The Courage to Change: A Recovery Podcast

Latest Episodes:

5 Things That Kept Me Sober For 17 Years Mar 24, 2023

Show notes

In this Q and A episode Ashley talks about the 5 keys she's used to remain sober for 17 years. For someone who found it a challenge to string 2 days together, 17 years seemed impossible. Learn what Ashley had to learn the hard way and what will be most critical piece in remaining sober for the next 17 years.

Ashley Loeb Blassingame has been clean and sober for 16 years, she's a drug and alcohol counselor, interventionist, and the co-founder of a telehealth company called Lionrock Recovery that provides substance use disorder treatment.

Episode Resources

Connect with Ashley Loeb Blassingame

Change Mail Newsletter | lionrock.life/couragetochangepodcast
TikTok | @ashleyloebblassingame
Instagram | @ashleyloebblassingame

Connect with The Courage to Change

Podcast Website | lionrock.life/couragetochangepodcast
Podcast Instagram | @couragetochange_podcast
Podcast Facebook | @thecouragetochangepodcast
Podcast Email | podcast@lionrock.life
YouTube | The Courage to Change Playlist

176: Sonya Johnson: Losing Her Family in Addiction And Getting It Back in Sobriety Mar 14, 2023

Show notes

Sonya Johnson’s parents divorced at 8. Sonya wanted a relationship with a father figure and ended up with someone she thought she could count on. The man her mother was dating was warm and he listened to her. He introduced her to things that she wasn’t allowed to do. Cigarettes, then weed, then ecstasy. And when he’d earned her trust, the sexual assault began.

Sonya left her home to get away from him and began a cycle of drugs and abuse. Each new partner represented safety and then that safety went away. She eventually fled the state to get away from one such partner with the man that would eventually be her husband. They hoped to start over somewhere new and kick the drugs that had become a huge part of their lives.

The drugs changed in their new state and they maintained some semblance of control, then came marriage and children, but her drug of choice lured her back home. Her use then went into secret from even her husband.

Eventually the drugs took over both of their lives once again. With it came arrests, relapses and finally losing custody of her kids. The guilt and shame over her life led to even greater drug use and she ran away to live in a world without running water, electricity or basic needs. All she was left with was dope and the next high.

It wasn’t until she finally arrived at a decisive moment, staring at the prospect of prison and looking at the clear picture of her life for the first time, that things finally changed.

Episode Resources

Connect with Sonya

Instagram | @sonyajohnson0719
TikTok | @sonyandsteven
Facebook | @sonyajohnson
Youtube | @hopeshotrecovery

Connect with The Courage to Change

Podcast Website | lionrock.life/couragetochangepodcast
Podcast Instagram | @couragetochange_podcast
YouTube | The Courage to Change Podcast
TikTok | @ashleyloebblassingame
Podcast Email | podcast@lionrock.life
Podcast Facebook | @thecouragetochangepodcast

Lionrock Resources

Lionrock Life Mobile App | lionrock.life/mobile-app
Support Group Meeting Schedule | lionrock.life/meetings

175: Season 5 Kickoff Mar 07, 2023

Show notes

We're back with Season 5! We cover Ashley's anniversary, what's new in Season 5 and what's new in rawdogging life. It's been two long months but it will be worth the wait, we swear.

Episode Resources

Connect with Ashley Loeb Blassingame

TikTok | @ashleyloebblassingame
Instagram | @ashleyloebblassingame

Connect with The Courage to Change

Podcast Website | lionrock.life/couragetochangepodcast
Podcast Instagram | @couragetochange_podcast
Podcast Facebook | @thecouragetochangepodcast
Podcast Email | podcast@lionrock.life
YouTube | The Courage to Change Playlist

174: Season 4 Wrap - New Year's Extravaganza Dec 31, 2022

Show notes

We made it to the end of Season 4! Thanks for all who listened. In this episode Ashley and Scott host The Courage to Change New Year's Extravaganza. We've got highlights from Season 4. We've got games. We've got music. Put on your finest attire and stop by our place to ring in the new year.

