Transformations Recovery: Recent Episodes

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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”

-Birdy

Birdy 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

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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.” -Cecily

Suzanne recommends the book The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel Van Der Kolk. Buy it now in the links below:

PenguinRandomHouse-TheBodyKeepsTheScore

Amazon-TheBodyKeepsTheScore

Audible-TheBodyKeepsTheScore

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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/Alex

Dr. Steven M. Greer if you can see this... please make contact.

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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

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Roman and Cecily reminisce about everyone they interviewed in season two. There were some hilarious stories shared on the podcast and some heartbreaking ones too. A million thanks to everyone who let us record your story and to all our listeners around the world.

We are gearing up for Season Three, it's going to be great one.

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Individual Episode links from those interviewed in Season Two:

1. Sean Romin: www.discogs.com, lacounty.gov, latimes.com

2. Jack Grisham: Books, punkhostagepress.com, Movies, Music

3. Danielle: Last Fast Ride: The Life, Love and Death of a Punk Goddess

4. Zach

5. Scotty Schmidt: aka William S. Hayes "Burden of Concrete"

6. Russel: triumph-foundation.org, www.facebook.com/russel.burke.

7. Daniel: boartooth.com

8. Doug "Pineapple" Saladino: skateboardinghalloffame.org

9. Spencer: ShatteredFaithBand

10. Stephen Donnelly: "A Saint and a Sinner: The Rise and Fall of a Beloved Catholic Priest"

11. Kat

12. Mona: mauraandmona.com

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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, fucin' everything. And then my son and I reunited and it was like, fucing 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."

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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.”

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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

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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."

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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."

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Happy Holidays! Enjoy our bonus Travel Sober! episode. Roman, Cecily and Daniel talk world travel in sobriety.

Visit Daniel's tattoo shop boartooth.com

Check out Daniels recovery residence here: radlivingrr.com

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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.com

Visit 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.”

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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.org

Russel 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."

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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 Press
https://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?"

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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?"

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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?

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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."

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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.com

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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/

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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.

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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.

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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

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Roman meets up with Gordon to discuss life and transformation in episode 10. This episode is part one of two. Gordon grew up in Oklahoma and began drinking as a very young kid. He survived art school and slowly moved west while drinking, using, working in record stores and playing music. Episode 10 gives a glimpse of Gordon’s first shot at sobriety. Tune in next time for the second half of his story!

“I just… had gotten to this point where it was starting to stop being fun. For the first time-- ever. And I had been drinking for YEARS by the time I was 20 years old. I was tremendously lonely. And just drinkin’ like crazy. And it’s funny that I say that. That, like, I got to the point where I couldn’t take it another day. And there’s still three more years of my story of using, you know?”

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Episode 9 follows the journey of Arthur who came to the US as a refugee from Armenia. He describes his encounters with alcohol and drugs and the relief he found by using them. He takes us through the depths of soul stripping meth addiction and his encounters with the law. Most importantly, Arthur explains how honesty and helping others have given him meaning and happiness and how helping others is the most important thing we can do in life.

“Give yourself a chance… you deserve it. And you’re worth more, and you… you could help others. You know, if nothing else you could help. That’s like probably one of the greatest things you could do in life, before you leave this earth, is help others.”

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In episode 8 Roman and Cecily Cooper go backstage at LA’s House of Machines to interview infamous punk rock drummer Becky Wreck. Becky talks about how her work in sobriety revealed that gender inequality was the true source of her anger and drug use. She also professes her love for her current band Dirty Cakes and reminisces on her time drumming in the bands Lunachicks, La Muerte, and Clown Alley.

“Now that I know what it’s like to be sober, hey you know, I like myself now. I didn’t not like me because I was a woman, but I thought that was why I couldn’t be whoever I wanted to be.”

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Roman sits down with Decry singer Farrell Holtz in episode 7. They discuss his former life as a heroin and methamphetamine addict and the importance of faith, friends, humor, and Punk Rock in his recovery. 

“It was like music really didn’t even matter after that. It was all about shootin’ dope, shootin’ heroin”

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This week Roman interviews Michael Lynch, owner of Stairway Recovery Homes, Interstate Vape, and creator of Felony Fights. Michael discusses his own path to recovery as well as his desire to transform addicts into “people who help people.” Michael chronicles the difficulties of keeping recovering addicts safe from treatment center brokers, marketers, and profiteers.

“It’s hard enough to try to get through to a young person when they’re thinking, ‘man I haven’t even had fun yet.’ And in their mind, they think ‘yeah… I’ll stop using when I’m older,’ you know? And they don’t get that shot. And then you have these vultures trying to pick ‘em off too… all for their fu**in’ insurance policy.”

www.stairwayrecovery.com

www.interstatevape.com

felonyfights.com

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Roman interviews "Jane Doe" a former teenage meth addict who was in and out of jail for years. After a prison term, with the help of other sober addicts and alcoholics, she has created a fulfilling life for herself. 

"That 'frothy emotional appeal,' it doesn't work with us. The long talks and the crying and the bullshit doesn't get through to the alcoholic or the drug addict. We need action."

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In episode 4 Roman interviews Tommy, an illegal arms dealer, convict, and recovering addict. Tommy used to be a hardened emotionless inmate but has transformed himself into a sober, emotionally intelligent man with a great job and a strong appreciation for his family. All because he reached out for help. 

"Before, I didn't give a fuck about anybody else. Literally- I didn't care about my mom or my dad or anybody else... Today I am an emotional human being, I can participate in someone's life emotionally. And that's amazing for me."

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In episode 3 Roman interviews Aliza, a sober addict, author, and survivor. Aliza reflects on the difficulties she has encountered both in her addiction and in sobriety, and the solutions she has found to overcome them.

"The drugs are the smallest piece. And if we're not gonna figure out why we're doing it, we'll fill it with something else. Like bad guys. I mean, was I sober off of drugs and alcohol? Yeah. But I was finding other ways..."

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In this episode, Roman interviews Ashley about her former life as an armed robber and drug addict, and about how she stayed sober after losing a child.  "When I'm on drugs, turns out I like to do crime... I'm 5'2" but I feel like I'm 6'5" and I'm fkin' amazing... I became the person I fkin' hated with a passion... I wanted to get clean so bad."

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Transformations Care Residential Detox founder Roman Cooper interviews Joe, a violent criminal, drug addict and alcoholic who has transformed his life.

"I don't ever want history to repeat itself so I don't pick up no matter f**kin' what."