Painful Loss and Open Minds

In this special episode of the IGNTD Recovery podcast, I’m bringing my first guest on the show: Dave, from the Dopey Podcast. This won’t be your average interview.

Our conversation today focuses on what it can mean to open up the conversation around addiction. I want you to keep an open mind in terms of what’s possible in a recovery context. There’s no failure in relapsing, abstinence does not equal better, and there are a multitude of doors one can take on their path to recovery.

Dave shares his stories, struggles, and his life after the passing of his close friend and co-host, Chris, of the Dopey Podcast, due to an overdose. The Dopey Podcast was all about living in recovery and followed the stories and lives of Dave and Chris in their continued path of sobriety. It was a powerful conversation I think you all need to tune in to hear and it was really brave of him to share his story with us today.

Topics Discussed:

[:40] About today’s episode with guest, Dave.

[4:44] Welcoming my guest, Dave, to the podcast.

[5:14] The parallel between trying to get in touch with each other and addiction.

[6:30] Dave shares the story of Chris’s — his podcast partner and close friend — overdose. And what their show, Dopey Podcast, was about.

[10:12] Why I wrote The Abstinence Myth and also why I really wanted to have Dave on this podcast: people need to know there’s another way to recover.

[14:07] What could Dave tell was off about Chris when he was using up to the point of his overdose? And the story of Dave and Chris’s relationship.

[18:05] How long Dave has been sober and what he didn’t originally “get” about recovery.

[19:19] Why Dave originally got clean and what it taught him.

[22:05] Why Dave and Chris originally started the Dopey Podcast and the transformation it started to take from crazy drug stories to the journey of their sobriety.

[25:04] There is no shame in relapsing.

[28:00] What caused Dave to relapse after being sober for 18 months.

[32:44] What can we do to open people up so they can enter the journey at whatever point they’re ready to enter it at?

[33:14] An example of a client of mine, Julia, who walked the path of recovery through the IGNTD Recovery method.

[37:15] Dave’s experience in the 12-step program.

[39:11] The parallels between Dave’s and my experiences in recovery.

[40:16] It’s not that people don’t want abstinence, they need another option.

[40:45] What scares Dave: when relapse leads to death.

[42:25] Dave’s and my take on Chris’s experiences with recovery.

[42:54] The issue: “playing it safe” in terms of recovery.

[45:34] Final notes from Dave and wrapping up the conversation.

[47:36] Where to find the IGNTD Recovery course and The Abstinence Myth online.