It was in the genes, but it hit hard and fast. A natural mother the fear of losing her kids led grudgingly to rehab. Still not believing she had a problem; angry and unhappy she drank again. After getting sober and working a program again for several years her reaction to health problems led to another relapse. Shortly after that relapse she sobered up again but this time with daily meeting and good sponsorship. Meanwhile she manages to finish a master’s degree in counseling and get a job. Diagnosed with cancer in 2020 she drank again but this time she found out about living one day at a time and faced her feeling of valuelessness. She decided that she loved herself more than her old friend alcohol. 

Join us as we talk with our friend Nick about his recovery journey, professional evolution and expereince in the behavioral healthcare industry. Nick runs a treatment facility, has an intimate relationship with recovery and has a real job ahead to imprint his treatment and management style on an existing facility and philosophy. Let’s get an inside look at Nick’s challenges and successes in this competitive arena.

His story spans decades; his job as an AP photojournalist took him to many places in the country and the world; often gone for weeks. His family missed his presence and his wife and he became increasingly estranged. Her genetics took her to her coping skill of choice; drinking. For years her drinking was hidden until it couldn’t be hidden any longer. She had been a closet drinker, convincing the kids that her drinking was her husband’s fault. Lee felt horribly guilty which led him to find Al Anon which he says today saved his life.   Thu, 12 April 2018

He grew up in what is now Silicon Valley to a hard working business family. He was always the black sheep but never doubted his strong Catholic roots and excellent parochial education. He would tell you that he was an alcoholic from his first drink but that the disease took a long and winding road. He spent many years running the family business, working 100 hour weeks and trying to raise four kids while doing very little drinking. As the kids grew up and the business learned to run itself Mike took the liberty of reintroducing himself to heavy drinking and within a few years was drinking to stay normal. Whether miracle, good values or God directed coincidence, one momentous night he got on the phone and landed in the lap of Betty Ford. Mike’s been around about 8 years and still has a few wrinkles but he’s working on them. Sun, 5 November 2017

She grew up conservative and religious in a small Texas town. The good girl to the core She always did the right thing and nevvvvver disappointed her Mom. A good education, some grace and maybe a little luck and she was working a dream job and married a dream man. Years later her son got into drugs and landed in rehab which landed Kay in Al Anon A few years later she and her husband divorced but not before he also found recovery. Al Anon started, for Kay a long and difficult path to find her own spiritual path. She and her son laugh together today that his addiction got HER healthy.

Ann B. shares her story of adventure and recovery!  Fri, 2 June 2017

A second generation Irishman felt the shame from his grandfather’s alcoholism through his Mom. A good kid growing up in a religious family he always looked down on alcoholics and alcoholism. He always thought that if he drank “like that” it would kill his Mom. Irish Catholic guilt kept him out of the booze through college, the Navy and into his early career. Coke and weed were somehow OK but it wasn’t until his Mom died that the wheels came off. He made a run at sobriety through AA after an intervention and lasted almost exactly a year until he “decided to have a drink”. No more than days later laying in a hospital bed not knowing what happened he decided to get serious about sobriety. He’s been “Gung-Ho” ever since. Wed, 20 April 2016

Nicole was a good kid.... She was more concerned about your feelings than her own. She wanted to make everyone else comfortable, but as it turns out... At her own expense.  Her first experience with death was at age two, and although she didn't remember it, the incident changed her family forever.  Her second experience was as the result of giving to others, and the third was a result of physical abuse.  Finally seeing the pattern and knowing that getting things in perspective was a matter of life and death, she found co-dependents anonymous (CODA) and began to change. Tune in to hear her gut wrenching story of recovery.   Tue, 4 August 2015

Nurse Jack has been a guest on the show in the past and as a result of some recent listener questions we decided to ask him back to finish the story.  Nursing and narcotics addiction do not go well together and “Jack” got in big trouble both legally and professionally.  “Jack” talks about not only his downward spiral and ultimate crash but his tangled and bureaucratic way back to nursing and an unencumbered license.  Although eight years past the events that led to his nursing board requirements and nearly as many years of sobriety he’s finding himself still having to “prove up”.  Join us to hear how “Jack” is handling the medical peer assistance maze.  Also, go to "Nurse Jack" in the archives to hear his first show.   Tue, 21 April 2015

He was the second youngest of five, born unexpectedly at home.  After the first two kids Mom didn’t have much left and Eric was the favored one raised mostly by his oldest sister. He did what he wanted and ran the streets of Queens from an early age.  He quickly graduated to what he called a “hoodlum”; drinking, using drugs and stealing.  His family’s dysfunction and his “bad” behavior bought him shame and shame bought him more drug use.  A drug treatment, a marriage of convenience and a life of lies bought him multiple relapses and a life on the street.  A number of tries at recovery including an attempted geographical cure resulted in relapse after relapse.  Finally when he was able to repair his shameful past he was able to get clean and sober.  Join us to hear Eric’s story. Wed, 15 April 2015

Patrick grew up on the near West side in a good Italian neighborhood; Dad a cop and part time jewel thief and Mom a hard working patronage employee.  By sixth grade he stopped caring about school and by high school his uncle bribed him into graduation with a ½ oz. of coke to the guidance counselor.  He got a no-show job like lots of kids in the neighborhood but quickly moved up to driving for some much older and criminally serious people.  Drugs ended his gangster career and he started a new career selling and using meth.  Medical issues interfered with the meth but other drugs and drinking replaced it until rehab in 2013.  A relapse, several battery charges and 104 days in jail convinced him to clean up.  He’ll tell you how he found out that redemption can take place while you’re still above ground and breathing.   Wed, 15 April 2015