Escaping Rock Bottom

Mountain Park Health Center has nearly a dozen health centers in Arizona and they deliver quality healthcare to underserved communities. They are at the forefront of creating a true one-stop-shop when it comes to helping families stay healthy. It is crucial that we continue the fight to bring equality to healthcare no matter your socioeconomic status.

Will Christ represented our country in the US Army for more than a decade, but alcohol began to consume his life, his marriage, and his family. At the time of the recording of this podcast episode, Will has 19 months clean and is now a clinical intern at Calvary Healing Center in Phoenix Arizona. Will is on a mission to become a counselor to help others get the mental healthcare they need. 

Copa Health is a premiere behavioral health clinic and housing option for those who have developmental disabilities and severe mental illness. While many organizations shy away from helping these groups, Copa Health proudly steps up to the plate to provide incredible day programs, housing, and life skill courses for them! Learn more about how Copa Health is making a huge difference in the lives of so many families! This podcast episode is Inspired By Molina Healthcare. 

N.O.A.H. (Neighborhood Outreach Access to Health) just opened a state of the art healthcare clinic that provides everything from primary care, to lab work, to dentistry, behavioral health, prenatal care and community resource programs! They accept everyone! It doesn't matter if you are underinsured or uninsured. They provide comprehensive health services. This episode is inspired by Molina Healthcare. 

Clayton Echard was the star on Season 26 of ABC's "The Bachelor". He opens up about his experience on the show and how it's now put him on the path to becoming a mental health advocate. Clayton also talks about his childhood trauma that has impacted him as an adult. Clayton is now speaking openly about the pain he's experienced in his life, and how he's trying to use that experience to help others. 

Richard works at Calvary Healing Center in Phoenix, Arizona where he works daily with people who suffer from alcoholism and addiction. He talks about being an atheist in recovery while also talking about the strength he finds in his spirituality. So many addicts struggle with believing in God. Richard understands them. He helps those people find their own version of spirituality so that they can thrive in life again. 

Megan Racer never felt comfortable in her own skin even as a small child. She experimented with drugs as a teen. It made her feel good. But, as you're about to see, her life spun out of control. She got hooked up with a Mexican cartel. She got stopped at the border with her kids. Her life cam crashing down. She was sentenced to the slammer. However, it was the biggest blessing in her life. Now, she gets to not only work in recovery at Camelback Recovery in Arizona, she gets to raise her kids and be the mom she always wanted. 

Most people will experience trauma by the age of 10. Childhood trauma impacts the way our brains are formed. Sometimes, we don't even realize as adults that early childhood trauma is impacting our poor life decisions. Our wiring is off because of unhealed trauma. It may derail us in our teens, or like Kimberly who became an alcoholic at age 40. Its an incredible story about a registered nurse and sobriety coach who is now able to help others trying to heal from their trauma at Soul Surgery Rehab in Scottsdale, AZ. Need Help? Call: 866-223-9470

Tim Westbrook is the founder, owner, and CEO of Camelback Recovery in Phoenix, AZ. He talks about childhood trauma which led him to a life of booze and drugs. From multiple blackouts, losing jobs and relationships, Tim was able to rebuild his life by creating a solid foundation in a 12-Step program. Now, he's helping other addicts heal from their trauma by creating an incredible program that focuses on structured sober living, outpatient & PHP treatment programs. This is Tim's incredible story of hope!

This is an incredibly powerful podcast about a guy who experienced severe childhood trauma that led him down a dark path of self destruction with drugs. Steven Ayers speaks about his childhood trauma publicly for the first *ever. He was molested as a child. He carried that burden his whole life... until now. His path led him to serve time in prison. He says prison saved his life. Now he's helping other guys in recovery get sober. 

In this episode you will meet Ian Day. Ian gives an incredible testimony about how recovery has not only saved his life, but it's allowed him to create a life he truly never thought was possible.  He talks about childhood bullying and child sex abuse that he experienced. He also talks about his time in jail and how that became an opportunity to get sober. At one point in his life he lost custody of his son, but his story is proof that if we focus on healing ourselves our lives will only get better. In fact, he ended up getting back full custody about a year after staying sober. It's a powerful story of how AA/12 Step Programs have given him a new lease on life!

This might be the most "controversial" podcast episode I have ever done and I have never been more excited to talk about the science of psychedelics and the important studies being done right now to help people heal from trauma. We are talking about microdosing with the nations leading researcher on the subject, Dr Sue Sisley. Dr Sisley was the nations leading researcher on cannabis in the early 2000's and now she has DEA approval to grow mushrooms and conduct studies on veterans who've suffered from trauma. Her research could lead to a major breakthrough in helping addicts heal from the trauma that got them addicted to substances to numb it all out. 

