Real Recovery Talk Tom Conrad: Addiction Recovery Podcaster

“In every single way, my sobriety has become a blessing for me.” -Sean, Rock Recovery Center
I have a guest today, Sean, who is from Long Island, New York. He came to our recovery center eight years ago for thirty days and decided to become a resident of Florida. We talk about Sean’s stage character, how he dropped his walls, and his process of recovery.
Two days before he came to Rock Recovery Center, Sean remembers “almost drinking myself to death. Everything was dark in my life. I didn’t see a way out, and 99% of my thinking had to involve some sort of alcohol. I was losing my health, my wife and children, borderline diabetes with more than 120 pounds extra weight.” He was Baker Acted after police came to his house because they received a call and thought he was going to hurt himself.
When he returned from the hospital, he talked with his wife. In this conversation, he was yelling at her, then had a moment of clarity. The next day, he told his wife he needed help. Although he realized he needed help, he was adamant about not participating in a 12 Step Program as he didn’t think it would work for him. When Sean landed in Florida for his first day of recovery, he felt he would erase over two decades of drinking in 29 days.
In his first AA meeting, he didn’t let any of the conversations in his head. He was 100% sure that this program wouldn’t work for him. He created a calendar with 29 days to cross off until he went home. At the time he had six “x” marks on his calendar, he understood the fellowship of AA. “The lower your bottom, the higher your hope.” He heard others who had much worse situations with addiction tell their stories of hope. “They were talking about how wonderful and amazing their lives were. If they could do it, I could do it! That little mustard seed of hope, that little bit of open-mindedness cracked open. Once it cracked open, it was off to the races.”
Listen in to find out how Sean realized he had a problem with alcohol, why he owes a debt of gratitude to the friend who told his wife details about his alcoholism, and why he thought he could “think his way through this” because of his education as a health coach. Learn how Sean views his recovery process today, how he came to the realization that he had to let the program process “in,” and why prayer has made a significant difference in his life.
Check out my new website where you can download any episode right from my site along with other useful information for those in recovery.
Share this podcast with a friend and leave us a review! Show Notes:
[04:34] Sean’s story of how and why he came to Rock Recovery Center. [07:34] What woke Sean up to his reality was a “look” he got from his then wife. [09:29] His first day of recovery at Rock Recovery Center. [11:33] Ben talks about his witness with Sean’s process.  [13:30] Sean says, “I was without a doubt, a polished up garbage can.” [18:18] He saw the pain and sadness in his wife’s eyes. [20:55] The key people in his life that influenced Sean to go to recovery. [22:55] For twenty years he tried to break the cycle of alcoholism on his own. [24:32] What factors changed Sean to stop drinking and how he views his recovery process today. [25:33] The day he decided to start praying, he has prayed everyday since and hasn’t missed a day. [27:06] His experience in outpatient treatment after his inpatient time at the recovery center.  [33:23] When Sean realized his new “normal” in his life.   [37:27] How the community we build around us will directly affect your level of success. [41:10] Sean getting in with the “old timers” who had been sober for many years.  [45:08] His old company rehires him and he was able to stay away from alcohol on the job and how his sobriety has made him stronger. [48:58] “There’s a lot of respect for my sobriet

Set some friggin boundaries please

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Having a loved one with addiction problems can be a very stressful situation. Often times we try and navigate this path on our own and think that we know what’s best for our loved one. When we can understand that we do not know what’s best for them and we can finally reach out for help is when the real healing starts to happen.

