Transformations Recovery

In season 3, episode four Roman and Cecily interview Diana, aka Birdy. An ex gang member turned registered nurse. Who describes herself as “disaster, lucky and miracle”. She was able to get clean and get away from gang life so she could save lives and fight on the front lines of the COVID pandemic.“A lot of times I say lucky because I do love a charmed life. The life I’m able to live now I’m very lucky to have. Because the life that I lived before.. I should be dead or in jail.”-Birdy“This life that I have been living has been so abnormal but it has felt normal for so long”-Birdy“So you went from being pretty much a threat to human life to working your ass off to try and save lives during the pandemic?” -Roman “Yea, it’s the right thing to do” -BirdyBirdy is the editor and host of PNX News. She gets to travel the world and create videos with various punk bands. https://youtube.com/@KarlCBoyer?si=1GLifQ-KqHgjBTAp

In season 3 episode 3 Roman and Cecily sit down with Suzanne, a marriage and family therapist and sober alcoholic. She discusses how she has handled heartbreak in sobriety and the struggle of processing sexual assault.“I didn’t know that you could navigate life just pretending like it never happened. Well this rocked my world, completely rocked my world… and life has been really hard, right now. It’s been a really big struggle for me. Hard because as a mental health professional, I logically know these things, but I don’t think I should be feeling these things. Fifty percent of me says what happened was wrong and the other fifty percent of me says you were drunk of course that happened to you.” -Suzanne“Well, that’s a struggle that a lot of women in Alcoholics Anonymous go through.” -CecilySuzanne recommends the book The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel Van Der Kolk. Buy it now in the links below:PenguinRandomHouse-TheBodyKeepsTheScoreAmazon-TheBodyKeepsTheScoreAudible-TheBodyKeepsTheScore  Email Transformations Recovery Podcast with questions or comments at podcast@transformationscare.comVisit our website www.transformationscare.comBecome our Patreon on Patreon 

In season 3 episode 2 of the Transformations Recovery Podcast Roman and Cecily talk with Liz, aka Alex, about the West Virginia pill boom of the mid 2000’s, aliens, and being a young heroin addict and sex worker who made it out alive. "It went from like- everyone’s doing Oxys and Opanas to like, the market is just stripped. And there’s no Oxys and Opanas anymore and it’s like—what the fuck do you do?” - Liz/Alex“Shoot heroin." -Roman and Cecily“You shoot heroin, obviously. Ha ha. What else would you do? Nothing else fuckin’ mattered. So like, you know fast forward, a few years I’m a senior in high school, you know, and like, I’m shooting heroin. And like that progression was pretty crazy and super fast too.” -Liz/AlexDr. Steven M. Greer if you can see this... please make contact. Email Transformations Recovery Podcast with questions or comments at podcast@transformationscare.comVisit our website www.transformationscare.comBecome our Patron on Patreon HERE

Welcome to season 3 episode 1 of the Transformations Recovery Podcast! On the season premiere Roman and Cecily talk with Brianne Davis actor, writer, podcaster, and 11 year sober member of SLAA- Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous. "Yes I drink, I am not an alcoholic. I am sober in sex and love addicts anonymous which is also a 12 step program... For the first time in my life I hold my own energy. And nobody's taking it from me."Check out Brianne's book “Secret Life of a Hollywood Sex and Love Addict,” her podcast “Secret Life,” and the audio version of her book and more at secretlifenovel.com Email Transformations Recovery Podcast with questions or comments at podcast@transformationscare.comVisit our website www.transformationscare.comBecome our Patreon on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/user?u=28772609&fan_landing=true

Roman and Cecily chop it up with Mona, a clean and sober addict, former international drug smuggler, mother, artist, and classic coffee shop waitress. "There was a lot of heroin, a lot of speed, a lot of booze, a lot of like, fuc*in' everything. And then my son and I reunited and it was like, fuc*ing unbelievable. It felt like it filled in all of these pieces that were really broken and I didn't even know how broken that they were. I had no clue that a lot of this was dealing with trauma of losing him. I didn't know."Please email Transformations Recovery Podcast with questions or comments at podcast@transformationscare.comVisit our website www.transformationscare.comBecome our Patreon on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/user?u=28772609&fan_landing=true 

Former religious cult member Kat talks with Roman and Cecily on today's episode. Kat is also a sober alcoholic and mom navigating shared custody of her child.“I was born into [a] religion... it’s definitely a cult. I was kinda passive aggressive when it came to my religion. Until I had my daughter. So for me it wasn’t worth making any sort of move, you know, just for me. I didn’t feel like I was worth it, you know? But when I realized that my kid was gonna grow up in it- that’s when I grew a backbone I think, and really made steps to get out.” Please email Transformations Recovery Podcast with questions or comments at podcast@transformationscare.comVisit our website www.transformationscare.comBecome our Patreon on Patreon! www.patreon.com

On today’s episode Roman and Cecily zoom within Stephen Donnelly: Catholic Priest, clean and sober cocaine and alcohol addict, and coauthor of “A Saint and a Sinner: The Rise and Fall of a Beloved Catholic Priest,” published in 2020. “A Saint and a Sinner” is available on Kindle, Amazon, Barnes & Noble and in audio book format.Visit asaintandasinner.com to learn more about Stephen Donnelly’s fascinating story Please email Transformations Recovery Podcast with questions or comments at podcast@transformationscare.comVisit our website www.transformationscare.comBecome our Patreon on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/user?u=28772609&fan_landing=true

On today's episode Roman and Cecily visit Spencer, singer of the legendary punk rock band Shattered Faith, father, and drug addict."I feel fortunate that I'm a drug addict. And I feel super fortunate that I was able to find a way to get out of it. People that are- I'm 60 years old now, I just turned 60 in August. People that are my age in punk rock, are clean. Or their dead."

