Together We Recover

10/12/21 • 48 min

In this very moving and honest interview, Shelly Dutch and Amanda share their personal stories of recovering from addiction and co-occurring mental health conditions. Themes that are highlighted include: addiction is a chronic, relapsing, emotional, spiritual, and physical medical condition that requires lifelong attention and treatment; predisposition to addiction can run in families; substance use disorders often co-occur with other mental health symptoms including but not limited to anxiety, depression, disordered eating, self-esteem challenges, trauma, and other co-occurring addictions; addiction impacts the entire family and community, and family members have their own healing work to do alongside their loved ones with addiction; women in particular face unique challenges re: prioritizing self-care and obtaining treatment for addiction; a holistic treatment approach (body-mind-spirit-family-& more) can help recovery; there is lots of hope for recovery from addiction, and mentors/community support can make a huge difference in maintaining successful, long-term recovery from substance use disorders and many other mental health conditions!
Shelly Dutch has dedicated her working life to people seeking recovery and their families. She has built community and tools to support long term recovery including founding Connections Counseling LLC, founding Recovery Foundation (a 501(c)(3) to support individuals seeking recovery), co-founding the non-profit recovery focused Horizon High School, and co-founding the TMS Center of Madison for medication resistant, severe depression. Shelly emphasizes mentoring, service, accountability, and personal connections as keys to recovery. Shelly strengthens local recovery supports via partnerships with various community organizations, staff training and development, and relentless support of internship and fellowship training with local and national institutes of higher learning. In 2018, Ms. Dutch was recognized by the National Association of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Counselors (NAADAC) as the Mel Schulstad professional of the year.
Amanda is a yoga instructor, businesswoman, mother, and a phenomenal mentor to other women at Connections Counseling.
Connect with Shelly and her team here:
https://connectionscounseling.com
This episode was edited by Kai of "Fam Band" and is dedicated to Jordon of "Frankly Speaking". You can listen to both of these talented musicians/bands on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, or check them out here:
https://www.famband.co
https://www.franklyspeakingmusic.org
If you'd like to watch the complete video of this interview and be present on live interviews like this one in the future, sign up for the Women Strong membership at womenstrongtogether.com!

Previous Episode

AWESOME Self-Care and Retreats!

Dr. Mary Rondeau is a naturopathic doctor and functional medicine expert and the co-founder of the Wholeness Center, a cutting edge integrative mental health clinic in Fort Collins, Colorado. Dr. Mary has a very busy clinical practice and she believes that a crucial component of any successful physical and mental wellness plan is self-care! Jennifer Ciplet, is a certified divorce coach and the Chief Creative Officer and co-founder of Avail Divorce, a membership-based library of divorce resources, tools, plus a community of support! Jenn works primarily with women who have left (or are leaving) marriages to pursue and discover the authentic, vibrant lives they are most longing to live. She helps her clients break through feeling "stuck" and get clear about their next steps with confidence, new knowledge and integrity. Jenn has also led numerous international retreats! In this interview, Dr. Mary, Dr. Brooke, and Jenn discuss the importance of self-care in general, how challenging it can be (and how vital it is) for women to put their self-care first, and these 3 women share passionately about how transformative retreats can be for so many reasons (this interview also talks specifically about their wellness retreat occurring in Nicaragua in April 2022-- The Sand, Surf, and Soul Retreat).

Check out the Sand, Surf, and Soul Retreat here:
https://sandsurfandsoulretreat.godaddysites.com

Check out Coco Loco Eco-Resort here (they offer several retreat options):
https://www.cocolocoecoresort.com
Connect with Dr. Mary here:
@maryrondeaund on IG
@wholenesscenterpc on FB
https://www.wholeness.com

Connect with Jenn here:
@availdivorce on IG
https://availdivorce.com
If you'd like to be present for future Women Strong live expert interviews, visit www.womenstrongtogether.com to sign up for the Women Strong membership!

Next Episode

The Relationship Whisperer

Dr. Beth O'Brien PhD (AKA "the relationship whisperer") has been a psychologist in practice for 25 years, specializing in couples work. Dr. O'Brien utilizes PACT (Psychobiological Approach to Couple Therapy) principles, and in this interview she shares some tools that can help couples develop and strengthen their bond. There were tons more relationship tips that were edited out of this wonderful interview, as well as insights regarding the pandemic's impact on couples, so sign up for the Women Strong membership if you'd like to learn more about this topic!
Connect with Dr. O'Brien (and read her published articles on relationships!) here:
https://bethobriencounseling.com
The Women Strong member who asks a question toward the end of this recording gave permission for her conversation with Dr. O'Brien to be included in this podcast episode. Her name was edited out of the interview to protect the anonymity of our private Women Strong community.
This episode was edited by Kai of "Fam Band", filling in for Jordon of "Frankly Speaking". You can listen to both of these talented musicians/bands on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, or check them out here:
https://www.famband.co
https://www.franklyspeakingmusic.org
If you'd like to watch the complete video of this interview and be present on live interviews like this one in the future, sign up for the Women Strong membership at womenstrongtogether.com!