I have a guest today, Maggie, from Pittsburgh, who has come forward to share her story with us. This is the third time she has been in recovery from alcoholism and is going to tell her story of her past, her present, and where she plans on taking her life in the future.
Maggie is in our program at Rock Recovery Center. She is 25 years old and started drinking 13 years ago as a result of trying to keep up with her two older brothers. The crack head down the street would go and buy them alcohol in exchange for watching her child when she was gone. Since their parents were out working a lot, her friends and her brothers' friends would come over to their house and party after school in their backyard pool. They would clean up their mess and then go to a park or another location to continue to party.
She started high school at a Catholic High School, failed 9th grade. Her parents moved to a better area of Pennsylvania, and she was in a new school that was bigger than her old school. In the IMPACT program and not knowing any students in her new school, Maggie gravitated towards the "druggie kids" as they were her classmates. Maggie started doing several different types of drugs when she started going to RAVE clubs. She then got into a car accident, flew through the windshield, and was hospitalized with reconstructive surgery to her face.
After high school, she became a bartender and started doing cocaine and Adderall to keep going throughout the day. She was hardly sleeping and felt that she was cool because she was only 18 but was able to be at the bar all day and night. At 21, she was drinking all night and ended up in a stranger's bed. Her friends were concerned with her safety. She realized at this point that she had a problem.
Listen in to find out why she mixed Adderall, cocaine, and alcohol to get through her day, how she had blackouts and would sleep with strangers, and why she always had to drink alcohol, even while studying for college. Learn how Maggie broke down and finally called a rehab, how she had an affair with a male married nurse at another facility, and what led to Maggie's relapse after her first rehab.
Check out my new website where you can download any episode right from my site along with other useful information for those in recovery.
Share this podcast with a friend and leave us a review! Show Notes:
[04:22] Maggie shares her story of her past and how she became alcoholic. [07:47] Her Catholic high school and her friend groups in school.  [09:59] She started drinking and smoking weed at 12 years of age. [11:54] How Maggie started going to RAVE clubs and doing drugs. [15:02] Her parents were in denial of the situation. [19:17] Maggie, at age 21, would end up drinking and ending up in a stranger’s bed.  [22:40] She decided to go to school full-time as a paralegal. [24:58] Her transition from bartender to full-time paralegal. [26:56] The first time Maggie sought treatment and her experience. [31:34] Maggie’s first sponsor for her first outpatient. [34:47] Her bouts with depression, how she felt unsettled again.  [38:23] How Maggie came to Real Rock Recovery Center. [42:49] Differences between her home rehab and Florida rehab. [47:05] What Maggie thinks about her new sober lifestyle.  [49:47] How Maggie sees her new future in Florida. [52:01] Why working for her sobriety makes a significant difference in her recovery. Episode Links and Resources
Real Recovery Live Chat Real Recovery Talk on the Web Real Recovery Talk on YouTube Leave Real Recovery Talk a review on iTunes Rock Recovery Center Real Recovery Talk on Facebook Ideas for a show? Email us tom@realrecoverytalk.com and ben@realrecoverytalk.com

Ben and I have two guests today who are sharing their experience with their current recovery experience concerning their past recovery experiences. We will talk to Dakota and Chris about what had impacted them from when they started their sobriety journey to where their journey is taking them in the future. My guests will also talk about how their hard work has paid off, and benefits sobriety has brought to their lives.
Dakota was addicted to heroin and has been sober for a year at the end of May. Chris is 21 years old, has been to nine treatment centers. His addiction was cocaine, and he has been sober for eight months. Both men have been to multiple treatment centers to achieve sobriety.
Dakota woke up one day at age 19 and didn’t want to live anymore. “That feeling that I had inside that I didn’t want to live anymore is the worst bottom I’ve ever had.” Originally going to treatment to get off opiates, Dakota still planned on drinking and smoking marijuana. He watched his situation worsen over time. “I had to get beaten down so bad that I became willing to do whatever it took to stay sober off everything.” He didn’t understand the steps he had to take to get sober. After several years of treatment, Dakota realized that he would have to go entirely off all drugs to be successful in his treatment.
Chris has been through three previous treatment centers and is 30 years of age. A drug user since the age of 15, with the most substantial amount of clean time at seven months, much of that time being spent in jail. He pushed everyone out of his life as he only wanted to be with drugs and alcohol. “I basically messed up my life so bad, I lost about everything, I was barely holding on to a job.” In 2018 he decided that drugs and alcohol were a problem. He felt bankrupt not only financially but emotionally and spiritually. In his first attempt at Rock Recovery, he relapsed after 45 days, drank for three days straight. This confirmed to Chris his problem with alcoholism.  
Listen in to find out how being alcoholic can become a habit, why Chris felt his alcoholism was on auto-pilot, why having positive habits is a vital ingredient to sobriety. Learn why addicts can’t just stop doing drugs and alcohol, the struggles Chris and Dakota have faced in their recovery and how hard both clients have had to fight to become sober.
Check out my new website where you can download any episode right from my site along with other useful information for those in recovery.
Share this podcast with a friend and leave us a review! Show Notes:
[04:32] Dakota shares his previous treatment center experiences.  [07:20] See link below to hear Dakota’s entire story on episode 80. [11:40] Chris talks about his addiction and relapse experience.  [14:06] He decides he is an alcoholic after a three-day relapse spent drinking. [16:18] Chris didn’t know what to do when he was done work, so he chose to drink.  [17:47] Find out why addicts can’t “just stop doing drugs and alcohol”.  [21:37] Advice Dakota gives to others who are starting their journey to sobriety.  [25:27] How he has gotten through rough times, especially with COVID-19 [26:30] How Chris’ situation is different for him now that he is sober. [27:48] Why having a sober support community has impacted both clients’ sobriety. [29:24] Helping other addicts helps those with addiction stay sober. Episode Links and Resources
Real Recovery Live Chat Real Recovery Talk on the Web Real Recovery Talk on YouTube Leave Real Recovery Talk a review on iTunes Rock Recovery Center Real Recovery Talk on Facebook Ideas for a show? Email us tom@realrecoverytalk.com and ben@realrecoverytalk.com Listen to Dakota tell his story in Episode 80

