Recovery Road
258 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 1 year ago - ★★★★★ - 54 ratingsWelcome to Recovery Road, a podcast from Hazelden Publishing. Here you'll find the best thoughts, excerpts, and reflections from our most popular resources. These words, feelings, and insights from world-renowned authors have helped millions of people conquer substance use disorder so they can live their best lives. What's in these podcasts represents the best of the best—and we present them here for inspiration on your journey. Now more than ever, we need to find the calm in the chaos, stay focused on self-care, and remain on our path to long-term recovery. Remember, you are not alone. We are all in this together. So join us each day here on Recovery Road.
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Episodes
Sex and Recovery: Telling the Truth Together
October 14, 2021 05:30 - 9 minutes - 13.5 MBIn her book Sex in Recovery: A Meeting Between the Covers, Jennifer Matesa argues that the language and practices of recovery are as appropriate to the bedroom as they are to the church basement meeting. Just like every other aspect of our recovering life, we're invited to approach sex and intimacy with courageous self-examination and humble honesty.
How People Change: Six Stages of Transformation
October 11, 2021 05:30 - 10 minutes - 15.2 MBIn her book Addict in the Family: Support Through Loss, Hope, and Recovery, Beverly Conyers offers important lessons on love, detachment, and self-care for families who are dealing with addiction and codependency. This excerpt is for anyone who wants to understand how people change and what progress in recovery - or any significant life transformation - can look like.
Begin with Yourself: Loving-Kindness for Life in Recovery
October 07, 2021 05:30 - 9 minutes - 14.1 MBIn her book A Kinder Voice: Releasing Your Inner Critics with Mindfulness Slogans, Thérèse Jacobs-Stewart shares tools for calming a self-critical mind. This excerpt introduces a Tibetan breathing meditation called tonglen. We can use this practice to develop more compassion and become willing to send as well as receive love and kindness in our lives.
Stay on the Sobriety Highway by Mapping the Route
October 04, 2021 05:30 - 9 minutes - 13.1 MBIn their book Get Your Loved One Sober: Alternatives to Nagging, Pleading, and Threatening, Dr. Robert Meyers and Dr. Brenda Wolfe offer advice for people interested in helping their loved ones who have substance use disorders. This excerpt describes the process of building a "road map" to identify addictive triggers, signs of drinking or drug use, and "exit ramps" to help redirect the person's behavior.
Stress Less: Two Techniques for Calming Anxiety
September 30, 2021 05:30 - 8 minutes - 11.8 MBRelieve Stress: 5-Minute First Aid for the Mind, by Dr. Katrin Schubert, is a welcome guide to coping with stressful situations in recovery and daily life. Selected from the twenty exercises that comprise the book's how-to content, this excerpt offers a pair of step-by-step techniques for calming anxiety and managing stress.
You Are Enough: How to Change a Negative Self-Image
September 27, 2021 05:30 - 9 minutes - 14.1 MBIn his book Addictive Thinking: Understanding Self-Deception, Dr. Abraham Twerski reveals how self-deceptive thoughts can threaten the sobriety of a recovering individual. We can use this excerpt to help us identify and sort through any distorted realities we have and correct negative self-images.
Easy to Read, Hard to Do: Steps One and Two for Skeptics
September 23, 2021 05:30 - 9 minutes - 14.7 MBIn his book Undrunk: A Skeptic's Guide to AA, A. J. Adams describes how joining Alcoholics Anonymous changed his preconceptions of the program. In this excerpt, Adams introduces the Twelve Steps to people in early recovery and discusses how he learned to navigate the first two Steps during his own journey.
Retrain Your Brain: How to Let Go of Controlling Behavior
September 20, 2021 05:30 - 11 minutes - 16.2 MBIn her book Rein In Your Brain: From Impulsivity to Thoughtful Living in Recovery, Cynthia Moreno Tuohy offers ten techniques that can help with the compulsive thoughts and behaviors that most of us still struggle with in recovery. In this excerpt, Tuohy discusses how control in relationships and addictions are similar, and how to develop different skills and behavior patterns to improve our relationships.
Unity and Humility: Tradition One and the Success of AA
September 16, 2021 05:30 - 9 minutes - 12.9 MBIn their book Living the Twelve Traditions in Today's World: Principles Before Personalities, Mel B. and Michael Fitzpatrick celebrate the history and development of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and interpret the program for the twenty-first century. This excerpt discusses the very first Tradition and how its focus on humility and unity continues to guide decisions and solve problems within AA groups today.
