Pedersen Recovery Inc.

This is the most difficult thing I've ever written. In fact, I came to tears a few times while writing it but there's one reason and one reason only why I'm doing it: I know for a fact there are young people out there going through the same things I did years ago. If this piece strikes a chord with just one of them and it spurs them to go make a change in their life, then it will have been worthwhile. Here goes: Dear Rod , Look at you right now. Just look at you. When you look in the mirror each morning, I know you don't like the young man who's staring back at you very much, do you? It's okay. I've walked in those shoes and realize they're very uncomfortable. I know you don't like looking in the mirror at all. You think everyone hates you but you're wrong. The fact is everyone who knows you, loves you. When you're not drinking . Deep, deep down, reallllly deep down, you know that's true but you don't want to do anything...

It's been several months since I invited questions from blog readers on Alcoholism & Addiction, and did my best to provide answers. The last time proved to be a very worthwhile exercise as it shed plenty of light on what peoples' loved ones, or themselves, are battling with substance abuse. So after inviting more questions last week, here's my best swing at answering them: 1 - WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE ALCOHOLIC OR ADDICTED? This comes up a lot and I'm guessing it's because people want to know if the symptoms they're feeling are a sign that they have a serious problem. The first thing that comes to mind when answering this question is that the person-in-question has a pre-occupation with alcohol and their current supply of it (or whatever substance they're hooked on). It's on their mind most of the time throughout the day. For example: planning when's the next time they can drink, what they'll drink, where they'll get it, perhaps h...

I have to say I'm tremendously excited for you to hear this month's Recovery podcast interview because I think it's going to help A LOT of people. National sports broadcaster and Mental Health advocate Michael Landsberg is our latest guest on the Pedersen Recovery Rodcast for Fine Foods, Milk2Go Sport and CJ Evans Home Designs! The award-winning broadcaster and host of TSN's Off The Record  is a household name in Canada but has only recently hit the speaking trail telling his story about his struggles with Mental Illness. Specifically, Landsberg suffers from generalized anxiety disorder and depression which are a bitch. (In case you didn't know).  You'll learn from this interview that Landsberg knows all the ins and outs of Mental Health struggles, and is now a huge supporter for mental health awareness, popularizing the hashtag #sicknotweak in tribute to his mental illness. Michael and I first crossed paths in the fall of 2008 when I was a guest...

Another milestone in my sobriety. On the weekend of May 5/2018 I found myself in a conference room in Times Square in New York, NY receiving training from renowned Interventionist Earl Hightower of Hightower Associates. He's a pioneer in the industry, having done roughly 2,000 interventions over the past 35 years. How did I end up there? Well, fairly early on in my journey of sobriety (Sober Date 01-27-2015) some of the titans of the Recovery industry put their arm around me and said "Come with us". I'm so grateful they did. They've opened up so many doors that I didn't even know existed. One of those doors was Intervention training and the notion was, "You're going to need this training so you might as well get it from the best. His name is Earl Hightower ." What did I learn? Well, I didn't spend thousands of dollars and travel thousands of miles just to divulge all the information here for free. Suffice it to say it was 3 days o...

Recovery Month is behind us but as you hopefully all know by now, the Recovery beat goes on. It's a 24/7, 365-day, 12-month job but IT'S SO WORTH IT! It was great to spread the word of Recovery, raise awareness about the Addiction battle, and celebrate those who are winning the war against alcohol and drugs. Thanks to the Government of Saskatchewan and City of Regina for recognizing the importance of this movement. Thanks also to all who attended and/or supported our Recovery Day Luncheon on September 19 featuring guest speaker Dr. Wendy Gore Hickman! For those new to the event, I know they were blown away. That brings us to our next Recovery podcast guest. Phil Andrews is the Voice of the WHL's Regina Pats and although just 29 years of age, he got into Recovery at the age of 18! His road to Recovery has been a very rocky one and in this podcast interview, Phil bares all. It's not easy to do that, but it can certainly be therapeutic in a way. And although Ph...

September has been proclaimed " Recovery Month " in the Province of Saskatchewan and in honour of that, we're going to have a series of special Recovery interviews here on the podcast. In addition, Wednesday, September 19 as been designated " Recovery Day " by the City of Regina and that's when we're holding our 6th annual Recovery Day Luncheon featuring guest speaker Dr. Wendy Gore-Hickman and me as the Master of Ceremonies. For tickets, email reginarecoveryday@gmail.com. Our first Recovery interview of September is with Dave Pavlus, the owner/operator of the Last Door Recovery Society for men in New Westminster, BC (27 km from downtown Vancouver). Dave's Recovery story will knock your socks off, and is the first podcast interview in which I'll invoke a *LANGUAGE DISCLAIMER* .  Dave P. goes hardcore, old school while telling his Recovery story and it's what you probably need to hear. I suppose I've become somewhat de-sensitized t...

Addiction, unfortunately, is sweeping the continent and destroying families, careers and lives at a record pace. It's hard to imagine any individual, or family, who isn't affected by Addiction in some form or another. If you have a loved one, employee or friend who's battling Addiction and their actions baffle you, keep reading. If you yourself are in the grips of Addiction and want to find a way out, then definitely keep reading. The Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation's Carrie Kappel (Associate Director, Health Care Professionals Program) gave an hour-long presentation via webinar on Wednesday entitled Addiction: Part Art, Part Science . I was invited to participate in the event as a partner of the Betty Ford Center. The Foundation regularly sends me their research studies for use in my own presentations (teenage marijuana usage, prevalence of substance abuse among military vets, intervention techniques, etc.). Ms. Kappel's address was clear, concise, and e...