#16: We are so very excited to introduce one of our amazing Lionrock Clinical Supervisors as our esteemed guest for Episode 16! Leo Martinez has 7 years experience working as a Substance Abuse Counselor and Social Worker working with very diverse populations. He has delivered counseling services internationally with specializations in Gorski Relapse Prevention, CBT, Dual Disorders, ACT, and Multicultural Interventions. Leo earned a Masters in Social Work from California State University, East Bay, and a CADAAC Certificate in Addiction Counseling.

Leo's story of taking back everything that addiction stole from him is nothing short of amazing. Tune in as Leo discusses some very difficult topics including substance abuse, sexual assault and the gut-wrenching effects of extreme trauma.

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Questions, comments or feedback? We want to hear from you! Email us at [email protected]

Show Notes:

3:49 - Leo’s background and how he grew up

7:56 - Struggling with food relationship and weight gain

9:41 - The decision to join the marine corp, and the reasons behind it

10:39 - When he first starting drinking and doing drugs, and why

13:58 - Joining the marines and the life changes that happened

17:31 - Leaving the marine corp and finding new drugs and friends

20:08 - An incredibly traumatic situation that was a turning point in his life

29:12 - The second trauma

35:00 - The physical and mental effects of Leo’s using

39:00 - Being stuck in the cycle - starting over again with a job selling cars - success on the outside, but throwing it away on drugs

43:05 - Burglarizing a former employer and the situation that ended it all

50:13 - Making the decision to end his life, and the decision that changed it all around

1:01:50 - Working with populations as a social worker in places where people don’t have good resources

1:11:00 - Recovery, what it looks like and feels like

1:24:30 - Vulnerability

The Courage to Change: A Recovery Podcast would like to thank our sponsor, Lionrock Recovery, for their support. Lionrock Recovery is an online substance abuse counseling program where you can get help for drinking or drug use from the privacy of your own home. For more information, visit http://www.lionrockrecovery.com.

#14.5 & 15.5: It's another "After the Episode" combo! In this episode, the ladies discuss Bless It Bag (Bella Baskin's charitably-driven company), childhood attachment and the issues that come from the lack thereof, and Christiana interviews Ashley about her and Dac's discussions in Episode 15. Tune in for a good laugh and to learn something new!

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Questions, comments or feedback? We want to hear from you! Email us at [email protected]

Show Notes:

3:05 - Being “therapied” by Ashley on accident

4:42 - Discussing Bella’s episode (Episode 14) and Bless It Bag

8:16 - Ashley tells an embarrassing story about Christiana (feel free to laugh)

11:50 - The ability to take an idea from concept to taking it to market and the effects of adoption

18:08 - Just because someone looks like they “have it all together” doesn’t mean they aren’t having a significant struggle

20:42 - Being “of service” in recovery and having that be part of your every day life

25:30 - Christiana interviews Ashley about her and Dac’s episode (Episode 15)

32:23 - Talking about supporting each other through recovery in different ways

40:15 - Shifting with changes that happen in life and recovery and “the business of life”

50:35 - Ashley gives advice to couples in recovery

The Courage to Change: A Recovery Podcast would like to thank our sponsor, Lionrock Recovery, for their support. Lionrock Recovery is an online substance abuse counseling program where you can get help for drinking or drug use from the privacy of your own home. For more information, visit http://www.lionrockrecovery.com.

#15: You are going to LOVE this very special episode! Ashley hosts her husband, Dac Blassingame, and they go in-depth about life and marriage in recovery and everything that comes along with it. Tune in to hear them speak about their lives from dating to marriage and kids, and their struggles and triumphs both in short-term and now their long-term sobriety.

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Questions, comments or feedback? We want to hear from you! Email us at [email protected]

Show Notes:

4:50 - The competitive advantages of dating/being with someone who is sober

7:20 - The tough conversation: what happens if someone relapses

12:00 - The concept of staying in your own program when you have a spouse who is in recovery as well.

21:10 - Concerns about having children with two people in recovery (pre-disposal to the disease of alcoholism)

28:40 - Learning to be open and talking about therapy in marriage and relationships

35:40 - A message from our sponsor, Lionrock Recovery

36:31 - Dac talks about his journey to sobriety

41:45 - Feeling like you’re missing a parental tool (ex: the “Mommy wine culture”)

45:25 - What it used to look like when they were loaded, and the issues that would come with that

50:21 - Advice for someone who may not want kids

52:16 - What Dac does to stay sober now (vs. when he and Ashley first got married)

1:02:16 - The same program can work differently for different people

The Courage to Change: A Recovery Podcast would like to thank our sponsor, Lionrock Recovery, for their support. Lionrock Recovery is an online substance abuse counseling program where you can get help for drinking or drug use from the privacy of your own home. For more information, visit http://www.lionrockrecovery.com.

