Un-Addiction with Nzinga Harrison, MD

This week, our producer - Jada - and Nzinga chat about Jada's recovery experience.  As a transnational adoptee with white adopters, Jada's experience as an Asian American includes separation from her family, country, and culture of origin. 
 
In this episode:
- 2020 lockdown impact on mental health
- C-PTSD
- The adoptee experience of not feeling belonging anywhere
- Rave scene
- Religious trauma
- Christian...

This week, Gregory Gourdet (James Beard winner; Top Chef), Chef and Founder of Kann and Sousòl (Portland, OR) joined us to talk about his nine years of active addiction, the seed of recovery that was planted by a sous chef half his age, Black excellence, a Haitian immigrant experience, and SO MUCH MORE. This episode highlights the resources available to F&B industry professionals. If that's you and you're interested in making s...

This week, we're airing a conversation between Dr. Nzinga Harrison and Casey Davidson on the Hello Someday Podcast.

In this episode:

• Risk factors (learned and inherited) for substance use disorder
• Scripts for talking about substance use
• Stigma and how to minimize the harmful impacts

If you're a sober-curious woman, connect with Casey: @caseymdavidson

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📞Send us a voicemail! If you are black or brown and want to ...

Flavor Flaaav!

William Jonathan Drayton Jr., AKA Flavor Flav (Public Enemy; Rock and Roll Hall of Fame) joins us to talk about his recovery journey from crack, cocaine, alcohol, and cigarettes. He credits his journey to God and his mother.

In this episode:

• Flavor Flav's inspiration for taking his first steps toward recovery
• What keeps Flav on the path, and what keeps him from meetings
• The role of purpose and meaning in recover...

Jessica Hoppe is the author of "First In the Family: A Story of Survival, Recovery, and the American Dream." Her memoir details her path of decolonizing recovery and delineating the impacts of systemic harm from individual responsibility. In this episode:

• Jessica's family history of mental health and the US government's narrative of the "war on drugs."
• How systemic harm, hyper-independence, and affirmative action built a narra...

Laura Cathcart Robbins joins us for Season 4 of Un-Addiction. Author of "Stash: My Life In Hiding," Laura discussed how she discovered that her life in the spotlight and Hollywood lifestyle, which was curated to help her avoid suffering, failed to do so, and the discovery process she underwent to find a life that aligns with her values...and lived to write about it.

In this episode:

• Laura's intentions with Stash
• Laura's journe...

Laura Willoughby MBE is the founder of the world’s largest mindful drinking movement, Club Soda, and the UK’s foremost expert in low and no alcoholic drinks. Laura began a cultural revolution of not drinking "for tonight or good" after she decided to quit drinking and attended an unethical workshop on alcohol cessation.

In this episode, you'll learn how Club Soda evolved into a campaign, the work Laura's doing to make pubs in the U...

This week's episode is a recap of some conversations from seasons 1 and 2 that highlighted the impact of addiction and mental health stigma. If you've been listening for the past year, you already know substance use disorders and mental health struggles often come hand-in-hand. Even if you haven't been listening, you probably know this from personal experience. Our goal with this podcast is to lessen the impact of stigma, have vuln...

To celebrate Pride Month, we couldn't think of a better person to talk about pride and gratitude than Mrs. Kasha Davis. This episode is a re-play of Dr. Harrison's conversation with Ed Popil, AKA Mrs. Kasha Davis. Note the roles that gratitude, stigma, shame, and community played in Ed's journey.

Ed Popil, AKA Mrs. Kasha Davis, and Dr. Nzinga Harrison discuss spirituality as a key role in Ed's recovery journey, allowing him to unco...

This episode is dedicated to our younger listeners looking to be reflected in the recovery community.

Not everyone who finds recovery lost a career, house, or family. Lauren McQuistin (@brutalrecovery) is a former opera singer who now writes about the messy, awkward, and unsettling parts of recovery. Attempting sobriety for the first time at the age of 19, Lauren shares about self-loathing, feeling of insignificance, and lack of be...

Marty Walsh has spent his life fighting for working people, as a labor leader, as a public official, and as a private citizen. Marty, the son of Irish immigrants, was born and raised in Boston’s Dorchester neighborhood. In 1997, at the age of 29, Marty won election to the Massachusetts House of Representatives, where he spent 16 years fighting for workers’ rights and good jobs. In 2013, he was elected Mayor of Boston, an office he ...

Zac Clark is a mental health, wellness, and addiction recovery advocate. As Founder and CEO of Release Recovery and the founding board member of the Release Recovery Foundation, Zac Clark is dedicated to providing comprehensive, innovative, and individualized care to all those in need who can't afford care, specifically folks in underserved communities. Zac talked openly about his addiction in S16 of ABC's The Bachelorette in 2020.

Dan Peres, author of, "As Needed For Pain: A Memoir of Addiction" joins us on the pod to talk about his "garden variety" disease of addiction to opioids, to which he was introduced after a back injury. He and Dr. Harrison discuss what someone who is addicted to opioids looks like, what kept Dan from seeking help years after he recognized he needed it, smuggling 1000 Vicodin from Tijuana, the magic of receiving support from the reco...

Welcome to season 3 of Un-Addiction, as we dive deep into the importance of rest, taking time for yourself, and the pressures of being a high-performing Black girl, with Khadi Oluwatoyin. Khadi is the founder of Sober Black Girls Club (SBGC), a 501(c)(3) collective that provides resources and support to Black girls, women, femmes, and non-binary folks practicing sobriety, in recovery, or considering it. Sober Black Girls Club was b...

Dave Manheim joins us from the Dopey Podcast, your source for drugs, addiction, and dumb sh*t. Dave and Nzinga share a deep love that goes way back. Listen while Dave takes us through his addiction journey, beginning with marijuana. Don't think weed is addictive? WRONG.

Check out the Dopey Podcast: https://dopeypodcast.com/. Subscribe on Spotify / Apple: https://spoti.fi/3HTyqzG / https://apple.co/3udWtGJ

Follow Dopey on IG, YouTu...

Daryl McGraw, founder of Formerly Inc joins Dr. Harrison to talk about his lived experience in the prison system and what lessons and blessings he's reaped from his journey so far. Daryl shares the "sauce" to his recovery formula, which includes recovery capital, a term he teaches us, and why making consistent deposits gives him the strength he needs to get through trying times.

Check out Daryl's Ted Talk: "Urban Trauma Unchecked i...

Maia Szalavitz, New York Times best-selling author of "Unbroken Brain" and "Undoing Drugs," joins Dr. Harrison to help us unlearn tough love, rock bottoms, and autism stereotypes. Deeply passionate about rectifying the inequality in drug policy and harm reduction, Maia gives us a tour of her recovery journey. If you're curious about how to navigate autism, prescribed medication, and sobriety, don't miss this episode.

Check out Maia...

Ana Marie Cox joins Dr. Nzinga Harrison to talk about everything AA and sobriety bring her, from infinite miracles to unconditional love. Ana candidly shares what it feels like to be in a manic episode, how recovery has taught her how to treat herself as someone with bipolar disorder, and how to be intersectional in recovery. If you are in recovery, are considering AA, or are the child of an alcoholic, this episode is for you.

Ana ...