Why It’s Important We Talk About Addictions, Mental Health & Unresolved Trauma

Reading Time: 4 minutes

In today’s episode, I share the story of my trip to Victoria. It was there that I got surprising clarity and inspiration, and it turned into so much more than I had expected! Because of this, I’m making a big announcement about my podcast and everything, Hard Beautiful Journey!

Here are three reasons why you should listen to the full episode:

1. You’ll find out why May 31 is such an important day
2. You’ll learn about my podcast’s pivot
3. You’ll also hear my thoughts on why talking about addictions, mental health, and unresolved trauma is so vital

Episode Highlights

Why May 31 Is a Special Day

• Today would have been my beautiful brother Cory’s 49th birthday.
• I couldn’t imagine a better way to kick off this season than on his first birthday in heaven.
• For those who don’t know, my big brother died of a fentanyl drug overdose on October 27, 2021.
• It isn’t easy to lose someone, regardless of how they pass. But when you lose a loved one to a drug overdose is frustrating!
• My brother’s death inspired me to start making a difference in any way.

News About Hard Beautiful Journey

• I’m excited to announce that Hard Beautiful Journey will be a brand, not just a podcast!

The Podcast

• Hard Beautiful Journey will be a place where people can find community support and resources to help them navigate the world of addictions.
• You can’t help others unless you take care of yourself first!
• Because of this, upcoming episodes will be a lot of talk about how to set healthy boundaries.
• Other topics I’ll be discussing with some guests on this season of the podcast include: how to be supportive without being enabling, how to set a healthy example for your loved one, ADHD and addictions, the use of plant medicines, and psychedelic therapies, and much more.
• Next week, Aaron Huey, the founder of Beyond Risk and Back, will be interviewed.
• Aaron has 20 years of expertise dealing with parents of struggling kids and teens recovering from trauma, anxiety, depression, mental health issues, self-harm, drugs, and other issues.

The Hard Beautiful Journey Brand

• In addition to this podcast, the Hard Beautiful Journey brand will focus on coaching siblings of those struggling with addiction.
• Coaching will be done individually and in groups. 
• There will also be a membership with a spot to sign up for a waitlist (coming soon!).
• A few fundraising activities are being planned, and merchandise is in the works.

A Book and Journals

• I’m currently writing a book about my brother and me and the worlds of addiction, mental health, and unresolved trauma.
• A gratitude journal is another project that I am super excited about right now.
• Gratitude is a beautiful daily practice that has changed my life. 
• Cory and I used to text each other every morning with something we were grateful for that day, and it helped him get through some difficult times.
• When someone registers up for coaching with me, I will donate an amount to fund a gratitude diary for someone in a rehab center (I’m starting with the Medicine Hat Rehab Facility).
• While getting coached on this journey, you’ll be getting the help YOU need, but you’ll also be helping someone else get a gratitude journal to use during one of the most challenging struggles they’ll ever face.

The Importance of Talking About Heavy Topics

• The number of people who are dying is staggering! And the reasons why people become hooked on substances have skyrocketed.
• People are feeling more disconnected than ever before.
• One major problem is people are becoming hooked on drugs like Oxycontin, which gets legally prescribed to them by their doctor to ease the pain. Now they can’t live without it.
• There are documented stories of people who have grown addicted to drugs and alcohol to numb the agony and anguish caused by traumatic events.
• All these people need constant help, and loving and supporting someone who suffers from a substance abuse illness is difficult.
• Loved ones experience many of the same emotions as addicts, including anger, fear, helplessness, and resentment.
• For at least the last year of my brother’s life, I’d been suffering “anticipatory grief,” when you know it’s only a matter of time before they can no longer fight.

Powerful Quotes from this Episode

5:57 – “One thing I know for sure is that you can’t support anyone if you are not taking care of yourself first. Your well-being must come first to support yourself from a place of strength. I have seen it from personal experience that if you only focus on your loved one struggling and ignore yourself, it will take you down in a hurry.”

10:52 – “I already started grieving him before he was even gone. That was hard to realize and admit.”

I’m so glad you could join me for the first episode of Season 5!! 

And I hope you’re as excited as I am about my new podcast pillars and the Hard Beautiful Journey brand.

Are you enjoying the Hard Beautiful Journey podcast?

Click here to follow on Apple Podcasts. While there, please leave a 5-star rating and review. It would mean so much to me! Also, if you haven’t done so already, join the Hard Beautiful Journey community to connect with other like-minded people. 

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Thanks for listening,

Tiff