Fragmented to Whole
Life Lessons from 12 Step Recovery
This podcast can help you go from fragmented to whole. The title of the podcast comes from my journey of recovery in 12 step programs where I came in feeling fragmented and now I AM WHOLE. I talk about how that happened, and many of the lessons I've learned in recovery. I cover such topics as learning acceptance, overcoming unrealistic expectations, intimacy, forgiveness and boundaries.
All episodes are 20 minutes or less, most are less than 15. The first episode is my story in brief so you'll hear about the kind of profound life changes that I experienced in 12-step recovery. Other episodes cover specific topics such as Acceptance, Victim Mentality, Overcoming Negative Thought Loops, etc. You don't have to be in recovery to benefit from it though!
One last (very important) thing. I don't speak for or endorse any particular 12 step program of recovery. Though I'm a huge fan of 12 step recovery, and a member of two 12 step fellowships, I cannot speak them. Take what you want and leave the rest.
Listen to Fragmented to Whole:Life Lessons from 12 Step Recovery
Find Fragmented to Whole:
Life Lessons from 12 Step Recovery On:
Episode 118: How to Untie the Bundle of Negativity and Self-judgment So You Can Have Peace and Ease.
SHOW NOTES The negativity and self-judgment you have going on in your head can end, and it starts with the thoughts in your head. SHOW NOTES If you’re sick and tired of the endless string of negative thoughts and self-judgment in your head, that can end! I’m living proof! It starts with awareness – awareness…
Episode 117: How to Stop Creating the Opposite of What You Want to Get the Life You DO Want.
SHOW NOTES When we’re focus on what we DON’T want we tend to get it, so focus on what you DO want instead. SHOW NOTES When we’re focused more on what others think of us, and things we DON’T want, we’re more likely to get it. However, when we start to focus on ourselves and…
Episode 116: How to Change Other People’s Behavior So You Can Have Better Relationships.
SHOW NOTES The only way to change the way others interact with you is to change the way YOU interact with THEM! You can’t change other people, but you *can* change your ways! When you start being honest with people about what you really want, need, think and feel, when you lower your expectations of…
Episode 115: Here’s How to Leverage Those Codependent Powers for Good!
SHOW NOTES Codependent people are focused outside themselves and care what others think about them. As you’re recovering from your codependent ways, you can leverage that tendency for your own good by using it with some kind of an accountability partner. In the beginning, you can use that desire to NOT let them down by…
Episode 114: Here’s What Recovery Looks Like in Real Life – My Day at the Beach
SHOW NOTES Here’s a story of a variety of ways that recovery has shown up in my everyday life. It features a story from a day at the beach where I sat next to two people who were bitching and complaining. In the past, I would sat there and stewed and fumed and blamed them…
Episode 113: Boundaries without Consequences Aren’t Really Boundaries – They’re Hopes and Wishes
SHOW NOTES If you set a boundary with someone and they don’t honor, you have to do something about them not honoring it. “Doing something” is called a consequence. If you don’t do anything when someone doesn’t honor your boundary, then it wasn’t really a boundary, it was just a wish. Learn how to set…
Episode 112: How and Why to Go from an External Focus to an Internal Focus
SHOW NOTES Some people think that “it’s all about me” is the same as “keep the focus on yourself.” It’s not. They’re very different. Opposites, in fact. When we’re focused on the external world (“it’s all about me”), we’re more likely to be exasperated, resentful and unfulfilled. That’s because we can’t do much about the…
Episode 111: How and Why to Stop Dragging the Story with You
SHOW NOTES When I stopped gossiping, I realized that I’d been “dragging stories with me” all my life. And it was making me miserable! It’s bad enough that negative stuff happens, but you MAGNIFY the negativity by talking about it all the time! You relive the negative events over and over each time you talk…
Episode 110: Guest Episode – Codependency with Gail
SHOW NOTES Gail Ferguson Jones is a recovering codependent and host of the podcast “The Buttrfly Effect” (no “e”), which is for families of addicts. She shares her experience having grown up with multiple generations of alcoholism and being married to an alcoholic. Gail dropped all kinds of pearls of wisdom on this show. Here…
Episode 109: How to Stop Abandoning Yourself So You Can Get Over Your Fear of Abandonment
SHOW NOTES Most of us in recovery fear abandonment, yet ironically, most of us abandon ourselves. We do this because of the chaos and dysfunction with which we grew up. The key is to stop abandoning yourself, which essentially means to learn how to take good care of yourself. This is the essence of what…
Episode 108: How to Increase Your Integrity by Getting Clear on Your Intentions
SHOW NOTES Your integrity is impacted by your motives because our motives guide our behavior. We may THINK we’re doing something to be nice, when in fact we’re doing it to manipulate. This shatters our integrity because our intentions are not pure – we’re not living up to the spiritual principles we may think we…
Episode 107: The Importance of Boundaries in 12-Step Recovery: Learning from the Outside In
SHOW NOTES There are several means by which 12-step recovery programs impose boundaries on us. These include the Serenity Prayer, program slogans, several common meeting practices, as well as seven of the 12 Traditions. By having these healthy boundaries imposed from the outside first, we learn to form healthy boundaries of our from inside. The…
What listeners are saying
"Barb, it's clear that you're speaking from your lived experience, and what you talk about is beyond the rooms of recovery. You actually operationalize recovery."
- C
"Barb. My goodness. I just finished your [One Day at a Time] podcast. It was incredible. Thank you....
So I've listened to your first podcast. I was connected to what you said especially how your life has changed. PAUSE, which I've learned about and love. And flawsome. Amen...Thanks so much. You give hope. It was powerful...
Just listened to #2 Acceptance. Gonna have to listen again. It was powerful. What really comes across is your sincerity. Thanks."
- K
"Hey! Finally started listening to your podcast. It’s really good. I listen to over 1000 podcast probably in the past two years. Your shit is official. You’re totally Flawsome. You’re like a dynamic special ops recovery person. You're totally sensitive and have the [anonymous program] active listening and true compassion characteristics. Combined with a little bit of adorable cheesiness (e.g. Flawsome). But then also like a tough guy old timer that’s gruff and doesn’t take shit from people."
- J
"I'm a minute and 22 seconds into your episode on Acceptance... I still have these [negative] thoughts...The solution: growth mindset and surrounding myself with this kind of information...thank you for doing this, definitely helps motivate me..."
- E
"Your podcast was a delight to listen to. Authenticity, sincerity starts within and re-parenting oneself with gentleness, humor, love and respect are the tools that fuels the process."
- A
"Full of useful, helpful guidance!!!! So, I say thank you for your efforts! It was not preachy at all - and I guard against 'preachiness.' ...Thank you for your efforts Barb."
- A.C
"I play [your podcasts] for people when I give them rides home from meetings. They find them awesome as I do...I am hoping to begin using your podcasts in groups at work - short enough to hold people's attention and wonderful topics that all can benefit from as we try to bring healing and freedom from suffering into the world...you are a delight and a noble soul. Thank you. Grateful for your commitment to help heal our planet."
- R
"If I had to describe it....I bathed in episodes 1-3 this morning and I feel much more prepared to engage in the tasks that will bring me success...thank you."
- V
Like what you've read and heard?
Try subscribing to my monthly newsletter, "Happy, Joyous and Free."
It will help you change your dysfunctional patterns of behavior.
Want to chat with me about your boundaries? Hop onto my calendar here for a free 30-minute Better Boundaries call.