On this night, eight years ago, I was wearing a three-piece suit while shoveling elephant, kangaroo, and horse poop. I was living in the Phoenix Dream Center at the time, early in my recovery (12 …
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My Guest Spot on the “Drop The Needle” Podcast (Record Collecting as a Form of Recovery Self-Care)
This is probably my favorite podcast guest spot ever. I’ve greatly enjoyed every single podcast, recovery website, or recovery-related Facebook group on which I’ve been featured. However, this one was particularly fun, and tied in …
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My Guest Spot on the SHAIR Podcast
Here it is, my episode of the SHAIR Podcast. This is my whole story of addiction and recovery: the good, the bad, and the ugly. I hope that hearing this helps someone who might presently …
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Teaching ASIST, Saving Lives
Two days/14 hours later, another amazing ASIST workshop is in the books, and 22 more local individuals are ready, willing, and able to perform suicide interventions and save lives. This was the fifth workshop I’ve …
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Glad I Could Help
I just had a dad of two 18-year-old twin sons leave my office telling me, “Speaking with you was far more productive than any of the prior conversations I’ve had with anyone while trying to …
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ASIST Workshop #4: Don’t Call It a Comeback
After a nearly 1.5-year hiatus, I facilitated my fourth ASIST suicide intervention workshop yesterday and today in Gilbert. I am happy to say that two dozen more people are now equipped with the potentially …
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Anthony Bourdain and Suicide
If your social media feed is anything like mine, it’s flooded with posts regarding Anthony Bourdain’s death, and rightfully so. He was an incredibly interesting and talented individual, and one of my absolute favorite authors …
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A Change of Plans
This morning I was scheduled to do a pair of 30-minute breakout sessions as part of a multi-faceted community event hosted by the City of Phoenix at a local school. The material I was going …
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The Spectrum of Speaking Engagement Feedback
I’m going through the stack of student feedback forms from Monday’s presentations at Saguaro High School. When asked “What was something you liked about the presentation,” one 16-year-old student wrote, “The logos, ethos, and pathos …
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Hey, I Know That Song!
My dorky encyclopedic knowledge of music just helped me find a song for a man dealing with brain cancer. This Reddit thread had a couple dozen replies and no one knew it. It’s “The Friends …
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