Stop That, Start This: Two Essentials for Early Recovery
September 13, 2021 05:30 - 8 minutes - 12.4 MBIn his book The Addictive Personality: Understanding the Addictive Process and Compulsive Behavior, Craig Nakken discusses the genetic factors, cultural influences, and progressive nature of substance use disorders to help readers understand the process of addiction. In this excerpt, we explore two practices that are beneficial in the early stages of recovery: defining abstinence and developing positive rituals.
Time for a New Road: Mental Illness, Addiction, and That First Step
September 09, 2021 05:30 - 10 minutes - 14.7 MBIn her book Sane: Mental Illness, Addiction, and the 12 Steps, Marya Hornbacher opens the discussion of recovery from co-occurring addiction and mental health disorders. In this excerpt, Hornbacher discusses her early experience with the Twelve Step program and her struggle with Step One, as someone who also deals with a mental illness.
We're Not Normal: Allergy, Addiction, and the Myth of Willpower
September 06, 2021 05:30 - 9 minutes - 13.4 MBA Program for You: A Guide to the Big Book's Design for Living is an intensive study of the basic text of Twelve Step recovery - the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous. This excerpt offers insight on what it means to be allergic to alcohol or other addictive substances, and how "willpower" is an unhelpful myth when it comes to a substance use disorder.
Let’s Get Real: Two Myths and One Truth About Recovery
September 02, 2021 05:30 - 11 minutes - 15.7 MBA Place Called Self: Women, Sobriety, and Radical Transformation by Dr. Stephanie Brown is an insightful guide that can help readers unravel painful truths and confusing feelings in the process of creating a true sense of self in recovery. In this excerpt, Dr. Brown defines recovery, addresses the myths surrounding it, and discusses the truths of the recovery experience.
Four "Can'ts" and Four "Cans": Dealing with Anger in Recovery
August 30, 2021 05:30 - 9 minutes - 14.4 MBIn their book Of Course You're Angry: A Guide to Dealing with the Emotions of Substance Abuse, authors Gayle Rosellini and Mark Worden help readers understand and manage the powerful emotions that often accompany early recovery. Anger won't go away on its own, and reasons to be angry won't disappear, but how we choose to process and act on our anger can and will change. That's the promise of recovery.
Time Brings Change: How to Write Your Life's Next Chapter
August 26, 2021 05:30 - 12 minutes - 17 MBThe Grief Club, by Melody Beattie, offers powerful healing wisdom to help us through life's most difficult times. In this excerpt, Beattie shows us how we can acknowledge and work through the grief that comes with any kind of change. Those of us in early recovery are in transition all the time. Beattie's insights can help us manage these moments while also maintaining our sobriety.
Letting Go and Letting God: Sobriety and Self-Will
August 23, 2021 05:30 - 9 minutes - 13.4 MBFor decades, the book A Program for You: A Guide to the Big Book's Design for Living has helped millions of people understand and apply the Twelve Steps to their lives and find an authentic path to recovery. In this excerpt, the authors guide us through the concept of giving up our self-will and letting our Higher Power take control.
Four Ways to Find Safety, Serenity, and Freedom from Trauma
August 19, 2021 05:30 - 9 minutes - 14.2 MBPassages through Recovery by Terence Gorski presents an action plan for preventing relapse. Gorski describes six stages of recovery from addiction and offers advice for working through the challenges of each stage. In this excerpt, Gorski explains the effects of repressed memories and how working with others in a safe environment can help us process our feelings and be more honest in our recovery.
Eight Techniques for Uncovering Joy Every Day
August 16, 2021 05:30 - 7 minutes - 10.3 MBIn her book Fearless Relationships: Simple Rules for Lifelong Contentment, author Karen Casey offers wise counsel about what helps and what hinders relationships. Drawing from her own life experiences and lessons learned the hard way, Casey provides tips and steps on how to practice gratitude throughout recovery.
End Emotional Isolation: How to Reach Out and Receive Help
August 12, 2021 05:30 - 8 minutes - 12.7 MBIn the book Sober but Stuck, author Dan F. has compiled testimonials from people in recovery to remind us that we're not alone. These voices offer insight into issues that often act as barriers to our continued sobriety. In this excerpt, Matthew describes how he overcame his struggle to reach out, gained the courage to tell his story honestly, and received genuine help to move forward in his recovery.
