The Way Out Podcast

In this rendition of The Way Out co-host Jason and I, along with person in long term recovery and past guest of The Way Out Nick Warnke tackle a whopper of a Recovery Power Topic, Relationships and Recovery. As we mention in the discussion to follow, we did an episode on relationships in recovery, episode 114, back in December of 2018. Now five years later we’re taking a fresh look at this subject in a very different light from three people in long term recovery in unique current situations regarding our relationship statuses. Jason is in a romantic relationship and has been for more than three years. As he says it’s not perfect, but it’s a good relationship, so good in fact he’s engaged to be married. Jason, bless his heart, was the perfect person to balance out the yin and yang of where Nick and I are at with our relationships. I just got out of a serious, long term 5-year relationship, my first relationship in Recovery and in many ways it felt like a first for many reasons. What was also a first for me, is

In this edition of The Way Out I’m most excited about bringing you my interview with Person in Long Term Recovery and Director of Most High Ministries, Christian Janson. Christian shares his journey to and through recovery to this point with us, with a keen insight on addiction and recovery and an emphasis on the growth and evolution that is a direct result of doing the work that meaningful and enduring recovery demands. Christian is ever mindful of the person who is still suffering, and tailors his message as such which we here at The Way Out Podcast are big believers in, that when sharing our stories, the person who still suffers both in and out of Recovery often have the most to gain from our story. Christian’s story is most definitely chalked full of spiritual and recovery truth, and the most wonderful things that have manifested as a result of his most amazing Recovery like the work he does with Most High Media so listen up.   Reach Out to Reverend Christian Janson and learn more about Most High Media: h

In this rendition of The Way Out I’m pleased to bring you my interview with Person in Long Term Recovery and Ultra Marathon Swimmer Ben Tuff. Ben shares his journey to and through recovery to this point with and about his new documentary, Swim Tuff: How I Swam My Way Out of a Bottle and about his work with Clean Ocean Access as well. The epic swim the documentary centers around is also a perfect metaphor for his Recovery and I dare say recovery at large for a variety of reasons, perhaps most strikingly is the fact that Ben literally didn’t even know how to swim upon entering Recovery and now he’s swimming ultra marathons. Just like in Recovery, where we have no idea how to live a meaningful life without addictive substances and/or behaviors, but if we put in the work and are willing to learn, make mistakes, persevere through adversity, connect to ourselves, our spirituality and others we can achieve meaningful and enduring recovery and have opportunities to help others by Recovering Out Loud like Ben does on

In this edition of The Way Out cohost extraordinaire Jason had the pleasure of interviewing person in long term recovery, Deryl Glaze. Deryl is an Inspirational Addiction and Recovery Expert and Speaker, Motivational Coach, and Ordained Minister. Over the last twenty years interacting with recovering addicts and substance abusers in a variety of capacities, Deryl observed that the ones who didn't have any dreams, any "Big Whys" beyond abstinence, were far more likely to relapse or have a recurrence of their substance use disorder, than those who did. As a result Deryl developed a workshop to help those who are in Recovery find purpose or their “Big Why’s”. Now Deryl speaks, runs workshops, and is the Head Certified Recovery Coach at Minnesota Adult and Teen Challenge. No matter what hat he's wearing, his message is that many folks find they need a goal bigger than merely abstinence to motivate themselves achieve meaningful and enduring recovery. You don't want to miss the tremendous mess

In this rendition of the Way Out I’m extremely excited to bring you my interview with person in long term Recovery and Producer and founder of Global Domination Productions Alex “King Roach” Montanez. Alex has been Recovering Out Loud with his Blog, Dominate the Glob since his Recovery began over a year ago and now he’s Recovering Out Loud with us by sharing his journey to and through recovery to this point with us in a distinctly frank and compelling manner, and in a way that brings in stark relief hallmarks of addiction and alcoholism that are worth highlighting. Of particular import, is the common feature of active addiction that can be described as bargaining with ourselves, which we’ve discussed more than a time or two on this podcast. This is the act of restricting or changing the amount, frequency, type, environment, or manner of the problematic substance or behavior, which and this is key, invariably fails. As important to understand, is that we don’t have to do this with other things we like, but don