Roman and Cecily visit Doug "Pineapple" Saladino, OG professional skateboarder, computer wiz, and clean member of Narcotics Anonymous. "It amazes me the amount of skaters out there that are actually in recovery. It's super cool man."Please email us with questions or comments at podcast@transformationscare.comVisit our website www.transformationscare.comBecome our Patron on Patreon! www.patreon.com 

Happy Holidays! Enjoy our bonus Travel Sober! episode. Roman, Cecily and Daniel talk world travel in sobriety.Visit Daniel's tattoo shop boartooth.comCheck out Daniels recovery residence here: radlivingrr.comPlease email us with questions or comments at podcast@transformationscare.comVisit our website www.transformationscare.comBecome our Patreon on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/user?u=28772609&fan_landing=true 

On today’s episode Roman and Cecily talk with Daniel Werder, owner of Boartooth Tattoo and RAD Living sober house in Sherman Oaks CA. He is a tattoo artist who has toured the world tattooing, and an OG b-boy break dancer, all thanks to getting sober at 19. Check out Daniel's tattoo shop at boartooth.comVisit the RAD Living sober house website here radlivingrr.com“I’m fucking powerless over it. I made the connection when I was fighting with a girlfriend my first year of sobriety. I had been seeing this retaining wall I wanted to tag. And out of nowhere I’m like, I’m gonna go paint that. And like, I didn’t put it together in that moment but... a helicopter came and I ran.... and I got away... it was fuckin’ gnarly. And I got back to the apartment... and I was like, 'that was me checking out from being upset about this girl.' And I made that connection. I had been sober a little bit... it’s funny, it’s, like, a long process right? It’s like, not an event, you don’t just get sober and say like, ‘oh man I’m not, like, dealing with feeling upset about a girl I’m fighting with and I’m painting graffiti to escape.’ I actually want to stop doing that to like actually show up for myself.”Please email us with questions or comments at podcast@transformationscare.comVisit our website www.transformationscare.comBecome our patron on Patreon! www.patreon.com

Roman and Cecily meet up with Russel, an advocate of positive thinking, a mentor and motivational speaker, and a survivor of an accident that left him paralyzed from the neck down. Russel is a mentor and motivational speaker who specializes in helping newly paralyzed people through the Triumph Foundation. Check them out here: triumph-foundation.orgRussel also co-hosts the podcast Talking Sobriety with Colin Morrison. You can listen to that here: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/talking-sobriety"Life's too short, you know? We never know what tomorrow will bring us. And the people that are grouches, grumps, and think life sucks-- I'm like, bro, if i can live a good life dude, you can live a good one. No matter what. I don't care what you're going through. Keep your head up and f*ckin' stay positive and you know, there's always a good to a bad."Please email us with questions or comments at podcast@transformationscare.comVisit our website www.transformationscare.comBecome our patron on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/user?u=28772609&fan_landing=true

Roman and Cecily hang out with Scotty Schmidt aka William S. Hayes. Career thief, skateboarder, and author.Check out his new book "A Burden of Concrete" released by Punk Hostage Presshttps://punkhostagepress.com/burden-of-concrete/"Even before I'd gotten into it I wanted to be perceived as that dude. You know what I mean? That crazy kinda guy who's like, down for whatever, you know, all that kinda stupid shit. But yeah, when I smoked weed and drank it became like, that was really my gig. You know what I mean? Skateboarding was a blast but i loved, you know, when the night was over and we're fuckin' around that was like, that was really where I was at, you know? That's what I wanted to do was like, you know, that kinda shit. Till you can acknowledge the fact that drugs and alcohol... that you're fucked, you know what I mean? With that shit... I mean everything's a stepping stone to something else-- if you don't die. You know what I mean? But until that point you're screwed. At least, until that point I'm screwed. You know what I mean?"Please email us with questions or comments at podcast@transformationscare.comVisit our website www.transformationscare.comBecome our patron on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/user?u=28772609&fan_landing=true

Roman visits Zach on episode 4 of season 2. Zach is a recovering fentanyl addict, former drug dealer, and sexual assault survivor. "One of my favorite things about just being sober is… now there’s people that don’t even know me for who I was… I used to, you know, I ‘accidentally’ ran guns when I was 18… I am no longer that guy making you strip at knife point in the alley. And it’s like, you wouldn’t know that looking at me today… That’s my favorite part about it. You look at someone who’s a recovered alcoholic, you don’t see them for what they were, you see them for who they are now… One foot stuck in the past, one foot in the future, you’re pissing on today, you know?"Please email us with questions or comments at podcast@transformationscare.comVisit our website www.transformationscare.comBecome our Patreon on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/user?u=28772609&fan_landing=true

