Right Turn Radio Podcast

Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin joins us to talk about what he recently described as "a full-blown heroin crisis" in his state. And filmmaker Bess O'Brien talks about her documentary "The Hungry Heart", a film that takes an "intimate look at the often hidden world of prescription drug addiction through the world of Vermont Pediatrician Fred Holmes who works with patients struggling with this disease."

Allison Moore was a young vice cop in Hawaii who became addicted to methamphetamine - the very drug she was working to get off the streets. Allison joins us to share her story, her recovery, and talk about her new book “SHARDS: A Young Vice Cop Investigates Her Darkest Case of Meth Addiction-Her Own”.

Is it time to rethink psychiatry and the way we treat mental health in the U.S.? Author Robert Whitaker ("Mad In America", "Anatomy Of An Epidemic"), writer Laura Delano (RecoveringfromPsychiatry.com), and psychiatrist Dr. Mark Green join us to discuss the state of mental health care in America.

With 1 in 5 American teenagers meeting the medical criteria for addiction, we may need to rethink our approach to educating kids struggling with drugs and alcohol. Three guests join us in the studio: Michelle Lipinski, Director of the North Shore Recovery High School in Beverly, MA, Eli, a student at North Shore Recovery High School, and Jumaane Kendrick, Community Outreach Specialist at ABCD's William J. Ostiguy High School in Boston. Josh Bennett-Johnson fills in for Abby Dean.

We're talking about managing pain, preventing addiction to pain killers, and the risks and challenges facing people in pain every day. Judy Foreman, author of “A Nation in Pain”, and Janice Kauffmann, Vice-President of Addiction Treatment Services for North Charles Foundation, Inc., and Director of Addictions Consultation for the Dept. of Psychiatry at Cambridge Health Alliance, join us. Joshua Bennett-Johnson fills in for Jon Cohan.

Award winning ABC News correspondent Dan Harris, co-anchor of“Nightline” and a weekend anchor on”Good Morning America” has covered wars and presidential campaigns, but it was a panic attack live on the air in front of 5 million viewers that forced him to face his biggest challenge yet: taming the voice in his head. Dan is the author of a new book: “10% Happier: How I Tamed The Voice in My Head, Reduced Stress Without Losing My Edge, and Found Self-Help that Actually Works – A True Story”. He'll talk to us about his journey to reduce stress and anxiety, first by self-medicating with drugs and then ultimately finding the solution in mindfulness and meditation. We're also joined by Dr. Mark Albanese, the Medical Director of Addictions at Cambridge Health Alliance and faculty member at Harvard Medical School’s Division on Addictions.

We've all heard of it, but what exactly is trauma? How does it impact the brain? What the signs and symptoms? And, how it can be treated? Our guests are Megan Ross, the Director of Program Development and Trauma Awareness at Timberline Knolls Residential Treatment Center, and Gayle Jaffe from the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center.

Tonight we're looking at treating addiction in women. We'll find out how to find the proper treatment, what specific challenges recovering women face, and what strengths they bring into recovery. Our guests are Holly and Krystin, two women in recovery who've gone through women's residential treatment programs, and Mary Anne Roy and Lori Martin from Crossroads in Maine.

When is the right time for an intervention? What happens during an intervention? And what does recovery looks like for both the person going through it, and their family? Woody Giessmann, a board registered interventionist, and Ann and Jim, parents who held an intervention for their son, join us on the air.

It's Holiday time on Right Turn Radio! Tune in to hear great holiday music live in the studio along with our special guest, comedian Tony V, and musical guests Erica Rodney and Mike Pyle! We're talking about celebrating the holiday season sober.

After the birth of her son, Jowita Bydlowska found herself celebrating with a glass of champagne. Just like that, her three years of sobriety were a distant memory and she began the rapid slide back to full-blown alcoholism. Jowita joins us to talk about her new book DRUNK MOM, the brutally honest story of her fight to stop drinking while facing the daunting reality of becoming a mom.

Experts are preparing for a "tidal wave" of baby boomers who will need help fighting addiction. Guest Dr. Barbara Krantz, Medical Director of the Hanley Center, joins us to talk about the addiction issues facing boomers today, and the treatment programs being created specifically for them.

How will “Big Marijuana” affect you on a local level? Tonight we're talking about the parallels between Big Tobacco and Big Marijuana, local marijuana legislation, and what it means to have a dispensary in your neighborhood. Guests Heidi Heilman, a founding member of the Massachusetts Prevention Alliance and the CEO of Edventi, and Bryan Cadogan, COO of Edventi, join us in studio.

Noah Levine, founder of the Against The Stream Buddhist Meditation Society, joins us to talk about Refuge Recovery, a systematic method of addiction recovery based on Buddhist principles. He is the author of “Dharma Punx”, “Against the Stream”, “Heart of the Revolution” and “Refuge Recovery”.

Dr. Lawrence Peltz, author of “The Mindful Path to Addiction Recovery”, talks with us about how 'living in the moment' can aid in the recovery from addiction. Dr. Peltz is the medical director of the Bournewood Caulfield Center, a drug and alcohol treatment facility in Woburn, MA. He has worked with more than ten thousand recovering addicts over the course of his career. He is also a trained teacher of MBSR, and he speaks regularly to mental health professionals about mindfulness and recovery.

David Sheff (author of "Clean" and "Beautiful Boy") and Gabrielle Glaser (journalist and author of "Her Best Kept Secret") join us to talk about different treatment paths to addiction recovery, and how to “treat” the treatment industry when it’s not working.

Tonight we’re talking about substance abuse, addiction, and recovery in the American Indian community in our on-going series “Minorities and Addiction: How addiction affects specific communities across the country, and how those communities find treatment and recovery.” We’re joined by David A. Patterson, Silver Wolf, assistant professor at the Brown School of Social Work at Washington University, Lacina Onco, Site Manager at Native American Lifelines Boston and a member of the Shinnecock Indian Nation, and Janelle Pocowatchit, Outreach Coordinator at Native American Lifelines Boston and member of Mik’Maw First Nations and Comanche Nation of Oklahoma.

What's the connection between creativity and mental illness? And how do you treat creative people with addiction and mental health disorders? Tonight's guests are Debbie Costello Smith and Glenn Smith of the Sean Costello Fund Memorial Fund for Bipolar Research, and Professor Greg Murray, a clinical psychologist and professor at Swinburne University in Melbourne, Australia.

Addiction is a family disease. In this episode we're talking about strategies families can use to cope with a loved one in active addiction, and how they can heal throughout the recovery process. Guests include Diana Clark, a specialist in addiction and family systems and the author of “Addiction Recovery: A Family's Journey”, and Ann and Jim, parents of a child in recovery who will share their story addiction in their family.

The United States has more people behind bars – 2.3 million – than any other country in the world, and nearly half of all federal prisoners are serving prison sentences for drugs. Barbara Dougan, MA Project Director, FAMM (Families Against Mandatory Minimums), joins us to explain mandatory minimum sentencing for drug crimes, and the controversies surrounding them.