Smiling Again

Smiling Again

By Kim MooreHealth & FitnessMental Health
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Smiling Again episodes

  • #18 What comes first, thoughts or feelings?

    What comes first, thoughts or feelings? In this episode of Smiling Again I speak with Dawn Stemmer, Psychotherapist, BWRT practitioner and creator of BiiTS. 

    Thoughts are ways of dealing with feelings – ways of thinking our way out of feelings – ways of finding solutions that meets the needs that lie behind the feelings. So if it's that simple and we can think our way out of our feelings, how do we do it and end the negative spirals that can send our day s into a tizzy? 

    Dawn teaches us some practical exercises that we can use to collect our lovely thoughts, like pearls, stringing them together throughout our day to create someting beautiful. 


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

    49 min
  • #17 Moving Through Grief with Megan

    Moving through grief after losing her brother Joseph to addiction, a very brave Megan shares her story of healing from the addiction that plagued her family for 20 years. This raw, emotional episode,  was recorded only two weeks after Joseph passed away.  He was only 32 years young.

    Nothing prepares you for the roller coaster ride that you experience when a loved one battles alcoholism or addiction.

    Megan, a mom of two young children, a teacher, a sister,  a daughter, shares her perspective on being a big sister, bearing witness to her brother's struggle with addiction. She shares her families experience, the difficult choices, the love, the peace, the happy memories, the anger, the pain and the roller coaster she has been riding for 20 years.

    I applaud Megan for her bravery, sharing her story  so that Joseph did not die in vain,  helping others families heal from losing a loved one to addiction.







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

    24 min
  • #16 Make Your Life Count With Boundaries
    When you are consumed by a loved one's addiction or alcoholism, its hard to see a way out of a repetitive cycle of chaos and trauma. In this episode we discuss how to make your life count, with boundaries.

    Suna Spry, RSPH and author of Addicted to an Addict shares some helpful in formation that can help anyone consumed by a loved ones addiction or alcoholism to start working on their own recovery. She shares three realisations that you need to come to before you can start putting healthy boundaries in place - and stick to them. 



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

    27 min
  • #14 Talking about Netflix Maid
    The popular Netflix series MAID has everyone talking and it has some people angry.  The story portrays a young likeable, poor, white woman, Alex , a young mother who flees an abusive relationship and takes a job as a maid to provide for her daughter, striving to build a better future.  

    MAID touches on a  number of incredibly heavy topics, domestic violence, homelessness, alcoholism, the generational cycle of addiction and the systems that keep people in poverty. It's no easy watch, yet we are all watching it and talking about it. 

    In this episode I chat with Celeste Yvonne about what makes this incredible series so good. Drawing from our own experiences, for me living with my husband's alcoholism, for Celeste her fathers alcoholism and her own recovery, we talk about the unspoken conversations of addiction in the family and the generational cycle of addiction. 




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

    36 min
  • #13 How families can recover from addiction
    Families can recover from addiction. Jake LeClaire founder of the Emerge Center for Addiction Recovery, joins me to discuss the importance of getting closer and more in touch with our own truth and our own feelings, for a family to recover.  

    When caught up in the chaos of an addictive family system, it is not comfortable to get close to those truthful feelings. We have our own discomfort, but we also get uncomfortable with other family member feelings, especially when codependency exists.    

    Listen in to this episode as we talk through how families can build a healthier love with a whole lot of honesty and recover from addiction, breaking the family cycle in the process. 



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

    27 min
  • #12 How Running is good for Mental Health
    Running is good for mental health!  But what makes it so good and how do we get more of that goodness to improve our mental health?

    One of the biggest challenges with running is maintaining consistency, lacing up and getting out the door more regularly. 

    Today, I talk with Gareth Gailey a running coach and England Athletics Mental Health Ambassador. Tapping into his expertise as a running coach working with many clients with mental health challenges, we  uncover some of the reasons why running has helped me so much on my healing journey as I putt my life back together in a healthy way after losing my husband to alcoholism.  

    We chat about mindset, purpose, and opening up, getting it all out in the open, starting those difficult conversations while out on a run.

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

    34 min
  • #11: Letting Go of Emotional Pain from the Past

    Changing our lives... it’s all made possible when we forgive and let go.

    When I heard myself saying that I felt guilt about how I didn't do enough to support my husband during his battle with alcohol dependency, I realised I did still feel guilt, even though I told myself I didn't.  He died in 2017.

    What I’ve noticed is that each time I speak, a bit more truth about what I am feeling deep down inside comes out.  So many emotions and thoughts are buried and it’s so important to dig them up, clear them out, and let them go. 

    Getting things out is a good thing. I have to say, it takes a lot of love and honesty to heal. Honesty with yourself.

    This episode is all about letting go of emotional pain from the past . 

    When you have loved an addict you will have most likely felt shame or guilt for  something

    For when you  reacted to them. 

    The phone calls you didn't answer

    The messages you ignores

    And the times you walked away. 

    There’s also possible guilt for the enabling

    If only I would have held my stance and had healthy boundaries

    If only I would have not bought the drink

    If only i would not have lied to others for him

    The list could go on….


    Alcoholism makes us sick too, we just didn’t know it. And we spend a disproportionate amount of time helping them,  sacrificing our own physical and mental health.

    It’s time to let go, to forgive ourselves and our loved one. 




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

    17 min
  • #10: Finding Our Own Strength - an interview with Chris
    Chris lost her daughter Aley to alcoholism 2 years ago.  Aley was only 28.  Chris shares her story of how she and Aley are connected with their hearts and souls, and how she is moving forward in life after experiencing such a traumatic loss. She describes her efforts to put her life back together, learning from the grief, finding her own self-worth, finding her own strength after loss. 

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

    38 min
  • #9: What Matters Most

    This week I was reminded of something really important. I was reminded of what mattered most. 

    I sat on my mat, uncomfortably. It had been about 3 weeks since I attended a yoga class. To be honest, I don’t know how long it had been. I booked a class after the realisation that the removal men took my yoga mats.

    Both of them. Gone. And it took me 9 days to realise this.

    And now here I was. Back on the mat, easing into just like when I first started yoga, with a yin & meditation class.

    “What matters most?”  The teacher asked. 

    By the end of the class I found the answer, and it wasn't what I originally thought. 


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

    16 min

About Smiling Again

From the publisher's feed

Smiling Again is a podcast for anyone who has lost a loved one to alcoholism or addiction. Listen to conversations with people impacted as well as interviews with experts with helpful tips that can…