In this edition of The Way Out I’m absolutely delighted to bring you my interview with fellow Recovery Podcaster and person in long term Recovery, Gary Menkes. Gary Recovers Out Loud with us and shares his journey to and through recovery with the remarkable insight and candor that only comes from a person that has experienced the depths of despair that alcoholism and addiction can bring, followed by an enlightening and inspiring recovery. A recovery that was not linear, and indeed imperfect, which makes it all the more inspirational. Equally as inspiring, is Gary’s decision to help others Recover Out Loud with The Begin Again Podcast, of which our amazing cohost Jason and I were able to be on recently, and the episode featuring Jason and I is now available for your listening pleasure, a handy link to that episode is in the show notes for your convenience so give it a listen, won’t you? We bet you won’t be able to stop there, as Gary is already doing great work with The Begin Again Podcast. Gary’s message is t

In this installment of The Way Out, our tremendous Recovery Podcast Co-host Jason has an outstanding interview with author and humanitarian Sandra Lee, who shares her journey to and through recovery to this point with us. Sandra is the author of the book Rockstar Resilience and also started a speaking team called Rockstar Testimonies which travels around the country speaking to schools about addiction and recovery. In addition, Sandra is the founder of the #LightItUpProject which is an awareness campaign that aims to reduce the stigma around mental health, and she’s is doing so much more, soon to come. In the interview that’s about to unfold before your very years, you’ll quickly hear how well Jason and Sandra hit it off right away and ended up having a lot of laughs! We bet You'll love Sandra and her passion for helping others, so listen up.   Sandra Lee’s Contact Info: www.sandraleespeaks.com Love and Light to the World non-profit: www.loveandlighttotheworld.org Book recommendation: Boundaries Updated a

In this edition of The Way Out I’m beyond honored to bring you my interview with President of Operations of South Metro Community Services and person in long-term recovery, Ashlee Herget. South Metro Community Services, is a 501 (C3) Nonprofit Recovery Community Organization. They strive to connect individuals with substance use disorder to vital resources tailored to each persons unique needs, and they fight to empower autonomy and decrease stigma. Ashlee shares a bit about her journey to and through recovery this point, and if you you’d like to hear her entire story, I highly encourage you to check out episode 184 for Co-host Jason’s outstanding interview with Ashlee, both of whom I am a complete and unabashed fan. What makes up the lion’s share of what turned out to be a truly stellar discussion is illuminating what a Recovery Community Organization or RCO is, how they fit into the Recovery services landscape, what specific services South Metro Community Services provides the Recovery community, and perhap

In this edition of The Way Out our intrepid and outstanding recovery podcast co-host Jason had the opportunity to interview Sheilah, aka, "She She" Powell, who has the ability make one feel like bit of a slacker. She does more volunteering than your average single mom. This multi-talented momma is busting her behind to advocate for the recovery community both locally and around the world. Sheilah shares her journey to and through recovery to this point with in a candid discussion that traverses a myriad of deep, profound, and indeed inspiring topics! We bet you won’t regret hearing all the recovery wisdom and truth about to be unfurled in the tremendous recovery rap session that’s about to unfold before your very ears so listen up. Contact info: sheelah777@gmail.com Resource links: WEConnect Health Management https://www.weconnecthealth.io/ Mainstream Recovery https://www.mainstreamrecovery.com Mobilize Recovery https://mobilizerecovery.org/ Recovery Literature (Quit-Lit) Recommendation: Broken Op

In this installment of The Way Out, person in long term recovery and recovery advocate Ryan Hampton joins Jason for a tremendous recovery discussion. A prominent advocate, speaker, author, and media commentator, Ryan travels coast-to-coast to bring solutions to our national addiction and drug overdose crisis. In recovery from a decade-long opioid addiction, Hampton is regarded as a prominent expert and thought leader in America’s rising addiction recovery advocacy & drug policy reform movements.  His first bestselling book, “American Fix — Inside the Opioid Addiction Crisis and How to End It,” was released by St. Martin’s Press in August 2018. His second book, “Unsettled: How the Purdue Pharma Bankruptcy Failed the Victims of the American Overdose Crisis,” was released in September 2021 and chronicled his behind-the-scenes efforts representing tens of thousands of victims in the Purdue Pharma opioid settlement litigation. Ryan is currently working on his third book, scheduled to be released in 2024. Ryan

