Episode 38: Powering the Brain Through Recovery
Buttrfly Effect podcast
Recovery is a brain thing, according to Dave and Susan Kenney, founders of the Emergo Academy, a recovery treatment and education program who describe themselves as "brain upgraders." In their conversation with Host Gail Ferguson Jones, the Kenneys describe their trademarked "Actualized Recovery" approach for replacing the temporary pleasure of addictive substances and behaviors with happier and healthier pursuits. The goal is to help users move beyond sobriety by rewiring the brain to make different choices. You can learn about the Emergo Academy at: Learn more about the Buttrfly Effect Peer...
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Episode 37: How to Handle the Trifecta of Holidays
Buttrfly Effect podcast
This holiday season is often the most challenging for those who love someone struggling with addiction and those who are newly sober. In recovery circles, the celebrations that run from Thanksgiving through Christmas and New Years is referred to as the trifecta of holidays. In this episode, host Gail Ferguson Jones speaks with Kate Duffy, founder of Tipping Point Recovery Inc. and Recovery Conversations, about how families can best address the unique difficulties that might arise during the Yuletide season. Kate is a recovery coach and interventionist who guides families and their addicted...
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Episode 36: Gray Area Drinking. A Slippery Slope
Buttrfly Effect podcast
When it comes to taking that first drink of alcohol, most of us don't expect to get hooked. After all, consuming alcohol is legal and seen as a socially-acceptable way to unwind. However, It's so easy to depend on that nightly cocktail, beer or glass of wine to relax at the end of the day, unwittingly heading into gray area drinking, a slippery slope toward alcoholism. In this episode, Host Gail Ferguson Jones speaks with Meg Geisewite, author of "Intoxicating Lies. One Woman's Journey to Freedom from Gray Area Drinking." She shares how she slipped from normalized drinking to full-blown...
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Episode 35: Prodependency. A Different Perspective
Buttrfly Effect podcast
When loving someone struggling with addiction, it's often hard to see the best in them because of the chaos and confusion they bring into our lives. The situation may also bring out the worst in us. But Dr. Robert Weiss offers a different perspective on such troubling relationships, which he talks about with host Gail Ferguson Jones. Dr. Rob, a licensed therapist for nearly 30 years, has coined the term Prodependence, an approach which encourages loving support for addicts, which he says is preferrable to detachment from them and their problem. He is Chief Clinical Officer of the Seeking...
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Episode 34: Addiction as Infidelity
Buttrfly Effect podcast
One of the most disheartening and confusing aspects of a relationship with someone in active addiction is the loneliness and emotional disconnect. In this episode, Host Gail Ferguson Jones speaks with Marriage and Family Therapist Travis Thompson about the challenges of loving a partner engaged in a "chemical affair" with drugs and alcohol. Travis, author of "To Those Left Behind. Helping Partners and Families Understand and Heal from Addiction," describes alcohol and drug abuse as an emotional affair. He says users tend to engage more with substances than with their partners, just...
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Episode 33: Recovery From Chronic Pain Without Drugs
Buttrfly Effect podcast
Can chronic pain be treated without the prescription drugs that are leading to an epidemic of addiction and death? Guest Elizabeth Kipp says "Yes." Kipp is an Addiction Recovery Coach and author of the book, "The Way Through Chronic Pain. Tools To Reclaim Your Healing Power." In this conversation with host Gail Ferguson Jones, she shares her 40-year struggle with chronic pain and her recovery from pain-pill addiction. Kipp also talks about the many stressors that cause pain and the traumas that feed it, while telling how she learned to live pain-free and recover from opioid addiction. Her book...
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Episode 32: Addictions Rising Post-Pandemic
Buttrfly Effect podcast
There's been a steady climb in addictions since the start of the pandemic in 2020, according to Recovery Coach and Best-Selling Author David Essel, who said studies show alcohol consumption has risen 1,000 percent over the past three years. While alcoholism tops the list of addictions, porn and sex addictions are a close second, said Essel, who through his coaching program offers permanent solutions to all types of addiction. "Video game addiction is out of control," he says, noting a direct link between video games and social media to attention deficit among younger generations. In this...
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Episode 31: Emotional Sobriety in Early Recovery
Buttrfly Effect podcast
What are the early days of recovery like after long-term active addiction? What does it feel like physically and emotionally to try to live free of substances after self-medicating for so long? Host Gail Ferguson Jones gets answers to these questions and more in a conversation with Certified Peer Recovery Coach Kirstin Gourlay, a relapse prevention specialist who has been in long-term recovery for 12 years. Gourlay explains: The three stages of recovery - physical, mental and emotional. The emotional challenges caused by Post Acute Withdrawal Syndrome (PAWS). The importance of having a...
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Episode 30: Boomers and the Risky Use of Drugs and Alcohol
Buttrfly Effect podcast
After a lifetime of casual attitudes toward substance use among baby boomers, their rate of accidential overdoses and alcohol-related deaths are climbing. In this conversation, researcher Alexis Kuerbis explains why. Kuerbis is an Associate Professor at the Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College. Her research speciality is vlunerable polulations who use substances problematically. In this conversation with Host Gail Ferguson Jones, she explains that: Baby boomers are using drugs and alcohol longer into later life than previous generations. Misuse of prescription drugs for...
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Episode 29: Dangers of Teen Marijuana Use
Buttrfly Effect podcast
Did you know marijuana use is a growing cause of suicide among teens? Guest Laura Stack of Johnny's Ambassadors says as more state's legalize recreational use, the potency is reaching dangerous levels and leading to serious mental health issues, especially among youth. Stack's son, Johnny, was an honor student with a promising future who suffered a mental break from marijuana use that led to his suicide. In her conversation with Host Gail Ferguson Jones, Laura explains that: Contrary to popular belief, marijuana is more likely to cause anxiety and emotional distress than to calm or cure it...
info_outlineHost Gail Ferguson Jones talks with guest Caledonia Curry, a multi-media and portraiture artist also known as Swoon. She is a philanthropist and founder of the Heliotrope Foundation, which includes on its board such luminaries as Music Producer Swizz Beatz. In this episode, Callie shares her story of growing up in a dysfunctional family plagued by addiction, the trauma she suffered as a result, and her healing through recovery. Callie uses art and storytelling in her work with prison inmates to assist in their healing. And she rallies other artists in her social justice and job-creation projects in Haiti, Louisiana and Pennsylvania.
For further information about Swoon and her work, check out the following websites: http://www.heliotropefoundation.org; https://swoonstudio.org; https://www.instagram.com/swoonhq
And Caledonia Curry/ Swoon Studio on You Tube.
The Million Person Project at www.millionpersonproject.org.
Gail Ferguson Jones is an awarding-winning journalist, Podcaster, speaker, recovering codependent and certified recovery coach. Her Buttrfly Effect program offers peer-to-peer coaching, specializing in recovery from codependency. To learn more, subscribe to her newsletter at www.buttrflyeffect.com or contact her at [email protected].
Books referenced in this episode: "In The Realm of Hungry Ghosts," By Gabor Mate; "The Body Keeps The Score," by Bessel van der Kolk; and "Trauma and Recovery," by Judith Lewis Herman.
Music for The Buttrfly Effect Podcast, "Inspire Me," by Mixaund at https://www.mixaundbandcamp.com.