Episode Resources

Connect with Ashley Loeb Blassingame

TikTok | @ashleyloebblassingame
Instagram | @ashleyloebblassingame

Connect with The Courage to Change

Podcast Website | lionrock.life/couragetochangepodcast
Podcast Instagram | @couragetochange_podcast
Podcast Facebook | @thecouragetochangepodcast
Podcast Email | podcast@lionrock.life
YouTube | The Courage to Change Playlist

173: Desiree Moore: Recovery After Daughter Murdered By Ex-Husband Dec 27, 2022

Show notes

Desiree Moore grew up with addicted parents. She wanted desperately to live a different life and when she met someone at 18 who seemed like he came from a white-picket-fence family she couldn’t believe her luck.

The two got married and began having kids right away. Her husband moved from job to job, trying to advance his career but eventually ran out of luck and was forced to return from the first job he’d left. Things changed drastically with him. His attitude and outlook turned dark. He began using pornography obsessively and that’s when the violence began.

Desiree did everything she could to stand up for herself and her kids. She kicked him out. She tried to battle against the violence she experienced, but finally the violence turned to her children. In 2008 her then husband murdered her daughter.

Desiree could not function. The guilt and sadness were crushing. She felt as if she could never be whole again. Her other daughter was put into foster care. She worked 3 jobs to try to survive but was homeless. The years passed without any hope on the horizon.

Then on the encouragement of a friend, she moved to a new town and her life changed completely. Things she never thought possible became true. While her daughter’s death would never leave her, but for the first time in a long time, life felt like it might be ok.

Today Desiree has a master’s degree and has been able to escape the generational poverty that seemed insurmountable. Her grief is cyclical, but she uses her story to help others have hope even in the darkest moments.

Episode Resources

Website | desireemoorebooks.com

Connect with Desiree

TikTok | @meet_desiree

Connect with The Courage to Change

Podcast Website | lionrock.life/couragetochangepodcast
Podcast Instagram | @couragetochange_podcast
YouTube | The Courage to Change Podcast
TikTok | @ashleyloebblassingame
Podcast Email | podcast@lionrock.life
Podcast Facebook | @thecouragetochangepodcast

Lionrock Resources

Lionrock Life Mobile App | lionrock.life/mobile-app
Support Group Meeting Schedule | lionrock.life/meetings

172: Lacie Hamilton: Unlearning Messages From An Abusive Mother Dec 20, 2022

Show notes

Lacie Hamilton grew up in an abusive home with a mother who was addicted to alcohol and pills. At age 5 was the first time she was slapped and very quickly internalized the message that it didn’t matter what she wanted or needed.

As the abuse continued, Lacie developed her own addiction as a coping mechanism. It was her means to dissociate. It controlled her completely, but she viewed it as a more acceptable coping mechanism than what she saw her mother doing.

At age 9, Lacie had just gotten out of the ICU when her mother took her to a bar where she drank all night and then beat and attempted to strangle her in the hotel room. Lacie barely escaped but then her mother fabricated a series of lies to try to discredit her story.

Lacie was removed from her mother’s home, but spent the next few decades trying to untangle the messages her mother’s abuse had written at her core, I’m not enough, I’m not safe, and I’m not worthy.

Eventually she found help in the form of EMDR and Ketamine Therapy, two treatments that helped her break free from the thoughts and behaviors that kept her stuck in her abusive past.

Today Lacie is the Director of Operations for Lionrock Recovery, and a licensed psychotherapist in over 10 states.