Help Wanted: Higher Power
August 09, 2021 05:30 - 11 minutes - 15.4 MBIn this excerpt from her book Recovering Spirituality: Achieving Emotional Sobriety in Your Spiritual Practice, psychotherapist Ingrid Mathieu shows us that we don't have to be stuck on unhelpful definitions of God. We can let go of images and attributes that don't serve our sobriety. We get to be free to choose our own conception of a Higher Power we can trust - one that helps us heal.
Four Tips for Reducing Stress by Dealing with Feelings
August 05, 2021 05:30 - 10 minutes - 14.7 MBIn his book Feed Your Head: Some Excellent Stuff on Being Yourself, Earl Hipp offers a framework for recognizing and dealing with feelings that can come with uncertainty, loss, and crisis. This excerpt introduces techniques for reducing stress and gives specific tips to guide us through problem management. We can use these tools to help navigate the difficulties in recovery and our daily life.
Hope Grows in the Recovery Greenhouse
August 02, 2021 05:30 - 8 minutes - 11.8 MBIn their book Six Essentials to Achieve Lasting Recovery, Dr. Sterling Shumway and Dr. Thomas Kimball have identified six principles that reinforce the Twelve Steps and that are key to maintaining lasting recovery. This excerpt compares recovery to a greenhouse and describes what we need to keep our recovery, and healthy relationships, flourishing.
Help from All Sides: Finding Meaning in the Journey
July 29, 2021 05:30 - 9 minutes - 13.7 MBThose of us in recovery have a unique lens when it comes to pain and trauma. We have a sense that we can learn from our suffering, but how do we actually do that? In his classic book A Gentle Path through the Twelve Steps, Dr. Patrick Carnes shows us how learning from our painful past can help us find meaning. Together with others, we can heal our hurting brains, find our spiritual power, and discover our life's purpose.
Twelve Step Tutorial: What a Sponsor Does
July 26, 2021 05:30 - 9 minutes - 14.8 MBIn his book Twelve Step Sponsorship: How It Works, author and sponsor Hamilton B. lets us in on some of the need-to-know information about what can seem like a mysterious part of the program. In this excerpt, he offers a few basics about how sponsorship works, what a sponsor is for, and how this unique relationship helps newcomers to recovery find help and hope.
Help for the Recovering Heart
July 22, 2021 05:30 - 10 minutes - 14.9 MBIn her book The Recovering Heart: Emotional Sobriety for Women, best-selling author Beverly Conyers shares insight on achieving emotional healing by addressing our behaviors and feelings. In this excerpt, Conyers describes the benefits of having a therapist, sponsor, or a group to talk to as we work the program and progress in our recovery.
Open Invitation: Work the Program That Works for You
July 19, 2021 05:30 - 10 minutes - 14.7 MBIn First-Year Sobriety: When All That Changes Is Everything, author Guy Kettelhack gives insightful advice about how to approach life when we're new to sobriety. In this excerpt, he reminds us that there isn't one specific way to go through the program, or to do recovery itself. We're not right or wrong - there's only one requirement for membership in a Twelve Step program: the desire to stop drinking or drugging.
Addictive Rituals
July 15, 2021 05:30 - 8 minutes - 12.6 MBUnhealthy and isolating rituals were part of our experience of addiction. Healthy rituals that connect us with others must be part of our recovery. Addictive Personality: Understanding the Addictive Process and Compulsive Behavior, by Craig Nakken, describes the two-sided personality we developed through our addiction and offers insights that can help us navigate the journey of wholeness and recovery.
Maintenance and Management: Boundaries in Recovery
July 12, 2021 05:30 - 9 minutes - 13.9 MBIn her book Boundaries: Where You End and I Begin, author and therapist Anne Katherine explains what healthy boundaries can look like. In this excerpt, Katherine gets us thinking about how our boundaries came to be and discusses how good boundaries need ongoing attention and maintenance.
Drop the Rock: Decluttering and Detoxing
July 08, 2021 05:30 - 11 minutes - 16.5 MBDrop the Rock: Removing Character Defects by Bill P., Todd W., and Sara S. is an important book to have when approaching Steps Six and Seven - in which we become ready and then ask our Higher Power to remove our defects of character and our shortcomings. In this excerpt, we're told how we can clean our house and detox in other areas of our lives in preparation to have our defects of character removed.
Questions and Answers for Recovery Beginners
July 05, 2021 05:30 - 8 minutes - 11.9 MBIn his book Step Up: Unpacking Steps One, Two, and Three with Someone Who's Been There, Michael Graubart shares a practical approach to the first three Steps. This excerpt addresses some of the common yet important questions and concerns we may have as newcomers in recovery.
