SMART Recovery® Podcast

A recent survey found that 90% of US adults believe that when it comes to treating addictive behaviors, patients and doctors should discuss more than one treatment option. Unfortunately, the reality is that 44% of those in recovery said their provider discussed only one treatment option, and another 10% said they never saw a provider at all. To discuss this issue we talk with Dr. Joe Gerstein, the founding president of SMART Recovery and a retired Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. He has personally facilitated over 4,000 SMART Recovery meetings, almost 800 of which were held in prisons, and he has invented tools currently used in the program. Dr. Gerstein has delivered approximately 100 lectures and workshops on SMART Recovery, many of those that include discussion of the importance of choice in recovery pathways. Links: Mobilize Recovery survey on choice in recovery Mobilize Recovery website Motivation and Hierarchy of Values video presentation by Joe Gerstein

What the issue of "harm reduction" means in both principle and practice can be confusing. Does it mean endorsing negative behaviors or not caring what people do to themselves? Or does it mean supporting people wherever they are in their recovery journey and stages of change? According to the folks at the nonprofit agency Franklin Street Harm Reduction (FSHR) in Olympia, Washington it means, first and foremost, treating all individuals they encounter with respect, dignity and love.  In this podcast we speak with FSHR Co-Director Christina McVeigh and Lyssa Hammons, a Harm Reduction Support Specialist at the agency. Christina is a licensed MH counselor whose career has focused on Olympia's youth and families for the last twenty years. Lyssa is an advocate who brings her lived experience to the outreach work she does as she addresses complex social issues and offers support.  We have a wonderful conversation that touches on what low barrier services in the context of harm reduction means, how trauma gets addressed at FSHR, and what it means to stay connected to one's output rather than another person's outcome. Additional links: Wildflower Alliance Intentional Peer Support   

It's often dificult for family and friends of those struggling with addictive behaviors to find the help they need as they navigate ongoing challenges and changes in circumstances. One resource that exists for families is called The Family Recovery Academy The founder of this organization is Amber Hollingsworth, a former addiction counselor. Amber has also developed a YouTube channel called "Put the Shovel Down" that offers practical recovery advice and is approaching one million subscribers. Amber says she practices "nondenominational recovery" where the specific principles and practices underneath a recovery pathway are not as important as a person finding that pathway useful in their effort to change. She believes that most of those who are struggling already know what they need to do and her job is to help motivate them to make the change from within. Amber believes that building people up is going to produce better results than blaming, and that when our behaviors line up with our values then we like ourselves more and pursue positive achievements.           

Joseph Ryan has battled substance use for decades, and suffered a lot of trauma along the way. In that, he is certainly not unique. But where he went with those challenges and how he reached the other side with his current role as an aftercare coordinator is a story worth listening to.  Joseph is a SMART Recovery Facilitator in Vermont and a huge proponent of making whatever changes are necessary to live a life you want to live, instead of succumbing to the crushing waves of addiction.  In this podcast we talk about how incarceration became an accepted fact of life, how many individuals in his life were dealing with their own issues and were not able to support him, what an honest look in the mirror told Joseph about himself, and how he now encourages others to cast their vision to become the person they always wanted to be. Released 8/12/26

Englewood Health provides a wide array of services, including operating an outpatient addiction medicine program in locations across northern New Jersey. This program delivers patient-centered, nonjudgmental, evidence-based care for people living with substance use disorders. Two key staff members of this program are Dr. Sharde McLeish and Richard Moses. Dr. McLeish specializes in addiction medicine and her main clinical interests are substance use disorders; community outreach and education; and wellness. She received her MD from St. George's University School of Medicine, in Grenada, West Indies, did an internal medicine residency at Englewood Hospital before completing an addiction medicine fellowship at Yale School of Medicine, in New Haven, CT.  Richard Moses earned his MSW at Rutgers University and is a LCSW with additional certification in drag and alcohol counseling. He brings his lived experience to his work with a variety of individuals facing substance use and mental health challenges. In this podcast, McLeish and Moses share their personal and professional journeys and why they feel so passionate about helping others navigate their own recovery pathway. Released 7/27/26