The Addicted Mind Podcast Duane Osterlind, LMFT

Duane talks to author Marques Marchand about addiction, dual diagnoses, and understanding your past. Christmas 2009, Marques was working at a restaurant and woke up with flu-like symptoms. He hit rock bottom a year later, and decided to quit everything cold, right after Thanksgiving. He struggled to keep friendships and work, and eventually he snapped. From 2006-2010, he sought mental health advice from therapists.

On today’s episode of The Addicted Mind Podcast, Duane sits down with Tracy Kenela about “calming the chaos” and creating peace and calm in our lives.

Therapist and podcast host, Tracy discusses how she came to start studying “overwhelm” as a psychological concept. An expert in chaos, Tracy explains how chaotic factors contribute to our being overwhelmed.

On today’s episode of The Addicted Mind Podcast, Duane sits down with Dr. Robb Kelly to discuss alcohol and opioid addiction.
Educated at Oxford, he drank through most of school. He was fired from his job as a police officer, which made him realize that his drinking was problematic. Unfortunately for Robb, it would take him losing everything to finally course correct.
Robb realized that the alcoholic mind preys on you. Toward his own story, he talks about committing suicide four times, two of which his heart actually stopped.
Calming The Addicted Mind - 6 Day Mindfulness Email Series

theaddictedmind.com/mindfulness
At his most broken moment, he started crying and realized that he couldn’t get over the alcohol on his own. He knew there was something different, which got him interested in neuroscience.
He knows that he was born with the addictive brain, and he has to be careful about his relationships as a result.
Join The Addicted Mind Podcast Facebook Group>>>
Robb talks about how his brain is wired differently, and the key to his success was realizing that. He started to notice the symptoms of alcoholism when he would buy a bottle and he immediately felt better. “For the alcoholic, the brain is telling them that they need alcohol to survive,” Robb says.
In his research, Robb found that we can change the way that we think. The neuroplasticity of the brain allows us to redirect our thoughts. We can literally change the direction of our most damning thoughts.
Robb also damns the medical research community for not prioritizing treatment of the disease. He says there’s no money in it and so the disease persists.
Moving to neuro-linguistic programming, Robb explains the role it plays in the addict’s mind. Back in the tribal days, Robb explains, a primal feeling used to wake cavemen up. But now, we don’t really listen to that feeling because we are driven by fear.
If you think you can’t do something, Robb says, someone put that there. And it’s not true. If you can’t visualize it, you can’t make it happen. You have to manipulate your brain to break down those barriers. “I don’t say ‘impossible’—I say, ‘I’m possible.’”
We don’t see ourselves as others see us, Robb argues, and if we did, we’d be able to do anything. You have to actually believe that your mindset is important. And stop living in fear.
Episode Link
theaddictedmind.com/105
Toward the end, Robb shares a story about visiting his friend and famed chef, Gordon Ramsay. At one point after dinner, Ramsay turned to Robb and asked, “do you know why I’m the best chef in the world?” Robb answered: “because you’re a damned good cook?” Ramsay replied, “because I tell everybody.”
There is so much importance in finding the people who live the life you want. They will inspire and propel you forward. Even through tragedy and difficulty, Duane says, it’s all in the mindset. And in the end, Robb says, you need to just take the first step.

On today’s episode of The Addicted Mind Podcast, Duane talks with Daniel Snyder about decriminalizing drugs, the opioid crisis, and dealing with addiction.

In today’s episode, Georgia-based counselor Eddie Capparucci talks about his personal experience with addiction and how to recovery from sex and porn addiction. He also talks about the impact of fears of abandonment and how that drives sexually destructive behavior.

Jumping into the idea of the inner child, Eddie explains that children make up for not being seen by creating new realities in their minds. Playing out fantasies in their heads is part of how they cope with abandonment.

On today’s episode of The Addicted Mind Podcast, Duane talks with author Benjamin Hardy about his personal experience with addiction and the chaos that comes along with it. Benjamin describes the process overcoming his own addictions involved going through a “redemptive process,” which involved forgiving his father and rebuilding the relationship there. With trauma, you’re always looking in the rear-view mirror, but you need to make meaning going forward. Meaning is not going to strike you—you have to make it yourself. The beauty of this is that you can change the meaning of your past, Benjamin says. It’s key to have empathy for your old self.
Calming The Addicted Mind - 6 Day Mindfulness Email Series

theaddictedmind.com/mindfulness
Benjamin also talks about how writing about your trauma can really help. Turning away from the past, you can have hope for the future. Without a hope for the future, Benjamin says, the present becomes meaningless. You can also choose to ascribe a meaning to your past. We call it “meaning-making,” Benjamin says. Part of becoming emotionally-developed includes this idea of choosing the meaning of your past.
Join The Addicted Mind Podcast Facebook Group>>>
He shares a story about how you can actively work to a solution for something that didn’t go exactly how you planned instead of snapping to a quick decision. You can choose to frame it in a new way instead of being defined by a failure. Choosing the meaning going forward can change how you store that forever. In his story, Benjamin points to the fact that he was vulnerable enough to share his feelings with the people in question as part of the process.
Episode Link
theaddictedmind.com/102
Moving onto his book, Benjamin unpacks the idea that your personality is going to change, and that you have the power to choose who you want to be in the future. Your personality is just how you consistently show up. It’s crucial to have your identity based on who you actually want to be in the future. The same courage that moves you to say “I need help” is the courage it takes to tell people who you want to be in the future. It takes courage, as Benjamin says, because it’s uncertain. You’ll realize you might be rejected, but that you also need to do some “rejecting” to get you where you ultimately want to be. When you are open and honest, nothing is hiding anymore.