We are so pleased to introduce our very first bonus episode with an incredible guest! Harry Nelson is the founder of Nelson Hardiman, LLP, the largest healthcare and life sciences specialty law firm in Los Angeles. Harry is the author of The United States of Opioids: A Prescription for Liberating a Nation in Pain, published by Forbes in March 2019, which received critical praise for changing the crisis-related conversation from spectacle to solutions. The book grew out of Harry’s work in opioid overdose and other crisis response in behavioral health. In 2017, Harry co-authored From ObamaCare to TrumpCare: Why You Should Care, an exploration of U.S. health policy past, present, and future aimed at moving beyond rhetoric and hand-wringing to bipartisan dialogue.

Like his books, Harry’s work as an advisor straddles the intersection of healthcare transformation and regulatory compliance with a focus on practical solutions to emerging problems from digital and behavioral health to cannabis and biologic products. Harry serves as chair of the Behavioral Health Association of Providers, an education and advocacy organization that works to advance standards and develop tools to address industry challenges. His leadership has been recognized, among other distinctions, by Behavioral Health Network Resources’ 2018 Addiction Advocacy Award.

Health 2.0 LA & Nelson Hardiman Present:

Register for the event:

Connect with Harry:

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#12.5 & 13.5: Ashley and Christiana discuss topics from Episodes 12 (Chris Poulos) and 13 (Flor Edwards) while drawing on personal examples and a few laughs along the way!

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Questions, comments or feedback? We want to hear from you! Email us at [email protected]

Show Notes:

1:10 - Expanders….and headgear?

4:47 - An explanation about “Expanders" - in the inspirational way (not in the headgear way)

11:45 - Expungement for state crimes vs federal crimes (referring to Chris Poulos’ episode), along with the privilege that comes from having certain economic opportunities

15:10 - The dean’s office story from Episode 12 (super inspirational!) + breaking barriers and stigma

23:10 - The sex offender example: being reactionary vs. prevention

31:13 - When is society made whole?

37:45 - Transitioning into Flor’s story

50:08 - Discussing not being allowed to think/feel a certain way

53:28 - Ashley’s childhood story about animals having souls

1:07:41 - Being open to new information

The Courage to Change: A Recovery Podcast would like to thank our sponsor, Lionrock Recovery, for their support. Lionrock Recovery is an online substance abuse counseling program where you can get help for drinking or drug use from the privacy of your own home. For more information, visit http://www.lionrockrecovery.com.

#13: Flor Edwards is an author and lives in Los Angeles, California. By age twelve, Flor had lived in 24 different locations across three continents. Always on the move to escape the Antichrist and in preparation for the Apocalypse in 1993, her nomadic childhood prompted her to pen her memoir Apocalypse Child: A Life in End Times. In her debut memoir, Flor movingly describes her early life growing up with her family and 11 siblings as a member of The Children of God, a controversial religious movement that many describe as an apocalyptic cult. Join Ashley and Flor as they sit down to discuss her childhood, and most importantly, her recovery!

Connect with Flor:Website: https://floredwards.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/floredwardsauthor/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/florcedwards
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/floredwardsauthor/

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Questions, comments or feedback? We want to hear from you! Email us at [email protected]

Show Notes:

3:13 - Flor’s childhood and describing life inside the cult and some of the beliefs

6:27 - The cult’s founder, Father David

7:44 - Discussing some of the aftermath from the cult lifestyle

14:25 - Re-integrating back into society

21:13 - Talking about the Apocalypse that never happened while living in the cult

24:30 - Talking about her education

25:52 - Substance abuse, the desire to "numb out” and her suicide attempt

29:15 - The power of recognizing potential, and speaking about writing

36:13 - Working her recovery, and writing about her suicide attempt

41:14 - Noticing the differences between the worlds they grew up in and the world now

49:12 - The fascination with the mind in correlation with growing up in a world where she was taught what to think and feel

53:32 - Speaking about her experience being her identity

1:00:00 - The power of “agency” (to be your own person)

The Courage to Change: A Recovery Podcast would like to thank our sponsor, Lionrock Recovery, for their support. Lionrock Recovery is an online substance abuse counseling program where you can get help for drinking or drug use from the privacy of your own home. For more information, visit http://www.lionrockrecovery.com.

#12: We are so excited to introduce Christopher Poulos as this week's incredible guest! Christopher is an attorney and the Executive Director of the Washington Statewide Reentry Council. Prior to his appointment, he served as Executive Director of Life of Purpose Treatment at the University of North Texas, where he was also an Adjunct Professor of Criminal Justice. During law school, he served at the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy and The Sentencing Project. Poulos has advised United States Senator Angus King (I-Maine) on addiction and justice policy and served on several task forces related to criminal justice policy. He graduated cum laude from the University of Maine School of Law, where he was President of the American Constitution Society and represented children facing criminal charges as a student attorney in the Juvenile Justice Clinic.