Patrick Legenzoff is known as the "Sober Investor". His story is one of the most powerful I have ever heard. He grew up in a broken home. His mother was a drug addict and also the neighborhood drug dealer. He tried marijuana at age 10. He took a hit of meth at age 11. He, too, began slinging drugs and became a criminal before the age of 18. How did Patrick break the cycle of trauma & addiction? Does he have a relationship with his mother? How did he turn his life around to become an entrepreneur and an incredibly successful investor? Patrick owns 10 sober livings and a treatment center, Solutions of Sobriety. He drops some wisdom in this episode!

Hannah Kirkpatrick will tell you that she's never experienced trauma and had what she describes as the "perfect childhood". She somehow ended up abusing alcohol - she says she became a food addict & depressed. She battled perfectionism, trying to be the perfect person for everyone. Her world came crashing down. Everything fell apart including her marriage. But, she got help. She admitted herself into an outpatient program and got involved in multiple 12-step recovery groups. Then, she ran for Mrs. American and won with a platform of overcoming addiction. I had lots of questions like "how does someone with no trauma become an addict?" Hannah may have had an ah-ha moment during the podcast and realized she did in fact suffer quite a bit of trauma in her childhood that sent her life spiraling. This has to be one of the most fascinating podcasts I have ever recorded.

This episode covers a lot of current events happening around recovery/healing. We sit down with the founder of Pinnacle Peak Recovery to talk about news making headlines: Kathy Griffin becomes an addict at age 59 - she wonders how can anyone become an addict at that age. She did and she almost took her life after a traumatic life experience. Also, researchers in the medical field want to use MDMA and other psychedelics to help trauma survivors heal. Our question: can you still call yourself sober if you use these drugs to heal? 

Kim B has a powerful story about survival. She was sexually abused by a family member when she was a child. But no one believed her which caused her even more trauma. She turned to drugs to escape. The numb felt better than her reality. Now, Kim is the primary therapist at one of the best treatment centers in Arizona, Pinnacle Peak Recovery. She's also a supporter of harm reduction (so am I). We talk about meeting addicts where they're currently at and talk about way to heal from trauma.

JT has an incredible story of recovery. He lost his father at a very young age. That was a traumatic event. That trauma went unhealed and he began hanging with gangs and getting into brawls. That was his way of coping. It eventually led JT down a dark path of drug use that included shooting heroin. Now, JT is sober. He's a lover .. not a fighter. JT helps others get sober. He's the Director of Clinical Outreach for Springboard Recovery in Scottsdale, Arizona. It's one of the premier treatment centers that helps people heal from substance use. 

This is a really raw conversation about romanticizing relapse and the shame we feel about even having those thoughts. They say in recovery "just tell someone before you relapse." Well, truth be told, it's not that easy. What if we normalized the conversation about relapse, because the majority of people in recovery have experienced it. Wouldn't that make it easier for someone to come forward and share with someone else that they're thinking about it. If we carry shame about even the thought of it, then most people won't/don't say anything to anyone fearing their reaction. Here's my very candid conversation with a good recovery friend of mine, Tyler Tisdale, who owns one of the premiere recovery centers in Arizona: Pinnacle Peak Recovery.

Josh Anderson has one helluva story to tell. He says he didn't have a traumatic childhood. The thing he says likely sent him down the wrong path: he was left home alone. A lot. His experimentation with marijuana led him to booze. He got into a bad accident that left him paralyzed from the waist down. That wasn't his rock bottom. He began using heroin. His family eventually gave him a choice: drugs or them. He said he had a moment of clarity that changed his life - all thanks to tough love from the family. Now, he's a therapist at the same place where he got sober: Calvary Healing Center in Phoenix, AZ.

This is a really powerful story of a man who witnessed a lot of chaos as a child including domestic violence. The trauma that Bobby suffered eventually led him down a dark path of drugs. But, this story is proof that not only do WE recover, but we can often create a life that we never thought possible. Bobby is now the CEO of Springboard Recovery in Scottsdale, Arizona. It's one of the best treatment centers in the state. They focus on helping people recover from drugs & alcohol. They're also partners with me at Art Of Our Soul for art healing sessions weekly. If you are looking for a treatment center, check out Springboard Recovery. Bobby knows the importance of creating a program that really does work and builds a foundation of longterm sobriety.