In this edition of The Way Out I’m delighted to bring you my interview with person in long term recovery, wellness advocate and author of the book Bamboozled: The Guide to Getting EVERYTHING You Want in Life by Giving Up Alcohol, Ken Middleton. Ken shares his journey to and through sobriety to this point with us in an exceptionally enlightening and inspiring fashion. For Ken, getting sober wasn’t born out of debilitating alcoholism leading to an ultra-low bottom of despair and hopelessness. No, Ken reckoned with his relationship with alcohol, despite not having severe internal or external consequences and essentially asked himself one big question. What would life look like if he didn’t drink? Out of that question an experiment was born, and Ken realized that though Alcohol wasn’t destroying his life in the classic crash and burn style, what ken discovered was all the things alcohol was preventing him from being and doing. Said in another way, Ken had a remarkable realization: Alcohol was limiting him and was

In this rendition of The Way Out I’m pleased to bring you my interview with Professor, author, and person in long term recovery Lisa Sargese. Lisa shares her journey to and through Recovery from compulsive overeating as well as physical and emotional trauma in a way that cuts to the case and gets down to the heart of the matter, which for her was that her compulsive overeating was inextricably linked to an unwillingness to tolerate very specific dark emotions, which is what Lisa refers to them as and is rather apropos to what negative emotions feel like. This revelation for Lisa didn’t come easy, in fact it came at quite the high cost, an experience many of us can relate to. Understanding her triggers was just the beginning for Lisa, as she then leaned into 12-Step Recovery, Qi Gong, mindfulness, and a daily spiritual practice to build a happier, healthier life. As Lisa so profoundly states and I paraphrase, if you earnestly connect to your spirituality in a way that is meaningful to you every day, you will c

We’ve got a truly special episode for you to celebrate 350 episodes sharing powerful Recovery stories and Recovery Power Topics on the regular since 2016. In this rendition of The Way Out, Jason and I share why stories matter to us as human beings, why our Recovery Stories matter to ourselves and each other, and provide some practical ways you can share your own powerful recovery story. We’re combining the two major themes of The Way Out into one spectacular episode; a topic episode on Why Your Recovery Story Matters and How to Share It - which is admittedly more than a little meta but nonetheless it’s a topic we’ve never directly covered and one that is not only central to this podcast, but to Recovery and indeed the human experience. Your recovery story matters, all of ours do. They are the very lifeblood of the Recovery community, and they provide the essential hope, inspiration, relatability, and The Way Out no doubt someone desperately needs to hear so they too might recover and then share their story. S

In this edition of The Way Out, our spectacular recovery podcast co-host with the most Jason is back with a fabulous interview with licensed psychotherapist, addictions counselor and person in long term recovery, Dr. Donna Marks. Dr. Donna Marks is also a certified gestalt therapist, psychoanalyst, hypnotist, and sex therapist. In addition, she’s facilitated A Course in Miracles for over 30 years. In her new book The Healing Moment, Dr. Donna Marks integrates evidence-based psychological principles with spiritual lessons into 7 unique paths for finding lasting peace and change. Dr. Donna Marks speaks rather candidly about her own journey of recovery and provides some valuable insights into the process of healing, so do be sure to listen up.   Contact info, media and resources: https://drdonnamarks.com/ Dr. Marks' Book Links: https://www.amazon.com/Healing-Moment-Paths-Messes-Miracles/dp/1582708738/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1AAL2QQ7TSNDL&keywords=the+healing+moment+dr.+donna+marks&qid=1682951226&spref

In this edition of The Way Out I’m honored to bring you my interview with Physician’s Assistant, Speaker, Mom, Wife, Dog Lover, and Author of Incurable Hope: A Memoir for Coping with a Loved One’s Addiction Lisa Gennosa. Lisa’s story is in part a story of a Mother who had to reckon with her son’s substance use, in part a story of a Mother who had to reckon with her own part in what is truly a family disease, and indeed in part a story of Lisa turning these first two parts of her journey into an amazing purpose which is to be the change she wishes to see in the world. Lisa is a fierce advocate and ally for addiction recovery and for the families and loved ones of those who are facing addiction and has dedicated herself to this important work in her role as a Physician’s Assistant, in her work in her community, and with her sharing her story like she did in her new book and as she does with us on this here episode so do be sure you listen up. Contact Lisa and learn more about her new book Incurable Hope: A Mem