Episode Resources

Therapy Website | laciehamilton.com

Connect with Lacie

Instagram | @ljhamcakes

Connect with The Courage to Change

Podcast Website | lionrock.life/couragetochangepodcast
Podcast Instagram | @couragetochange_podcast
YouTube | The Courage to Change Podcast
TikTok | @ashleyloebblassingame
Podcast Email | podcast@lionrock.life
Podcast Facebook | @thecouragetochangepodcast

Lionrock Resources

Lionrock Life Mobile App | lionrock.life/mobile-app
Support Group Meeting Schedule | lionrock.life/meetings

Q+A Helping My Daughter Survive Her First Sober Christmas Dec 16, 2022

Show notes

In this Q and A episode Ashley answers the listener question "How Can I Help My Daughter Survive Her First Sober Christmas?". The holidays can be a triggering time for everyone, but especially for people in early recovery. Ashley talks about her experience coming back home and what strategies will help the listener's daughter feel supported during the holidays.

Episode Resources

Connect with Ashley Loeb Blassingame

TikTok | @ashleyloebblassingame
Instagram | @ashleyloebblassingame

Connect with The Courage to Change

Podcast Website | lionrock.life/couragetochangepodcast
Podcast Instagram | @couragetochange_podcast
Podcast Facebook | @thecouragetochangepodcast
Podcast Email | podcast@lionrock.life
YouTube | The Courage to Change Playlist

171: Nicole and Joe Ascanio: Losing A Brother To Fentanyl Dec 13, 2022

Show notes

Nicole and Joseph Ascanio are the siblings of Anthony Ascanio, who died of an overdose in August of 2021. Anthony ordered what he thought was Percocet on the dark web, but in reality the pills were Fentanyl. He is one of the 70,000 Americans who died from Fentanyl in 2021.

After Anthony’s death Nicole and Joseph were forced to wade through the complicated grief that comes with overdose. The mix of emotions that come as they approach each first. The first week without them. The first Christmas. The first anniversary. All while wrapped up in the idea that they wished they could have done more and a questioning of every interaction they’d had leading up to that moment.

Since his death Nicole and Joseph are trying to make sense of everything that happened so that others might not have to face a similar situation. Their recovery isn’t linear, but they are taking steps to recover as a family. They’re also using their platform to try to make a difference in the opioid crisis.

The Ascanio’s story is one of a family who continues to fight for each other even when it feels like there isn’t anything else that can be done.

Episode Resources

National Alliance on Mental Illness Maine | namimaine.org

Connect with The Courage to Change

Podcast Website | lionrock.life/couragetochangepodcast
Podcast Instagram | @couragetochange_podcast
YouTube | The Courage to Change Podcast
TikTok | @ashleyloebblassingame
Podcast Email | podcast@lionrock.life
Podcast Facebook | @thecouragetochangepodcast

Lionrock Resources

Lionrock Life Mobile App | lionrock.life/mobile-app
Support Group Meeting Schedule | lionrock.life/meetings

170: Chris Tompkins: Raising LGBTQ Allies And Battling HIV Stigma Dec 06, 2022

Show notes

Chris Tompkins knew he was gay at age 6, but things weren’t talked about openly in his home so he internalized the idea that it should remain a secret and he grew up ashamed, and hypervigilant.

At 24, he came out and jumped into an LGBTQ community that used drugs and alcohol to deal with the internalized shame they’d felt in their own childhoods. Chris eventually moved to LA and he spent the next 11 years working at a gay bar in West Hollywood where the alcohol and drugs played an even bigger part of his life.

In LA he began a search for a god that didn’t hate him. Chris was deep into his spiritual journey when he found out he was HIV positive and was forced to come out once again into a world full of stigma and old ways of thinking.

It was in a decisive moment, staring at himself in the mirror that he couldn’t keep his spiritual self and his drug using self afloat any longer and made the choice to end his relationship with drugs and alcohol.

Today, Chris is a Registered Associate Marriage and Family Therapist, life coach, TEDx speaker, and author of the best-selling book, Raising LGBTQ Allies: A Parent’s Guide to Changing the Messages from the Playground, which aims to create a world where closets don’t exist.

Episode Resources