The Courage to Change: A Recovery Podcast

We made it to the end of Season 4! Thanks for all who listened! In this episode Ashley and Scott host The Courage to Change New Year's Extravaganza. We've got highlights from Season 4. We've got games. We've got music. Put on your finest attire and stop by our place to ring in the new year.

Desiree Moore grew up with addicted parents. She wanted desperately to live a different life and when she met someone at 18 who seemed like he came from a white-picket-fence family she couldn’t believe her luck, then the violence began. Desiree did everything she could to stand up for herself and her kids. She kicked him out. She tried to battle against the violence she experienced, but finally the violence turned to her children. In 2008 her then husband murdered her daughter.

Lacie Hamilton grew up in an abusive home with a mother who was addicted to alcohol and pills. At age 5 was the first time she was slapped and very quickly internalized the message that it didn’t matter what she wanted or needed. At age 9, Lacie had just gotten out of the ICU when her mother took her to a bar where she drank all night and then beat and attempted to strangle her in the hotel room. Lacie barely escaped but then her mother fabricated a series of lies to try to discredit her story.

In this Q and A episode Ashley answers the listener question "How Can I Help My Daughter Survive Her First Sober Christmas?". The holidays can be a triggering time for everyone, but especially for people in early recovery. Ashley talks about her experience coming back home and what strategies will help the listener's daughter feel supported during the holidays.

Nicole and Joseph Ascanio are the siblings of Anthony Ascanio, who died of an overdose in August of 2021. Anthony ordered what he thought was Percocet on the dark web, but in reality the pills were Fetanyl. He is one of the 70,000 Americans who died from Fentanyl in 2021.

Chris Tompkins knew he was gay at age 6, but things weren’t talked about openly in his home so he internalized the idea that it should remain a secret and he grew up ashamed, and hypervigilant. At 24, he came out and jumped into an LGBTQ community that used drugs and alcohol to deal with the internalized shame they’d felt in their own childhoods. Chris eventually moved to LA and he spent the next 11 years working at a gay bar in West Hollywood where the alcohol and drugs played an even bigger part of his life.

In this Q and A episode Ashley talks about navigating loss and loneliness. Ashley Loeb Blassingame has been clean and sober for 16 years, she's a drug and alcohol counselor, interventionist, and the co-founder of a telehealth company called Lionrock Recovery that provides substance use disorder treatment.

Ryan Dusick is best known as the founding drummer of the band Maroon 5. As a boy, he dreamt of pitching for the Dodgers and writing adventure novels. Arm injuries sidelined his baseball career, just as rock music became his new passion and purpose. In 1994 he founded the band Kara’s Flowers with fellow Brentwood High School students Jesse Carmichael, Mickey Madden, and Adam Levine. Ryan spent the next 7 years honing his craft and in 2001 the band found success after changing its name to Maroon 5 and releasing their first album, Songs About Jane.

Amy LeClair grew up as a Junior Olympic Gymnast. At 11 she had her first interaction with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder while on a trip with her class. Suddenly she was bombarded by intrusive thoughts that made her wonder if she would hurt them even though she had no desire to do so. As a Division 1 gymnast at San Jose State, she experienced extreme verbal and emotional abuse from her coaches and was sexually assaulted by her head trainer. The trauma from that was buried, but came out in the form of anxiety which she treated with copious amounts of Ativan, eventually becoming addicted while pregnant with her daughter.

In this Q and A episode Ashley helps a listener with their question "Will My Kid End Up An Alcoholic?". The listener is wondering about how likely it is the alcoholism will be passed along genetically to her children.

Jessica’s story started in high school with a boyfriend who seemed amazing. He was the class clown, a football player and very into her. In the early years she was able to explain his problematic behavior as expressions of his love for her. There was no physical abuse at first. If she just tried harder his behavior would stop. Then when the violence came it was only when drinking. The alcohol was the problem. If he could only eliminate that, those things wouldn’t happen anymore.

Lee Shuer is a Certified Peer Specialist and internationally recognized expert in Hoarding Disorder and has been at the forefront of developing self-help groups for people with HD. Lee’s own complicated relationship with things started at age 3 years old when he began asking people the question “Do you have anything that you don’t need?”.

In this Q and A episode Ashley helps a listener with their question "My Partner Is Scared To Go To Detox". She really wants them to go and they know they need to, but they're scared. Ashley shares her own stories of trying to get sober without help, what to expect during a medical detox and why it's better than the alternative.

Michelle Farris is a Marriage and Family Therapist who specializes in codependent relationship patterns. She helps people to avoid the people pleasing behaviors and issues with boundary setting that can often become stumbling blocks for many in recovery.

Amy Farnan grew up in a loving home with three siblings and lots of laughter. Even with all the good she found at her core, the inability to feel like she had worth or a voice. She had some level of management of her drinking through high school and college and upon graduation began a spiritual journey with her brother, a professional rock climber and someone who sought the spiritual in the same way she did. The trip was incredible and opened her eyes to what other people were doing in the world, but 6 months later, her brother died in an avalanche while climbing. As the search for his body began, she was put in the strange position of communication liaison with the search efforts and caretaker to her parents. In that place, she was unable to grieve in the way she needed to and instead placated herself and those around her with “He died doing what he loved.”