Recovery Dialogues and Sober Stories

Antonio Matta
  • 5.0 (5)
  • MENTAL HEALTH
  • UPDATED MONTHLY

Recovery Dialogues & Sober Stories (RDSS) is a mental health and addiction recovery podcast hosted by Antonio Matta that explores recovery as more than symptom management—it’s a self-directed process of reaching your potential through deliberate life changes. Each episode connects lived experience and clinical insight while confronting cultural and systemic forces shaping who gets well and why. RDSS is where compassion meets clarity and conversations challenge assumptions, surface overlooked truths, and build momentum to stay.

  1. Building an Addiction Treatment System That Works (with Dr. Suzette Glasner)

    10/10/2025

    Building an Addiction Treatment System That Works (with Dr. Suzette Glasner)

    UCLA addiction scientist Dr. Suzette Glasner joins Antonio to turn recovery from a rare headline into routine care—how to scale MOUD access, bring families into treatment, and fix the metrics that fail patients. Building on her exclusive conversation with Beverly Vance Aikins (Vice President JD Vance’s mother), she lays out urgent, evidence-based steps to make treatment accessible, humane, and effective.

    44 min
  2. Rewiring Recovery - Tools, Truth, and Hope

    09/20/2025

    Rewiring Recovery - Tools, Truth, and Hope

    Recovery isn’t a montage. In this Recovery Month episode, Antonio Matta names the Paradox of Control and the quiet shift toward nonlinear, pace-yourself healing—then models a brief “Dear Day-One Me” note and walks through five 10-minute neuroplasticity tools (Timer, Tactile, Breath, Words, Walk) you can use today. Skeptical? This blend of lived experience and evidence offers a kinder map, immediate felt wins, and proof that recovery is emphatically—and undeniably—possible.

    15 min
  3. How Does EMDR Work?

    09/07/2025

    How Does EMDR Work?

    Curious about EMDR beyond the hype? Antonio Matta breaks down what actually happens before and during reprocessing, tackles five real community questions—from safety and side effects to complex PTSD, dissociation, and addiction—and weaves therapist Victoria De Paula’s (www.victoriadepaula.com) insights to separate myths from evidence. No prescriptions here, just clear, research-backed guidance so you can decide whether EMDR is worth considering.

    13 min
  4. When "Trying Everything" Still Hurts

    08/29/2025

    When "Trying Everything" Still Hurts

    A private letter arrived that mirrors my own season of struggle, so I explore what it means to “try everything” and still feel alone—while honoring the writer’s boundaries and the power of consent. This solo conversation is my public response to that pain, meant for the listener who wrote in (and anyone who hears themselves here), offering one steady, self-directed step instead of a shiny fix. If you’re stuck between effort and relief, this episode makes room for both the ache and the way forward.

    11 min
  5. Skilled Trades for Recovery (The Follow Up Bonus Mini)

    08/15/2025

    Skilled Trades for Recovery (The Follow Up Bonus Mini)

    A returning sponsor sparks a timely conversation about how meaningful work can anchor recovery. Antonio explores the link between employment, mental health, and housing needs, drawing from real voices in online forums and evidence-based models like Individual Placement and Support. From the skilled trades to any role that offers purpose, structure, and fair pay, this episode asks: Who gets to build—and how can building help us heal?

    9 min
  6. How the Skilled Trades Can Fortify Recovery

    08/07/2025

    How the Skilled Trades Can Fortify Recovery

    Can building with your hands rebuild your mind? This episode explores how trades like carpentry, welding, and plumbing offer a path to mental health recovery. Antonio Matta and Christopher Pollock of TheraVize uncover how hands-on work—with its structure, skill mastery, and tangible results—reduces depression and anxiety, and boosts self-efficacy. Hear stories of transformation and learn how organizations can create safe environments that turn a job into a healing journey.

    10 min
  7. Coping with Overwhelm and Low Mood in Recovery

    08/01/2025

    Coping with Overwhelm and Low Mood in Recovery

    Feeling overwhelmed or persistently down in your recovery journey? You're not alone. Antonio Matta explores how emotional overwhelm and low moods can impact recovery, featuring therapist Erica Schwartzberg from Downtown Somatic Therapy, NYC, who shares mindfulness-based, somatic strategies to ground yourself, navigate intense feelings, and build resilience without judgment.

    11 min
  8. The Evolutionary Psychology of Pain and Protection

    07/18/2025

    The Evolutionary Psychology of Pain and Protection

    Why do we shut down when we’re hurting—and why do we sometimes blame others for the pain we can’t face in ourselves? In this solo episode, Antonio Matta delves into the evolutionary origins of two common defense mechanisms: withdrawal and projection. Through research, reflection, and the wisdom of recovery, we learn how ancient survival strategies still shape our emotional lives—and how self-awareness can begin to set us free.

    19 min
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
5 Ratings

About

Recovery Dialogues & Sober Stories (RDSS) is a mental health and addiction recovery podcast hosted by Antonio Matta that explores recovery as more than symptom management—it’s a self-directed process of reaching your potential through deliberate life changes. Each episode connects lived experience and clinical insight while confronting cultural and systemic forces shaping who gets well and why. RDSS is where compassion meets clarity and conversations challenge assumptions, surface overlooked truths, and build momentum to stay.

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