Prior to law school, Poulos overcame many obstacles, including tragic family losses, addiction, homelessness, and a federal incarceration. He now dedicates his life to helping others overcome or avoid similar challenges and he supports a public health-­based approach to addiction. His work promotes equal access to the law and seeks to end mass incarceration and the collateral consequences now facing the tens of millions of people with criminal convictions.

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Questions, comments or feedback? We want to hear from you! Email us at [email protected]

Show Notes:

2:30 - Introducing Chris, some of his background and talking about the start of his recovery process

5:41 - The start of Chris's substance use

7:28 - Being diagnosed with ADHD + the childhood years and their impact through three traumatic losses

11:40 - The escalation of his substance abuse

12:58 - The events that led to being sentenced to federal prison

27:06 - What happened when he first got arrested and was facing five federal felony charges

33:56 - The start of the transformation

42:11 - Talking to the Dean of the law school

49:38 - The law school voting to let Chris in

52:45 - The connection that took him to the White House

1:05:40 - Closing thoughts

The Courage to Change: A Recovery Podcast would like to thank our sponsor, Lionrock Recovery, for their support. Lionrock Recovery is an online substance abuse counseling program where you can get help for drinking or drug use from the privacy of your own home. For more information, visit http://www.lionrockrecovery.com.

ATE #'s 10.5 & 11.5: Welcome to another combo "After the Episode"! Ashley and Christiana discuss topics from Episodes 10 & 11 (Charise & Amy's stories), including EMDR, doing trauma work and they dive into what human trafficking actually looks like.

After the Episodes come out every other Thursday! While we always recommend listening to our guest interviews, you do not need to listen to each interview before these discussion episodes.

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Questions, comments or feedback? We want to hear from you! Email us at [email protected]

Show Notes:

5:38 - Discussing Charise’s episode and story

14:09 - A clip of Charise talking about her experience with EMDR

17:43 - Discussing Amy’s episode and story

30:19 - The National Human Trafficking Hotline (NHTH): 888-373-7888. You can also text HELP or INFO to 233733. Website: www.humantraffickinghotline.org

31:28 - The definitions of human trafficking

39:37 - Christiana shares a story of someone she knows who was trafficked

51:15 - Dissocation from trauma - Dissociative Identity Disorder and how this happens.

54:10 - Clarifying PTSD and what that can look like

The Courage to Change: A Recovery Podcast would like to thank our sponsor, Lionrock Recovery, for their support. Lionrock Recovery is an online substance abuse counseling program where you can get help for drinking or drug use from the privacy of your own home. For more information, visit http://www.lionrockrecovery.com.

#11: Amy is an alchemist working to transform her traumatic childhood experiences into a life of her own choosing. Two years ago, Amy changed her life when she reached out for help from an amazing psychotherapist. Through the healing process, Amy discovered a passion to provide a voice for the voiceless through documenting her journey on Instagram.

Amy now uses art as a creative process for coping with trauma. In her spare time, she balances her work as the Operations Manager for an online public school with managing a degenerative skeletal-muscular disease (Klippel-Feil Syndrome) and most importantly, finding time to cuddle up to Netflix with a phenomenally kind, patient, and loving husband. She's one hell of a woman!

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Questions, comments or feedback? We want to hear from you! Email us at [email protected]

Show Notes:

3:35 - Amy starts discussing her background and childhood

7:35 - The sexual assault: beginnings and what it turned into

8:45 - The start of being sex trafficked

10:38 - How Amy figured out what it was called/what sex trafficking actually looks like locally

16:10 - Becoming the “sacrificial lamb” of the family

21:02 - The first time she was raped + dissociating

22:50 - Being waterboarded at age 9

26:27 - Assaulted at age 17

31:38 - Using substances to cope

36:27 - Making the decision to seek out therapy

41:15 - Adding EMDR to her therapy and treatment plan

43:28 - Discussing her therapy assignments and the high value of therapy

47:30 - College and choosing an education for herself

51:56 - Discussing her recovery from trauma

53:38 - Getting re-triggered by trauma as an adult, and how she was able to work through the incident by creating her Instagram account @cptsdchronicles

1:00:15 - Hearing from others who were trafficked

The Courage to Change: A Recovery Podcast would like to thank our sponsor, Lionrock Recovery, for their support. Lionrock Recovery is an online substance abuse counseling program where you can get help for drinking or drug use from the privacy of your own home. For more information, visit http://www.lionrockrecovery.com.