Ben and I have a guest with us today who is a patient at Rock Recovery Center. Mathew K, our special guest, shares his history and experience with recovery from alcohol addiction. Matt has been in several different types of treatment several times over the past five years. We discuss Matt’s past wins, mistakes, and his past history related to his addiction.
Currently, in his mid-30’s, he started drinking at age 14 and his first use of drugs at age 15. His earliest childhood memories at the age of five were of a work-oriented father who wasn’t present and gave Matt constant negative feedback and a mother who was giving. Several times his father would come home drunk and have arguments with his mom, which is the reason Matt remembers feelings of being protective of his mother. He played several sports and remembered his grandparents watching his games. School was a safe place for Matt as he was an outstanding athlete and received good grades, until his junior year in high school.
When drinking, Matt felt that he was free, and his state of being drunk made the world feel like it was slowing down. His alcoholism progressed with his junior and senior years when he quit sports, found a job, and bought a car. Additionally, he was friends with many of the cheerleaders and sports jocks who liked to throw parties. Known as “the party guy,” he held parties on his property as his parents had a large property with land, which he would host parties on frequently.
By the time he was out of high school, he had identified with being the bartender. He would boast he could “drink like his dad.” Like a badge of honor, this was a sense of accomplishment and entrance into manhood. He was continually trying to “one-up” himself drinking.
He realized at the age of 25 that he had become an alcoholic. Even though his friends pointed out he had become alcoholic, he would respond with “alcoholics go to meetings.” About four years ago, he had to time out how often he needed to drink so he wouldn’t get the shakes. Matt avoided drinking during his workday as a pizza delivery associate because he didn’t want to be drunk and kill someone drunk driving.
His drinking, bad eating habits, and smoking ended him up in the hospital with pancreatitis at the age of 30. Since then, he has been hospitalized 15 times for pancreatitis. His liver and pancreas are so weakened that he will die from pancreatitis or liver shutdown if he continues to drink.
Listen in to find out when Matt sought out treatment for alcoholism, his residential rehab experiences, and the different programs he went through during the past five years. Learn why he couldn’t stand to be in his first treatment program, and what his criteria are for being successful at a rehabilitation clinic.
Check out my new website where you can download any episode right from my site along with other useful information for those in recovery.
Share this podcast with a friend and leave us a review! Show Notes:
[05:34] Matt shares his history of addiction with Ben and I. [09:32] How Matt reacted and dealt with his dad’s drinking at a very young age. [11:44] Alcoholism paving the way for Matt to have trauma related to his dad’s drinking.  [13:06] Neurological aspects of alcohol addiction.  [14:18] Matt’s first experience getting drunk involved eating pizza with cigarettes on top. [18:34] His road to alcoholism starting in his junior year of high school. [19:33] When Matt did eight shots twice, then kept drinking and blacked out in the snow. [23:14] Upholding drinking as a badge of honor, this was a sense of accomplishment and entrance into manhood. [24:15] When Matt realized he had become an alcoholic. [26:30] The reason he went into treatment was because he had pancreatitis. [29:41] Why Matt has been hospitalized 15 times in five years. [32:01] Matt’s attempt at drinking