News and Happenings

Often when we hear about sex addiction, it’s used to excuse or justify bad behavior. In the last couple of years we can look to stories like Jeffery Toobin, Harvey Weinstein, and the Atlanta shooter Robert Long as examples of this. So how can we recognize and support people living with sex addiction and the stigma that comes with it? Nzinga talks to psychologist, sex expert and host of Sexology Podcast Dr. Nazanin Moali, to define sex addiction and pathways to recovery. Plus, Nzinga and Dr. Moali answer a listener question.

During a small retreat, six people in recovery discovered the way their childhood trauma played a part in the addictions they had. The retreat and the histories of each of the participants were part of the documentary Uprooting Addiction. This week, Nzinga sits down with two of the creators of the film, social worker and addiction specialist Hope Payson, and filmmaker Tory Jadow. The three talk about the way childhood trauma is often overlooked as a risk for addiction, and the ways those who’ve experienced trauma can survive and eventually thrive.

One woman’s family seems to be addicted to chaos, but she’s not sure if that counts as an addiction. Plus, a man is curious about the similarities between adderall and meth, in the hopes of understanding his own jump from one to the other. And another woman cannot stop obsessively checking her ex’s social media accounts. Nzinga answers all of these questions and more in our first Ask Me Anything of Season 2.

What started out as chronic pain for David Smith’s father, ended in a fatal opioid overdose. In the years that followed, David lost a brother and sister to opioids. Like so many families, David feels like the healthcare system failed his family. He tells Nzinga how he feared he would become his Dad one day. The two talk about intergenerational trauma, David’s fatherhood journey, and how we can redefine healthcare to actually prevent sickness instead of waiting to treat it.

Representative Leslie Herod knows what it’s like to have a family member struggle with addiction and incarceration. But she also knows that this is more a failure of a greater system than a failure of a sibling, and that’s informed the policy and programs she’s spearheaded around mental health, substance misuse, and the criminal justice system. Nzinga and Representative Herod talk about how current systems of policing and treating substance misuse not only bypass treating mental health, but often make it worse. Luckily, Representative Herod has a program in Denver, Colorado that has actually worked.

Over the last 14 months, everyone in this country has experienced some type of loss. But as a nation, we’re not always great at talking about our grief. So this week, Nzinga talks to grief counselor Claire Bidwell Smith about how there is no “right” way to grieve and the first steps we can all take to start to reckon with our losses from 2020.

Georgia Hardstark quit meth on her own when she was 14 years old. Today, she thinks about this youthful willpower in her moments of self doubt, which she still has despite her huge success as one of the hosts of the hit comedy-true crime podcast My Favorite Murder. Georgia talks to Nzinga about the childhood factors that lead her to meth, her early recovery journey, and what she’s noticed since she started a new path of recovery — quitting drinking one month ago.

The intersection between addiction and the holidays can be challenging. Even more so when you add a global pandemic into the mix. So Nzinga is ending Season 1 of In Recovery by answering listener questions. We hear from a woman who is worried about the toxic environment that will come with her wife’s return from rehab, even if her drinking won’t. Another listener asks about how to cope with so much loss and grief in isolation, and a third wants to know how to handle the guilt trip she gets when she tries to set boundaries.

Alicia called in about her husband’s gambling and asked one of the more common questions about uncommon addictions –– is he in denial or am I overreacting? When it comes to the more subtle or nuanced addictions, it can be easy to second guess our concern or convince someone they are overreacting. Which is exactly what happened for Alicia. So, Nzinga helps her answer this question and gives her tools to talk to her husband about gambling.

Please note, In Recovery contains mature themes and may not be appropriate for all listeners.

Air proudly identifies as a Black woman in long term recovery. Today, that’s a source of strength, but that wasn’t always the case — she says she felt uncomfortable in her skin since the day she was born. In an intimate and vulnerable conservation with Nzinga, Air shares how she’s learned to take the moments of discomfort and uncertainty and use them to connect with herself, her community, and her identity. It is in these harder moments that Air finds the most beauty and pride in her life.