Sober Minded Wellness38:24 Anger as Dopamine40:08 Boundaries and Insurance41:49 Addiction Defense Attorney43:16 Next Gen Sober Curious45:07 Coaching High Achievers48:54 Public Figure in Recovery49:50 Emotional Regulation Lessons51:06 Advice for Hidden Struggles51:59 Stigma and Rock Bottom54:43 Replay the Tape55:14 What Sobriety Gives You57:36 Where to Find Heather58:09 Final Hope and Farewell

Breaking Toxic Relationship Cycles in Recovery | Rock Bottom with Ryan (ft. Amber)Ryan and Amber discuss how witnessing unhealthy, abusive relationships in childhood led them to normalize toxicity, stay too long in harmful dynamics, and repeat patterns in adult romantic and non-romantic relationships, especially during active addiction. They explore how sobriety and recovery work—therapy, sponsorship, inner-child and codependency work—helped them recognize red flags earlier, stop confusing chaos with passion, and take accountability for their own harmful behaviors, including people-pleasing, avoidance, passive-aggression, and using substances to numb relationship pain. Amber describes sabotaging calm relationships, feeling triggered by yelling, and realizing how short relationships surfaced deeper grief and abandonment wounds. They emphasize communication, asking hard questions early, setting boundaries, tolerating discomfort, maintaining a sense of self, and building connection and community as key to healing and healthier relationships.00:00 Toxic Patterns Learned01:15 Show Intro Sponsor02:20 Episode Setup Relationships04:21 Using Buddies vs Friends06:20 Insecurity and Validation07:05 Childhood Chaos Imprints09:26 Emotional Abuse Blindspots11:16 Triggered Fight Response13:32 Addicted to Chaos17:23 Spotting Red Flags Early18:48 Dating and Drinking Patterns20:32 Numbing Breakups with Drugs22:46 Trying to Save Partners25:50 Trauma Bonding Explained28:04 Overthinking and Boundaries30:14 Yelling Shutdown and Listening32:17 Owning Past Reactions33:01 Hard Talks In Dating35:15 Ghosting And Anxiety Spirals38:03 Staying Present Uncomfortable38:46 Marriage Lessons And Childhood41:51 Finding Sense Of Self44:55 Aha Moments And Trauma Roots50:20 Dating Boundaries In Sobriety53:09 Connection Over Addiction54:28 Peace Through Communication59:25 Closing Takeaways And Outro

In this episode of Rock Bottom with Ryan and co-host Rachel Sereni, guest Susana from Ontario, Canada shares her recovery story from binge drinking and cocaine use, which typically occurred on weekends but still consumed her life and led to paranoia and risky behavior. She explains how being adopted from Guatemala, limited emotional support at home, depression, and later anxiety shaped her coping, and how grief after her father’s death fueled justification to use. A confrontation from her husband’s friend helped push her to quit, and she credits accountability from an online sobriety group, support from her husband who also stopped, and fitness/powerlifting for maintaining sobriety (approaching two years). Susana discusses sobriety during her wedding, improved boundaries and self-confidence, the role of SSRIs, and her concerns about unqualified, predatory online recovery coaching.00:00 Weekend Binge Reality01:12 Show Intro and Sponsor02:49 Meet the Guest Susannah03:10 Sober Date and DOC04:46 First Cocaine High06:07 Adoption and Identity10:19 Starting at Nineteen12:23 When It Became a Problem15:07 Weekend Routine Breakdown16:50 Trying to Quit and Accountability18:51 Work Life and Functioning21:08 Grief Triggers in Sobriety25:14 Called Out To Quit26:20 Owning The Pattern27:23 Finding A Sober Community29:21 Slip Ups And Growing Up31:25 Friends After Party Life33:59 Marriage Boundaries And Confidence37:50 Parenthood And Empathy39:31 Sober Routine And School40:29 Fitness As Recovery42:21 Calling Out Predatory Coaching46:31 Advice For Newly Sober47:49 SSRIs And Long Term Sobriety48:37 Reaching Out And Closing

