Nowhere To Go But Up

Sean Dustin
Nowhere To Go But Up

Have you ever hit a bottom in your life? Have you ever been at a point so low that there was nowhere to go but up? If this is you. If you have overcome tough circumstances, or challenging life changing situations. You are in the right place! “Nowhere To Go But Up” was born from my own life experiences. I am a survivor of my own bad decisions, trauma, addiction, narcissism, toxicity, prison, self sabotage and the list goes on and on. One day after over 20 years of struggling with all of the symptoms of a being broken person, in 2010 I decided to change my story.

  1. 04/10/2023

    Embracing Recovery as a Journey, not a Struggle...

    In this podcast episode, Sean Dustin interviews Jack Allen Levine, an addiction specialist, author, and serial entrepreneur. Sean introduces Jack and highlights his success in various businesses. Jack shares his story and mentions that he had a middle-class upbringing with loving parents. At 16, he started smoking and went on to use drugs such as pot, Quaaludes, cocaine, and Percocet. Jack reveals that his addiction didn't lead him to prison, but some of his choices and decisions could have. Despite his struggles with addiction, Jack managed to graduate from Syracuse University and build a successful career in advertising. Jack has embraced the recovery lifestyle and sees it as a journey and adventure, rather than a struggle. He emphasizes the importance of plugging into the recovery lifestyle and having sober friends, and compares addiction recovery to being traded to a different team. He acknowledges that there are emotions that he now feels that he used to mask with drugs, but overall, he feels that his new life is so much better than his old life of addiction. He advises people struggling with addiction not to make promises they may not be able to keep, but instead let their actions speak for them. Jack is also involved with Louisiana Addiction Research Center, which is studying psychedelics as a potential treatment for addiction. He hopes that psychedelics can be a cure for addiction, but acknowledges that it's a long road and that not everyone will be able to afford a trip guide. Moreover, he questions whether it's really a one-time or two-time treatment, or if it's a continuous treatment for the rest of a person's life, in which case it may replace one drug with another. However, Levine believes that if medically assisted treatment such as Suboxone or other treatments keep people alive and able to seek help for their addiction, it's better than having them dead from overdosing. At the end of the day, the most important question is whether a person wants help. Levine believes that there are seven ways out of drug addiction and alcohol addiction, and that there's hope for everybody who wants to recover. Jack and Sean move into a discussion on how mistakes and relapses are not the end of the world in recovery. Levine points out that we should look at our hearts and strive for a gold standard, but not beat ourselves up over mistakes. Instead, we should take it as an opportunity to reassess and see what is not working in our recovery program. Levine stresses the importance of following the recipe for recovery and trusting the advice of people who have been sober for a long time. He emphasizes the need for surrender, which is a sign that someone is ready for recovery, and to follow the advice of those who have been there before. The conversation ends with the idea that the people we may not initially like are usually the ones who will help us the most. Watch the YouTube video here: https://youtu.be/k9ZXHRJwduE Free 30 minute call to talk about your podcast and how I can help you: https://calendly.com/nowheretogobutupnow/30-minute-free-consultation-call You can find Jack A. Levine here: https://www.jackalanlevine.com/ You can find Sean Dustin here: seandustin.com #addiction #recovery

    47 min
  2. 04/04/2023

    The Catholic Church and Sexual Abuse, Two Children's Books, and Anti-Semitism rising in society.

    Mark Bello was a civil justice attorney who primarily dealt with auto accidents, police brutality cases, medical malpractice cases, workers' compensation cases, and helped people fight insurance companies. However, early in his practice, he handled a case where a couple of kids were abused sexually by a Catholic priest, which troubled him deeply, not just because of the priest's actions but because of the way the church behaved, such as transferring offenders, hiding witnesses, covering up prior incidents by the same priest, and avoiding consequences. He promised himself that he would write a book about this, and eventually, he did. Betrayal of Faith, the first book in his legal thriller series, is about a couple of kids who are sexually abused by a priest. The Catholic Church covered up such incidents, transferred predators to communities who didn't know they were predators, and the cycle began all over again. Bello discusses his legal career and how he transitioned to writing fiction and children's books with social justice themes. He explains that he wrote a book about a biracial child who experiences racism and bullying at school and another book about the dangers of texting while driving. The conversation ends in discussing changes in the news media over the years. Mark Bello and Sean Dustin discuss how the news was delivered in the past and how it has changed to become more opinionated and slanted towards specific views. They mention that the news has become more like infotainment rather than a nonfiction account of events. They also talk about the need for accountability in media and the rise of independent media sources. The conversation then moves to politics and the need for politicians to work together for the country rather than fighting over political distinctions. They mention that national politics can be a huge distraction, and it is essential to pay attention to what is happening in your own community where things actually make a difference. You can watch on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/OZaPBUuQCfc You can find Mark here: https://www.markmbello.com/ You can find Sean Dustin here: www.seandustin.com #catholicchurch #sexualabuse #childrensbooks #jews

    46 min
  3. 02/27/2023

    From Grief & Loss to Prison Reentry: A Diverse Discussion with Susan Casey and Sean Dustin

    Susan Casey is a licensed clinical social worker who specializes in grief and loss. She trains therapists around the country on measurement-based care and focuses on grief and loss in her private practice. Susan is also launching a course on the therapeutic benefits of writing through grief and loss. Her interest in this field was sparked after the death of her younger brother in 2014, which was the most catastrophic event in her life. She had written her dissertation on the therapeutic benefits of writing through grief, loss, and trauma long before her brother's death. When her brother passed away, she tested her theory by blogging her way through her grief, which eventually led to her writing a book on sibling loss. Susan interviewed people from around the world who had lost a sibling, and it took her three and a half years to write the book. Additionally, Susan got certified as a bereavement group facilitator and ran bereavement groups at the Center for Grieving Children. Susan believes that grief is not just about the death of a person, but it can also be about the ending of something. For instance, a person can grieve over the end of high school and the start of college. Susan's passion is to work with people who undergo major life transitions, and she feels that people don't talk about grief often because of societal messages that make people feel like they're complaining or whining if they talk about their grief. In response to Sean Dustin's question about how therapists avoid taking their client's traumas or situations home with them, Susan explains that it is a challenge for most therapists because they are empaths and can feel the emotions in the room. It is essential to carry people's stories without feeling weighed down and sad and without taking on the emotions behind their stories. To avoid this, therapists need to intentionally work on setting down their emotions at the end of the day. Susan personally does healthy things like eating well, exercising, and moving the energy through her body to avoid feeling bogged down by the things that happen in the lives of the people who come to her for help. You can watch the YouTube video here: https://youtu.be/mVoUxkG69wo Joe Rogan and Dr. Phil episode:  https://open.spotify.com/episode/6bAfaDJakoQ3bIxLjASyxH?si=812467e495c440ab You Can find Susan here:  https://susanecasey.com/  You Can find Sean Dustin here:  www.seandustin.com   #griefandloss #reentry #recidivism #trauma

    1h 20m

About

Have you ever hit a bottom in your life? Have you ever been at a point so low that there was nowhere to go but up? If this is you. If you have overcome tough circumstances, or challenging life changing situations. You are in the right place! “Nowhere To Go But Up” was born from my own life experiences. I am a survivor of my own bad decisions, trauma, addiction, narcissism, toxicity, prison, self sabotage and the list goes on and on. One day after over 20 years of struggling with all of the symptoms of a being broken person, in 2010 I decided to change my story.

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