Roman and Cecily sit down with Danielle, OG skater, punk rocker, and addict in recovery. Danielle chronicles her experiences navigating the streets as a young Butch woman doing crime, skating, finding punk rock, and falling in love in LA in the 80s and 90s. "They put me with another Butch woman, her name was Cindy and she looked like Fred Flintstone. And across the hallway was my girlfriend and this girl, her name was Faith. She was a 15-year-old prostitute. One day she got fuckin’ caught up real bad with a john and beat the fuck out of and raped. Cindy had a crush on her. Cindy was so sad and like ‘fuck those motherfuckers.’ She’s like, ‘Danielle, you wanna do something with me?’ I’m like, ‘Yeah dude, whatever.’ Cindy came up with this plan to have Faith go and grab johns off Sepulveda, take 'em behind Denny’s and we would wait with baseball bats and when she got their fuckin’ pants down she would go like that and we’d drag them out and beat them and take their wallets and whatever shit they had. We did it to like 40 people before the cops got involved. And then we got busted. But we kinda felt like we took out revenge on these fools, you know?Please email us with questions or comments at podcast@transformationscare.comVisit our website www.transformationscare.comBecome our Patreon on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/user?u=28772609&fan_landing=tru

Roman and Cecily visit T.S.O.L. singer Jack Grisham at his home in LA to talk long-term sobriety, artistic pursuits, touring while sober, and religion. "You know, it was crazy. And I'd been doing shit since I was a kid... I ran off with a carny! My family didn't even look for me. And I asked my mom... I go, "remember when I ran off with the carny?" She goes, "Yeah." ... I go, "And uh... you didn't think about callin' the cops?!" She goes, "No. You were different." ... "We knew you'd be back." That's what she said! "We knew you'd be back!" Are you fuckin' kidding me? I was gone for weeks! Man. Livin' under bridges and shit. With some carnival worker. Just, you know... craziness."Please email us with questions or comments at podcast@transformationscare.comVisit our website www.transformationscare.comBecome our Patreon on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/user?u=28772609&fan_landing=true

Welcome back! In the season 2 premiere our host Roman Cooper is at it again talking homelessness, punk rock, and substance abuse counseling with Sean Romin. Born to a hippy mother who was friends with members of the Manson Family in Southern California, Sean Romin has gone from young drug addict to homeless outreach advocate all while passionately pursuing punk rock as a member of Decry, Schleprock and The Generators.  “I remember I’d snort a line of meth and I’d literally feel the sense of humanity just leave my body. It just is gone. It just pours out of you and then you’re like, you know, how you are when you’re on substances and you don’t feel… Being able to feel- it’s great! Being able to have emotions, being able to cry… and to be able to put that in your music. Because, you know, if you can’t feel the emotion, then how can you put in in your music? You can’t.” Reach out with questions or comments by emailing us at podcast@transformationscare.comVisit our website at www.transformationscare.comVisit the Transformations Recovery Podcast’s Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/user?u=28772609&fan_landing=true Learn more about what Sean Romin does by clicking on these inspiring links below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEk-34dCaEE https://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-lopez-meth-homeless-20190629-story.html https://abc7.com/homeless-outreach-shelter-los-angeles/5290005/

In episode 12, the season finale, Roman and Sammy interview Trip. Trip tells us his epic tale of transformation which began in India. During his teenage years in Calcutta, he experienced revolutionary unrest. He went on to volunteer at Mother Teresa's Home for the Dying. He was given shock treatment as an attempt to cure his addiction, and on his way to one of the first Indian rehabilitation centers shot heroin in the Bengal Tiger Reserve. Trip's recovery crosses continents, his story of transformation asserts that all addicts can relate to the same feelings of desperation regardless of where they are in the world. www.transformationscare.com www.patreon.com/TransformationsRecoveryPodcast  

Roman and Cecily say thanks to everyone who has participated. Your stories of Transformation are inspiring and AMAZING! Another big thanks to our listeners and everyone who is sharing, rating and reviewing, it means a lot to us.

In part 2 of Gordon's story, we hear about relapse, the consequences of his using, his relationship with recovery, and how much better his life has become now that he is sober.   "When I finally got there I was like- I don't give a shit what happens. I just don't want another day like this. I'll do anything they say. Right now... I mean, you know, I was just so overjoyed to not have to live like that anymore, man. To just not be in the middle of that. It's, it's... It's a fuckin' fire pit of hell, man. It sucks!"   Don't forget you can become a patron of the Transformations Recovery Podcast by clicking this link:   https://www.patreon.com/user?u=28772609&fan_landing=true   Your patronage will help us keep this podcast going. It will also help us scholarship an addict at the Transformations Care residential detox facility!    Visit our website here: https://www.transformationscare.com