Plant Medicine, Recovery & Transformation | Behold Retreats (Costa Rica, Mexico, Portugal) | Rock Bottom with RyanRyan welcomes Sarah and Danny from Behold Retreats to discuss psychedelic-assisted healing and transformation through traditional ceremonies with ayahuasca, psilocybin, and bufo. Danny shares his path from depression after divorce to 16 years in plant medicine work, while Sarah describes moving from the U.S. and leaving a finance career, reflecting on alcohol use, integrity, and self-discovery. They explain Behold’s evolution from an intense four-day jungle retreat to “The Guide Inside” model emphasizing comfort, safety, and deep work supported by a care team and medicine team. They outline misconceptions about psychedelics as “drugs,” screening and invite-only participation, preparation (“dieta”), a seven-week program with integration, and why some conditions (e.g., schizophrenia) may be contraindicated. They describe common motivations from rock bottom to high achievers seeking meaning, the importance of integration and delaying major decisions, frequent work with addiction by addressing root causes, and Behold’s growth across Costa Rica, Mexico, and Portugal. They were also featured on Netflix's Enigma Documentary.00:00 Comfort Enables Deep Healing01:06 Sponsor Message Break02:11 Meet Sarah and Danny02:52 Danny’s Plant Medicine Origin06:21 Sarah’s Path and Integrity11:39 Building Behold Retreats14:36 Safety First Ceremony Design16:22 Drugs vs Medicine Misconceptions19:46 Who Benefits and Why23:56 Screening and Readiness26:24 Breakthroughs and Integration31:32 From First Call to Invite32:32 Retreat Prep and Dieta33:14 Ceremony Flow and Integration34:40 Community and Lasting Change35:26 Building a Controversial Organization38:03 Purpose Over Profit41:11 Addiction Healing and Relapse45:28 Spirituality Defined47:33 Ego Death Explained50:40 Rock Bottom and Prevention53:44 Advice and How to Reach Them57:44 Final Messages and Wrap Up

From Childhood Trauma to Heroin Rock Bottom: Damaris’ Recovery Story | Rock Bottom with RyanOn Rock Bottom with Ryan, Damaris shares her sobriety date (3/13/19) and a journey marked by childhood abuse, feeling different and unheard in a Hispanic household, and early substance use that escalated from alcohol and marijuana to meth and many other drugs, with heroin ultimately bringing her to her knees. She describes meth’s calming effect due to ADHD, severe heroin dependence, seven overdoses, hiding her addiction, and a 2017 DUI, followed by failed attempts to detox alone. After a humiliating comment from a fire chief and a pivotal moment of surrender, she entered treatment, embraced AA, boundaries, therapy, and faith, and found peace in sobriety. Now married, living in Arizona, and recovering out loud, she urges honesty, willingness, and seeking help.00:00 Protecting Mom Secretly01:01 Show Intro Sponsor02:15 Meet Damaris Basics03:33 Violent Childhood Abuse04:52 Silence And Fear06:31 Anger Boils Over07:19 Feeling Different Growing Up09:17 No Mental Health Talk11:14 First Drinks And Lies12:13 Weed And Belonging13:24 First Meth And Psychosis16:44 Meth ADHD Calm18:43 Heroin Enters 201720:11 Heroin Hook And High22:54 Withdrawal And Hustling25:19 Hiding Addiction Publicly26:50 DUI Wake Up Call29:13 DUI Wake Up Call29:52 Facing the Real Consequences31:08 Rejecting AA and Spiraling32:21 Signs and Near Death Moments34:31 Mirror Moment and Calling Help37:58 Treatment and Surrendering Control39:35 AA Steps and God’s Humor41:35 Recovery Out Loud43:53 Faith and Early Spiritual Roots47:26 Boundaries and Peaceful New Life50:51 More Battles and Purpose52:44 Advice for Getting Honest56:10 Final Thanks and Sign Off

From Party Girl to Recovery: Alice on Cocaine, Alcohol, Trauma & Finding Hope | Rock Bottom with RyanIn this episode of Rock Bottom with Ryan, Alice from Cheltenham, UK shares her recovery story, including childhood trauma, early rebellion and trouble with authority, and how alcohol and cocaine became her drugs of choice. She describes first drinking at 13, seeking out drugs, and a chaotic progression into heavy partying, stripping from age 18, and escalating use during COVID, including spending hundreds of pounds a week, morning drinking/using, paranoia, and repeated benders. Alice discusses a failed attempt at sobriety, dangerous withdrawal symptoms, a one-night relapse at 99 days, and ultimately committing to 12-step recovery with support from sober connections. She explains why she began sharing on social media after a year sober, navigating sober events like weddings, and how exercise, routines, and upcoming psychotherapy help her manage anxiety and trauma in recovery.00:00 Early Sobriety Wake Up00:53 Starting Recovery Content01:13 Podcast Intro Sponsor02:33 Meet Alice Her Story04:12 Childhood Trauma Roots06:24 School Fear Rebellion09:01 Trouble With Police12:12 First Drink Red Flags14:11 Teen Drinking Escalates18:54 Stripping Scene Addiction22:28 Lockdown Court Case Spiral23:41 Relationships Secrecy Costs25:52 Habit Spending Breakdown26:54 Dry January Breakdown30:23 Finding Recovery Support33:39 Relapse and Commitment35:55 Sober Weddings Reality41:02 Therapy and Career Shifts44:31 Managing Anxiety Sober46:16 Worst Day vs Best Day50:18 Advice and Farewell