The Truth About Addiction

JJ grew up in a dysfunctional home, and from that dysfunctional family, he learnt to survive life. Most of his memories are from traumatic events. He had been through foster homes and various institutions. 

Wise, knowledgeable and inspirational, JJ is now a recovery coach helping people through their addiction and recovery journey.  

John Killick made international headlines in 1999 when he escaped from Sydney’s Silverwater Jail by a helicopter. Our podcast today focuses on the John Killick today, the Author, the human being, the guy that mentors children and gives back to people in and out of prison. 

John talks about the failing system, the traditions, past heavy gambling addiction, to supporting current and ex-prisoners, and of course his favourite bread and butter pudding. 

Jess Kennedy, 2 years clean, a tenacious, passionate advocate for addiction recovery and mental health from Melbourne. 
Jess was a black-out drunk started from the young age of 10 and progressively went through the hard use of both street and prescription drugs over the next 20 plus years. She was diagnosed with ADHD and bipolar.
Jess is now a lived experience peer worker, who works in a drop in clinic that supports people through their addiction, recovery and mental health. #rethinkaddiction 

“I used to see bank robbers and criminals coming home from jails, and they were treated like war heroes.. They were the sort of blokes I looked up to.” 

Russell grew up in Western Sydney and spent a total of 23 years in various jails in NSW, NT and QLD. Russell is a survivor of institutional child sexual abuse. He carried the heavy secret for 30 years before finding the courage to talk about his experiences, to speak to other prisoners and support the people that had similar abuses. While he was in prison, he had a dream, a vision, and here he is today, the Founder of The Voice of A Survivor. Listen to Russell share his story, how he started on his recovery journey and helping other victims in they process of healing. 
www.thevoiceofasurvivor.com  

'I'm a hope dealer, not a dope dealer.' - Gary, who served multiple sentences for drug charges, shares his recovery and redemption story to help youth staying off the path he walked earlier in life. With over 50K followers on TikTok, known as TiktokGarry, he is sharing his story on a daily basis, passing on the message and is inspiring many to stay drugs and crime free. ‘I’m always a criminal, but I just don’t do crimes anymore. I use the same energy towards my current work.’

Dean King, author of the highly acclaimed book King Hit, was born in Balmain, Sydney to alcoholic parents. In and out of boys’ homes and at the age of 14, Dean was put in a maximum security prison charged for murder.
In this chat, Dean talks about his moment of ‘spiritual awakening’, and how addiction recovery has brought so much changes, so much positive influences to his life and the people around him. 
‘If I was going to go down this road of recovery, I was going to have a quality of life. I was going to make things work, I was going to make things happen exactly how I made it happen looking for heroin, exactly how I made it happen when I wanted to have fun, when I was crazy…’ - Dean.
His exhilarating story is funny, yet exceptionally raw, honest and inspiring. 
Check out www.kinghitbook.com 

The fears you have to face when you first realise that you have a problem with the disease of addiction. For me, it was the fear of the unknowns. Fear of going to a detox center, fear of judgement, fear of having to tell people that I am an addict, fear of loss… 

Don’t be ashamed to ask for help. If you could do it on your own, you could have done it by now. So please, reach out. 

Jeffrey Morgan, mental health and wellbeing coach. Jeffrey grew up in the notoriously disadvantaged suburb of Redfern NSW, where crime rates and poor mental health were high. 

Jeffrey left home at the age of 12, overcame many adversities in the early days including losing his parents, brother and sister. 

Listen to Jeffrey underline the importance of gratitude and positive thinking, ‘tap into being grateful for what you have, rather than what you don’t have.’ His story, wisdom and strong messages are exceptional.

Follow Jeffrey at www.jeffreymorgan.com.au 

Meet Mario, my spiritual advisor for the last 36 and a half years. Mario has always been there for me, through many of life obstacles, through my divorce, jail time and when I was in the middle of losing everything. He provided tremendous source of guidance and strength, and all in all, simply a very loyal friend.

Jenna comes from Manchester, UK, in a family of both mum and dad being heavy drinkers. One day she had a burning desire to leave, so she booked a one way ticket to Australia, where she discovered Yoga practice and started on her spiritual journey of inner peace and self discovery. 

Jenna’s message is strong. ‘Learn to cope, or fall victim to life’s struggles’. She chose the former. Jenna sets her mission as to help other people get through life’s struggles, through her own life experience, down to earth yoga training/teaching and holistic health coaching. 

Overcoming the feeling of loneliness, the tremendous move by herself to Australia, losing both Mum and Grandma, there were many obstacles that could not repress her learning experience. Jenna now runs a prodigiously successful business of facilitating private yoga practices and retreats, and recently proposed an online yoga learning program for prisoners in Australia. 

Follow Jenna on her incredible journey at www.jennabrown.com