In this rendition of The Way Out I’m ecstatic to bring you my interview with psychologist, author of the new book Co-Crazy One Psychologist’s Recovery from Codependency and Addiction: A Memoir and Roadmap to Freedom, and person in long term recovery Dr. Sarah Michaud. Dr Sarah shares her journey to and through recovery from addiction and codependency to this point with us in a way that really helps us understand both in an extremely beneficial way. On its face, addiction and codependence appear to be polar opposites of one another. Addiction involves the compulsive use of a substance or behavior to change one’s feelings, or default state of mind and body. Codependency on the other hand, is on its surface, about trying to change the addict or alcoholic. Underneath this behavior, however is a compulsion that is precisely the same but looks very different on the surface. Co-dependent behavior ultimately is about trying to change others in order to change one’s own feelings. It often manifests like this: I feel a

In this edition of The Way Out I’m pleased to bring you my interview with person in long term recovery and CEO of Desert Hope Treatment Center, George Gatski. George shares his journey to and through recovery this point with us with the refreshing candor and insight we’ve come to know quite well here at The Way Out Podcast and the fashion in which Greg shares his Recovery journey is a shining example of a Powerful Recovery story that is ultra relatable and extremely illuminating. Especially enlightening and instructive in George’s story are the following messages: first is the exceptionally common experience of our drug of choice being an instant answer to our problems - as George phrases it, like a key in a lock and equally important to understand is most folks don’t feel that way when the drink or use substances. Second, and we’re fierce advocates of this message, there are no rock bottoms in addiction. The only true rock bottom is when we’re dead. Anything short of that is when we stop digging. Instead, th

In this edition of The Way Out I’m honored to bring you my interview with composer, performing artist, coach for musicians and artists in recovery, and person in long term recovery Skip Sams. Skip shares his journey to and through recovery to this point with candor and insight that is rooted in humility, self-awareness, spirituality, and healthy doses of humor sprinkled throughout a story that is about Skip coming to grips with his addiction, mental health, sexuality, and ultimately finding and embracing Recovery. For Skip, Recovery is very much about recovering his spirituality and his creative purpose using his gifts, talents, skills, and abilities which has now led Skip to live the spiritual axiom that in order to keep what we have in Recovery we have to give it a way, Skip now helps others in Recovery discover their own creative purpose through his Creative Purpose Project so listen up.   Contact Skip: skipsams.com Tel: (917) 387-6197 ​skip@skipsams.com Mention you listened to this episode and receive a F

In this rendition of The Way Out, I’m over the moon about having Teacher, Author and person in long term recovery Tim Moon – see what I did there – back on the show to share about his newest book, Tomato Fields which at once has nothing to do with Recovery while at the same time has everything to do with Recovery. Tomato Fields is on it’s face an action/mystery/horror/adventure work of fiction that isn’t about recovery at all, and a very good one at that, yet the only reason this book exists is because of Recovery, specifically Tim’s recovery. It is in fact, a fruit of Tim’s Recovery and a phenomenal example of what Recovery and spirituality can enable us to do when we lean in and do the inside-out work we need to do to Recover and get out of our own way in an increasingly meaningful way which allows the opportunity to become ever closer to the people we feel called to be. Because I stopped believing in coincidences rather early in my own Recovery as one of the fruits of my spiritual experience it’s no coinci

In this rendition of The Way out I’m pleased to bring you my interview with the one and only Pastor Jim Downs, formerly known as Big Jim Downs who appeared on this here podcast in one of our very early episodes, when this podcast was in it’s infancy. His story was amazing then, and it’s only become more amazing since. Pastor Jim shares his journey to and through recovery to this point with us, as well as the amazing things he’s doing with Rockhouse Ministries. Though Pastor Jim has dropped the Big from his name, he in no way has stopped the big things he’s doing for the Recovery community so listen up.   More about Rockhouse Ministries: https://www.rockhouserecovery.com/ Phone: (423) 365-7077 Email: rockhouse@rockhouserecovery.com Recovery Literature (Quit-Lit) Recommendations: The Bible The Power to Choose by Mike O'Neil: https://www.amazon.com/Power-Choose-Mike-ONeil/dp/0963345400 Purpose driven life by Rick Warren: https://www.amazon.com/Purpose-Driven-Life-What-Earth/dp/031033750X Best Piece of Recove