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196 - Starting an Addiction During College

Release Date: 11/04/2021

199 - How to stay sober during the holidays

Real Recovery Talk

The holiday season is here upon us. This can be tough for those who are in early recovery, especially being with family. Along with family comes a lot of emotions. You may have indulged in drugs and alcohol to get through previous holidays to get yourself through this time. Now, however; you are sober and you’ll need to put new tools in your toolbox to move through the holidays sober. The big question I’m going to discuss today: How can we go into the holiday season and be sure we will be OK when we get out the other side? Don’t go into the holiday season with the idea that this will be...

198 - Addicted to Meth - Devin shares his story

Real Recovery Talk

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197 - Getting Hooked On (and Off) Drugs and Drink

Real Recovery Talk

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196 - Starting an Addiction During College

Real Recovery Talk

“I have a place that I was comfortable with that I was already a part of for my recovery.” -Reed Today, Ben and I chatted with Reed, who tells his story about how his addiction started in college. Raised locally in Palm Beach Gardens, Reed had a good life growing up with loving parents who gave him many opportunities in life. However, with his parents being conservative regarding drinking, Reed didn’t get drugs and alcohol from his parents. Experimenting with Drugs While in high school, Reed did drink and smoke weed, but drugs and alcohol weren’t a big problem at this point in...

195 - Healing Trauma to Break Free From Addiction

Real Recovery Talk

“Life continues to show up, whether you want to be a part of it or not.” -Natalie Today, Ben and I chatted with Natalie, who endured horrible abuse as a small girl that gave her immense amounts of childhood trauma that ended up turning into a drug and alcohol addiction as a teen. Listen in to discover how Natalie overcame her addiction by healing her emotional wounds as an adult. Her Early Years Traumatized as a Child At the age of eight, Natalie was sexually molested and started drinking at the age of 14. As her disease progressed, she started using Zanax and was arrested at 17 and put on...

194 - Sher Canada Gets Her Life Back at Age 58

Real Recovery Talk

“You’ve got to surrender - I came here and gave it all up to you.” -Sher Today, Ben and I chatted with Sher Canada, a former client at Rock Recovery Center. We could tell that she was someone special shortly after she arrived at Rock Recovery. In our interview with Sher, you’ll find out how addicts can recover into an exciting life with a purpose and not have to live their sober days bored and complacent. Early Life with an Alcoholic Mother When she was young, Sher discovered the slew of alcohol bottles her mom hid in their bathroom. She remembers almost being killed in car...

193 - Vince has been to 10+ treatment centers - What will be different this time?

Real Recovery Talk

In today's episode, Ben and I talk with Vince, a 25-year-old recovering addict from Philadelphia. He stole a bottle of vodka and drank the entire bottle in sixth grade. In the summer of his freshman year of high school, Vince started smoking pot. Cocaine became a weekend sports celebration during his junior year of high school. Vince became an addict after his team coach gave him a prescription narcotic drug in his second college year. Vince was involved in sports as early as he could remember. His family consisted of three sisters, one of the older and two of them younger than him. Both of...

192 - Growing up in Manhattan- Selling drugs and living a lifestyle of destruction- Tom Fabricitore shares his story

Real Recovery Talk

“What alcohol was doing for me outlaid what it was doing to me.” --Tom Today, Ben and I are talking to Tom, who works in the recovery field. Born and raised in downtown Manhattan, he became a drug dealer and eventually became sober from drugs and alcohol. He has been on the road to recovery for the past seven years. Starting the Drinking Habit at Age 10 Born and raised in New York City, Tom grew up in abusive family life, reflected in his poor behavior at school. Feeling like something was missing in his life, he discovered that alcohol filled that void at 10. From the beginning, Tom drank...

191 - Al Dutzik- The Real Deal Alcoholic- The importance of community and benefits of Sober Living

Real Recovery Talk

“’Alcohol was the substance I just could not go without - I felt safe with alcohol.” -Al Today, Ben and I are talking to Al, a native of Pittsburgh, who is sharing with us today his journey and what he did to become sober. He talks with us about Foundations - a program that provides housing for men moving through their journey of sobriety. His First Experiences with Alcohol At the age of 16, Al found a bottle of homemade wine in the basement of his home and decided to try it. When he drank, Al noticed that he didn’t feel embarrassment, a common emotion he would have in public. “It...

190 - The First 30 Days of Treatment

Real Recovery Talk

Here we are with Real Recovery Talk! Do you know someone who is considering going to a treatment facility for up to 30 days? Today, I’m going to talk about how you most likely won’t be cured by going to treatment for 30 days. There are a few people who have been successful after just 30 days; however, they are few and far between. The first day of treatment consists of detox, which generally ranges from day one to day seven. Detox can vary from one to fourteen days, depending on the individual and specific variables. Variables that can affect the length of detox are the types of drugs you...

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“I have a place that I was comfortable with that I was already a part of for my recovery.” -Reed

Today, Ben and I chatted with Reed, who tells his story about how his addiction started in college. Raised locally in Palm Beach Gardens, Reed had a good life growing up with loving parents who gave him many opportunities in life. However, with his parents being conservative regarding drinking, Reed didn’t get drugs and alcohol from his parents.

Experimenting with Drugs

While in high school, Reed did drink and smoke weed, but drugs and alcohol weren’t a big problem at this point in his life. However, when he went to the University of Mississippi, he started to heavily get into drugs and alcohol. In his second year at university, his roommate sold multiple forms of hard drugs.

With easy access to drugs and alcohol, it was easy for Reed to become addicted to his personality. “That opened the door of my first year of solid, heavy drug use.” When his house was raided by the DEA, and his roommate passed away from an overdose, Reed was charged, went to jail, and left school.

Talking to Your Kids About Drugs and Alcohol

Reed agrees with us when we talk about being overly strict with your kids about drugs and alcohol, especially in teen years. Instead of telling them not to do anything, be open and frank with your children and have discussions with them about the adverse effects of drugs and alcohol.

When kids aren’t allowed to do anything and have a very restrictive home life, they will generally go out and start to party hard out of control because they were too sheltered in high school.

Check out our website, where you can download episodes with helpful information for those in recovery and their families. Share this podcast with a friend and leave us a review!

Show Highlights

[06:04] Starting by experimenting with drugs and alcohol during his high school years.

[09:48] Reed’s progression from college drinking and drugs to DEA raids.

[21:27] Why being a helicopter parent can persuade your kids to do drugs.

[32:19] Entering into his first treatment program.

[41:27] Needing a geographical change depends on your home life.

[50:11] We discuss the pros and cons of methadone.

[57:46] Speaking to other through AA to educate college students on drugs and alcohol.

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