Claim OwnershipAddiction Medicine Made Easy | Fighting back against addiction
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© 2026 Addiction Medicine Made Easy | Fighting back against addiction
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Addiction is killing us. Over 100,000 Americans died of drug overdose in the last year, and over 100,000 Americans died from alcohol use in the last year. We need to include addiction medicine as a part of everyone's practice! We take topics in addiction medicine and break them down into digestible nuggets and clinical pearls that you can use at the bedside. We are trying to create an army of health care providers all over the world who want to fight back against addiction - and we hope you will join us.*This podcast was previously the Addiction in Emergency Medicine and Acute Care podcast*
163 Episodes
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Parenting can sharpen joy and stress at the same time—and for moms and dads in recovery, that edge can test every habit that keeps sobriety strong. We sit down with Sarah Benton, licensed counselor, addiction specialist, and author of Parents in Recovery, to unpack how families can protect recovery without sacrificing the warmth and wonder of raising kids. From morning routines to packed weekends to those birthday parties where wine shows up next to the cupcakes, we get practical about limits...
What if helping someone you love through addiction starts with healing yourself? That single shift reframes everything—your boundaries, your tone, your scripts, and the way your home holds stress. Dr. Casey Grover sits down with family coach and author Lisa Katona Smith to unpack Parallel Recovery, a values-driven approach that gives families actionable tools and a steady process for change without the burnout of fixing or the coldness of detachment. Lisa shares how a personal crisis led her...
Cravings don’t wait for perfect conditions, so we need plans that work in real life. I sit down with coach Jason Lyle to unpack a grounded, nontraditional approach to addiction treatment that starts with the body and rewires the brain: cold water immersion, breath work, meditation, and yoga. This is recovery as nervous system training—practical tools that widen the gap between urge and action and put your prefrontal cortex back in the driver’s seat. Jason shares his path from ministry throug...
Vintage drug ads promised calm mornings, slimmer silhouettes, and instant relief from restless nights. We dig beneath the glossy slogans to unpack how Black Beauties, Quaaludes, Miltown, Barbiturates, and Purple Hearts shaped the path to today’s mediations—and what that history teaches us about safety, dependence, and withdrawal. With clear explanations of GABA, tolerance, and cross‑tapering, we connect old “uppers and downers” to modern clinical practice and the real risks people still face....
Stress doesn’t wait for a convenient moment, so why should resilience training wait for a crisis? We sit down with Coach Kay, a PhD serving first responders, ER teams, and other high‑stress professionals, to unpack a practical roadmap for emotional resilience you can actually use. We connect the dots between addiction, overwhelm, and the brain’s survival circuitry, then break down simple steps to recruit the prefrontal cortex, label emotions accurately, and respond with intention instead of i...
A physician-mom sits across from us and tells the truth: she loved a good, kind man whose alcoholism, fueled by unhealed PTSD, dismantled their family one crisis at a time. From quiet home drinking to ER runs, withdrawal hallucinations, and an ICU ventilator, her story captures the clinical realities of alcohol use disorder and the human cost families carry in silence. She walks through safety plans for her kids, a neighbor’s garage that became a refuge, and a courthouse morning where getting...
What if the fastest way to help a loved one stop using isn’t pushing harder but stepping out of the “villain” role? We sit down with master addiction counselor and YouTuber Amber Hollingsworth to unpack a practical, compassionate framework that actually moves people from resistance to readiness. Amber explains why policing, nagging, and ultimatums create the perfect distraction from change—and how strategic empathy, active listening, and credibility open the door to real motivation. We break...
The bell rings, the doors open, and the real work begins: keeping kids safe while the drug market slips into their phones and pockets. We sit down with Principal Leland Hansen to unpack the day-to-day reality of school-based prevention, from vape pens hidden in hoodies to Snapchat dealers who change handles as fast as administrators can warn parents. Leland lays out a candid, practical playbook that pairs firm boundaries with a health-first response, including a six-week on-campus program for...
The most dangerous phrase in senior health might be “I’ve always handled it fine.” We dive into how aging reshapes the risks of alcohol, benzodiazepines, opioids, nicotine, and today’s ultra‑potent cannabis—and why familiar habits can turn hazardous after 65. Drawing on frontline cases and recent research, we unpack the baby boomer lived experience, from “mother’s little helper” to daily cocktail hours in senior communities, then connect it to the biology of aging: slower metabolism, reduced ...