New Dreams Ahead
July 01, 2021 05:30 - 10 minutes - 15 MBIn The Next Happy: Let Go of the Life You Planned and Find a New Way Forward, author Tracy Cleantis discusses how important it is to pause, reflect, and then move forward in our lives when things don't go as planned. This excerpt reminds us that giving up on a certain dream does not make us a failure or a quitter. Letting go can be a healthy decision that allows us to change our perspective and develop new goals - to reach the next happy.
Relationship Revelation: Every Argument Is About Fear
June 28, 2021 05:30 - 8 minutes - 11.7 MBA lifelong student of human relationships, best-selling author Karen Casey focuses her attention on which actions and behaviors help relationships flourish, and which hurt. In this excerpt from her book Fearless Relationships: Simple Rules for Lifelong Contentment, Casey reminds us that fear is at the center of every argument in any relationship - and teaches us how love can undo fear.
Learn from Loss: Relapse as a Teachable Moment
June 24, 2021 05:30 - 9 minutes - 13.6 MBIn the book Now What? An Insider's Guide to Addiction and Recovery, William Cope Moyers shares his own story as a way to help others understand how addiction works, and find hope in the practical promises of recovery, regardless of how hopeless the present moment seems. In this excerpt, Moyers offers a way to see even something as unwanted as relapse as a moment for learning and growth.
Understanding Trauma and Anger: Setting Boundaries
June 21, 2021 05:30 - 8 minutes - 11.8 MBShock Waves: A Practical Guide to Living with a Loved One's PTSD by Cynthia Orange is a resource for learning to live with the scars of trauma and the "shock wave" effect of PTSD - along with effective responses to addiction and co-occurring disorders. In this excerpt, Orange discusses how anger can sprout from trauma. We discover how we can protect ourselves from toxic people and environments, which is essential for a healthy recovery.
Embracing Doubt as a Spiritual Practice
June 17, 2021 05:30 - 10 minutes - 15.1 MBIn her book Waiting: A Nonbeliever's Higher Power, Marya Hornbacher shares her own journey to recovery and a spiritual life as she explores spiritual concepts related to the practice of the Twelve Steps. In this excerpt, we explore how doubt can teach us spiritual strength. She explains how we can learn to wait through our doubt - keeping faith in ourselves and our recovery path.
The Three Stages of Recovery
June 14, 2021 05:30 - 8 minutes - 12.5 MBIn his book Destination Joy: Moving Beyond Fear, Loss, and Trauma in Recovery, Earnie Larsen expertly and compassionately guides those who want a deeper understanding of recovery and their program. In this excerpt, Larsen introduces the three stages of recovery - addressing issues that could block our growth in recovery.
Almost Mindful: Training Ourselves to Stay Present
June 10, 2021 05:30 - 8 minutes - 12.8 MBIn Almost Anxious: Is My (or My Loved One's) Worry or Distress a Problem? Dr. Luana Marques and Eric Metcalf offer a practical set of skills to help maintain our anxiety at a level that is "just right" - not too much and not too little. This excerpt provides techniques to "troubleshoot our mindfulness practice" to help us find more enjoyment in our daily lives.
Recovery and Your Physical Well-Being
June 07, 2021 05:30 - 9 minutes - 13.4 MBIn her book The Recovering Body: Physical and Spiritual Fitness for Living Clean and Sober, author Jennifer Matesa offers a guide to achieving physical recovery as part of our path to lifelong sobriety. In this excerpt, she shares her personal story of how physical activity helped her stop craving alcohol and find a sense of home for the first time.
Loving-Kindness: Finding a Friend in Yourself
June 03, 2021 05:30 - 8 minutes - 12.9 MBIn her book A Kinder Voice: Releasing Your Inner Critics with Mindfulness Slogans, Thérèse Jacobs-Stewart shares effective strategies to calm a self-critical mind. In this excerpt, we explore "loving-kindness practice" - training that can help rewire our brain to develop a kinder voice toward ourselves as we do the hard work of recovery.
Grace and Growth: There's No Finish Line to Recovery
May 31, 2021 05:30 - 10 minutes - 14.3 MBIn this excerpt from her book Recovering Spirituality: Achieving Emotional Sobriety in Your Spiritual Practice, Dr. Ingrid Mathieu explores the cyclical nature of learning and growth, underscoring the hopeful and freeing reality that there is no finish line when it comes to recovery.
