Episode 10: Introduction to AQAL Stages and Developmental Levels Climbing the Ladder to Recovery and Growth We’ve heard it said that addicts are selfish and care only about themselves. In Integral Recovery, this behavioral tendency can best be understood through the lens of developmental stages. Our exploration of the AQAL map continues today as we…

Episode 35 Holly Whitaker Hip Sobriety Creating a Life you Don’t Need to Escape From Is it normal? Every time we log into our social media accounts, we see the smiling faces of our friends, families, and colleagues. We see people’s successes and celebrations. Maybe we even post a few of our own, carefully curating…

Episode 36 Breaking the stigma of recovery and the boldness to walk the path of sobriety Society has a lot of ideas about addiction. And it has a lot of ideas about recovery. Most of them are wrong. Some of those wrong ideas are harmless enough, but the perception that normal, happy, fun people drink…

Episode 37 How do YOU define addiction? The Art of Holding Multiple Perspectives and the Quadrants of the AQAL Map The Price of Certainty “The demand for certainty is one which is natural to man, but is nevertheless an intellectual vice.” – Bertrand Russel “Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is absurd.” –…

Episode 39 right-sizing the ego: balancing the finite self and the infinite self In the depths of my addiction, I believed redemption, healing, and forgiveness were reserved for people who had something worthwhile to contribute to the world. I had heard plenty of stories about people who struggled with drugs, alcohol, or behavioral addiction, and…

Episode 40 something bigger than ourselves: finding meaning in recovery and life Is recovery heroic? On the outside, our heroes may be different. Some of us consider the athlete at the top of her game, like Florence Griffith Joyner, a hero. For others, a hero is an entrepreneur like Elon Musk, who persisted against all…

Episode 41 carlos alvarez restorative practice ending the cycle of addiction and violence Are you sitting down? If not, take a seat, because what I’m about to say may shock you… I’ve made mistakes. I’m not talking about harmless accidents the occasional typo in a blog post, either. I’ve made some terrible decisions in my…

Episode 42 Surviving the Holidays Honoring your Recovery this Season The Holiday season is upon us again. Whether we celebrate Christmas, Hanukah, Kwanza, Rohatsu, something else altogether, or none of the above, the annual festivities abound. For many, it’s the most wonderful time of the year. A crisp layer of powdery snow blankets the ground,…

Episode 43 revealing the hidden gifts in our addiction, suffering, and pain “We can never see past the choices we don’t understand … You’ve already made the choice. Now you have to understand it.” – The Oracle, The Matrix Reloaded I spent many years, both in my active addiction, and before it, running away from…

Episode 44 sacrifice its role in recovery and growth In this podcast, our 3 musketeers dive into the topic of sacrifice and its role in recovery and growth. Whether you are in recovery for addiction or any other condition that ails the human spirit, sacrifice can be a useful part of the journey. With humor…