Food isn’t just fuel and obesity isn’t just willpower. We sat down with bariatric surgeon Dr. Mark Vierra to unpack what weight-loss surgery really changes, why genetics and hormones can overpower the best intentions, and how a careful program decides who needs a scalpel and who needs a different plan. From GLP‑1 surges and ghrelin drops to PYY’s “brake,” we walk through how surgery reshapes appetite signals and why even modest weight loss can dramatically improve diabetes and cardiovascular ...
Your brain is ancient, but your world is not. We unpack how a hunter-gatherer reward system runs into modern dopamine superstimuli—engineered foods, infinite feeds, one-click buys, and potent drugs—and why that mismatch can spiral into addiction. Using clear language and vivid examples, we explain cravings, compulsion, and consequences through the lens of dopamine: how normal rewards help us survive, how substances hijack that circuitry, and how constant notifications keep the throttle stuck ...
A brightly colored box at a smoke shop should not hit like an opioid, yet that’s the business model behind “gas station heroin.” We dive into how tianeptine—a foreign antidepressant with mu‑opioid activity—landed on American countertops as a “dietary supplement,” and why that mirrors a broader playbook: repackage potent psychoactives, exploit loopholes, pivot fast when bans arrive, and let consumers pay the price. Joined by Matthew Lowe, executive director of the Global Kratom Coalition, we t...
Have you ever wondered what it's like to practice Addiction Medicine? In this episode I speak about what we do in Addiction Medicine - both generally as well as how we do things in our practice on the Central Coast of California. I share how our clinic treats substance use with low‑barrier access, kind care, peer support, and long‑acting injectables while partnering with therapists to address trauma and ADHD that often drive relapse. I also review two cases that reveal how PTSD an...
Dr. Casey Grover welcomes Dr. Sarah Nasir, an addiction medicine specialist, for an insightful conversation about effectively communicating with patients and addressing common myths in addiction treatment. • Personal journeys into addiction medicine that transformed both doctors' understanding of substance use disorders • The science behind medication-assisted treatment and why it's not "trading one addiction for another" • How the body adapts to chronic opioid use through three key mechanis...
Mental health conditions and addiction are deeply intertwined, creating complex treatment challenges that require addressing both simultaneously. Dr. Mark Hrymoc, an addiction psychiatrist, shares insights on effectively treating dual diagnosis patients through parallel treatment plans that address both substance use and underlying mental health conditions. • Dual diagnosis (co-occurring disorders) describes patients with both mental health conditions and substance use disorders • Many patie...
Dr. Casey Grover shares his personal struggle with food addiction and binge eating while exploring the science behind why certain foods trigger addictive behaviors in the brain. He examines how the food industry deliberately engineers products to maximize pleasure and consumption through carefully calibrated combinations of sugar, fat, and salt. • Food addiction involves an intense dopamine response to certain foods that varies between individuals based on genetic predisposition • The food i...
This episode is the fourth and final episode of a four part series on stigma. This episode is done in collaboration with Central Coast Overdose Prevention (CCODP) and was made possible by California Overdose Prevention Network Accelerator funding from the Public Health Institute's Center for Health Leadership and Impact. First responders face unique mental health challenges due to the high-stress nature of their work, but stigma often prevents them from seeking help when they're struggling. D...
This episode is the third episode of a four part series on stigma. This episode is done in collaboration with Central Coast Overdose Prevention (CCODP) and was made possible by California Overdose Prevention Network Accelerator funding from the Public Health Institute's Center for Health Leadership and Impact. In this episode, Wendy Solorio shares her raw, emotional journey as a mother supporting her daughter Gabrielle through addiction and into recovery, highlighting the often-overlooked imp...
This episode is the second episode of a four part series on stigma. This episode is done in collaboration with Central Coast Overdose Prevention (CCODP) and was made possible by California Overdose Prevention Network Accelerator funding from the Public Health Institute's Center for Health Leadership and Impact. In this episode, Gabrielle shares her powerful journey from fentanyl addiction to recovery, highlighting the unexpected moment of compassion from a correctional officer that changed ev...
This episode is the first episode of a four part series on stigma. This episode is done in collaboration with Central Coast Overdose Prevention (CCODP) and was made possible by California Overdose Prevention Network Accelerator funding from the Public Health Institute's Center for Health Leadership and Impact. In this episode, Ana Alamo shares her powerful journey from addiction to recovery, revealing how her personal struggles now help her connect with clients as a peer support specialist. ...
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