Tradition Eight: Giving It Away
May 27, 2021 05:30 - 7 minutes - 10.8 MBIn their book Living the Twelve Traditions in Today's World, recovery veterans Mel B. and Mike F. guide us through the Twelve Traditions of Alcoholics Anonymous - and what they see as the key to the heart of the movement's lasting success: principles before personalities. This excerpt, focused on giving without payment and staying in one's own lane, provides a perspective on the core commitment to keeping peer-supported recovery free and nonprofessional.
A Story for You: Bill W. and the Beginning of AA
May 24, 2021 05:30 - 10 minutes - 14.5 MBIn his book The 12 Steps Unplugged: A Young Person's Guide to Alcoholics Anonymous, adolescent addiction counselor John R. helps us discover the hidden treasures of the Big Book. In this excerpt, the author compares his experience with that of Bill W., the co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, to help us connect with the basic messages of getting honest with ourself, accepting the help of others, and finding a relevant spiritual support.
The Case for Commitment
May 20, 2021 05:30 - 11 minutes - 16.9 MBIn his book A Gentle Path through the Twelve Principles: Living the Values Behind the Steps, Patrick Carnes presents twelve guiding principles essential in long-term recovery. This excerpt is about the vital importance of commitment in a recovering life, and the task of training our brains to help us do this hard work rather than taking shortcuts that can sabotage early recovery.
The Joy of Step Twelve: Help Yourself by Helping Others
May 17, 2021 05:30 - 10 minutes - 15 MBIn her book Sane: Mental Illness, Addiction, and the 12 Steps, author Marya Hornbacher examines the Twelve Steps and the tough yet rewarding journey toward recovery from addiction and successful management of a mental health disorder. In this excerpt, Hornbacher discusses the vital importance of Step Twelve: "Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs."
Logical Sense: Reaping the Benefits of Consequences
May 13, 2021 05:30 - 10 minutes - 15 MBIn his book What's Wrong with My Kid? When Drugs or Alcohol Might Be a Problem and What to Do About It, mental health and addiction recovery advocate George E. Leary offers a judgment-free guide to the warning signs of drug use or addiction in our kids. In this excerpt, Leary defines the difference between natural and logical consequences, and describes how their use can be teaching tools that prevent parent-child struggles while effectively addressing substance use.
Practicing Presence: The Power in Meditation
May 10, 2021 05:30 - 10 minutes - 14.6 MBIn his book Practicing the Here and Now, Herb K. offers a framework for understanding and accessing the powerful gifts of prayer and meditation found in the Twelve Step journey of recovery. In this excerpt, Herb describes the practice of meditation, defining it as an intentional process that allows us to receive guidance that both informs and transforms our lives and relationships.
Purpose and Persistence: Moving Beyond the Limits of Addiction
May 06, 2021 05:30 - 9 minutes - 13.4 MBIn their book Six Essentials to Achieve Lasting Recovery, authors Sterling Shumway and Thomas Kimball identify six essential principles that reinforce the Twelve Steps and are key to lasting recovery. This excerpt focuses on how the early phases of recovery lay the groundwork for reclaiming our life's purpose, and for rebuilding our sense of achievement and accomplishment.
Inner Critic: Your Own Worst Enemy
May 03, 2021 05:30 - 10 minutes - 14.7 MBIn her book Conquering Shame and Codependency: 8 Steps to Freeing the True You, therapist and author Darlene Lancer offers an in-depth look at shame as a primary cause of codependency and addiction. This excerpt challenges us to examine our childhood - connecting the dots on how lingering past traumas can impact our adult lives. We learn about our inner critic and how we can develop empathy for the child we once were.
It Takes a Family: Strength-Oriented Sobriety for Everybody
April 29, 2021 05:30 - 9 minutes - 13 MBHowever you define "family," experts agree that we have the best chance of sustaining our recovery when the people we love most are involved in it - in a healthy way. In this excerpt from her book It Takes a Family: Creating Lasting Sobriety, Togetherness, and Happiness, Debra Jay offers guidance for those who love a person recovering from addiction.
Dealing with Our Feelings: Emotions Can Be Allies
April 26, 2021 05:30 - 9 minutes - 14.1 MBInspirational author Melody Beattie examines the ins and outs of codependency in her book Codependent No More. In this excerpt, Beattie explores the intensity of our feelings as a call to action - bringing us face-to-face with reality. We discover how our compulsive behaviors and addictions are often triggered by buried emotions.