Fragmented to Whole:

Life Lessons from 12 Step Recovery Podcast

Tired of feeling fragmented and overwhelmed? Fragmented to Whole: Life Lessons from 12-Step Recovery is your guide to creating a life of wholeness, authenticity, and healthy boundaries. Join Barb Nangle, a boundaries  coach and speaker, as she shares raw and honest insights from her own journey and the principles of 12-step recovery. Discover how to set boundaries without guilt or shame, overcome people-pleasing tendencies, manage your emotions effectively, cultivate a stronger sense of self, and build healthier relationships. Barb's approach is raw, honest, and sometimes a little bit (okay, a lot) sweary.

Barb doesn't speak for or endorse any particular 12 step program of recovery. Though she's a huge fan of 12 step recovery, and a member of two 12 step fellowships, she cannot speak for them. If you're ready for real talk and practical tools for transformation, tune in!

Barb's Podcast
Screenshot 2025-09-26 at 9.54.06 AM
podcast praise

Listen to Fragmented to Whole:
Life Lessons from 12 Step Recovery

Find Fragmented to Whole:
Life Lessons from 12 Step Recovery On:

Episode 96: How to Get Over the Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) by Keeping the Focus on Yourself

SHOW NOTES When we’re in fear of missing out, we’re focused on others, not on ourselves. It’s impossible to have a well-lived life when we’re not focused on ourselves. Yet we abandon ourselves by indulging in FOMO and comparing ourselves to others. This episode makes the case that keeping the focus on yourself is imperative…

Episode 95: How to Understand the Relationship Between Honesty and Trust

SHOW NOTES If you’re anything like I was before recovery, you were (or maybe still are) unable to be honest much of time. Some of that dishonesty has to do with not trusting others. If you grew up in a chaotic or unsafe environment, that makes sense. Lying was self protective. However, now that we’re…

Episode 94: How to Strengthen Your Boundaries by Letting Go

SHOW NOTES It’s a paradox that the more we let go, the stronger our boundaries become. This is because controlling others is impossible, but controlling ourselves is not. When we are focused on others and situations out of our control, we become fixated on our desired outcome and have no choices. When we let go,…

Bonus #3: What to Do When You’re Triggered

SHOW NOTES Breathing deeply and engaging your senses are the best way to get into the present moment when you’re triggered. When you do that, you’re fully in your body in the here and now. You’re not in the past when you were little or when that traumatic thing happened. I walk you through two…

93: How to Overcome Your Sense of Urgency So You Can Relax

SHOW NOTES Living with a sense of urgency 24/7 is not something everyone feels. If you feel a sense of urgency at all times, like I did before recovery, I want you to know that it’s possible to stop living like that. Living with a sense of urgency all the time may be an indicator…

92: Two Kinds of Discomfort

SHOW NOTES In this episode I make the distinction between things that are uncomfortable that we’ve learned to put up with, especially if we grew up in chaos – and things that are uncomfortable because they’re new. I called this “bad” discomfort and “good” discomfort. The way to know which is which is to ask…

91: Blame

SHOW NOTES I share how I blamed others and the world for my difficulties before recovery, but I didn’t even know I was doing that! You’ll hear about the connection between self-pity, blame and victim mentality, as well as how to get out of it. Taking responsibility for your little corner of the world is…

90: Becoming Whole

SHOW NOTES Being whole means I’m no longer afraid to share the real me with others, I’m not hiding behind any facades any longer. In this episode I talk about all the various things that have contributed to my wholeness, including loving myself and setting boundaries. I also talk about how wholeness doesn’t mean bad…

89: Anonymity

SHOW NOTES I thought anonymity was about avoiding the stigma of being in 12 step recovery. It’s really about humility, which is what allows us to be teachable. When we are humble, we understand we’re no better and no worse than anyone else. It’s also about ensuring that each one of us has only one…

88: Expecting Fairness

SHOW NOTES We can have all the expectations of the world that we want, but we’ll likely be pissed off a lot if we do! This episode specifically addresses the issue of fairness, but the same principle could apply to any value you hold dearly. The idea is that, instead of getting pissed off that…

87: How to Attract Emotionally Available People

SHOW NOTES If you’ve been hiding behind various facades or masks and acting as if you like things you don’t, or that you’re comfortable with things you’re not – that’s not integrity. Being emotionally available requires vulnerability, which is not possible if you don’t have integrity (i.e., if your foundation is cracked). Emotionally available people…

86: The Serenity Prayer, Reimagined

SHOW NOTES The Serenity Prayer is one of the most popular prayers in the world, but I think the opening is backwards. I learned acceptance and THEN got serenity. I give an example of what I mean by that using traffic. I also talk about how the Serenity Prayer is essentially about learning where our…

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

"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

"You have opened doors in my mind that I did not know existed. Listening to you and your podcasts has made an enormous impact on my life, and now my outlook. You rock!" ~ A.

"Thank you, Barb! Listening to your podcast gave me hope that you could help me.

Framing everything through the lens of “boundaries” made sense to me. Something “clicked.” I realized many of my own struggles – maybe all of them – could be seen through the same lens. I also felt – after bingeing your podcasts – that I already knew you and that you were a straight shooter. You experienced many of the challenges that I was facing, and I greatly appreciated your willingness to share openly and honestly. And I was so encouraged to hear you talk about how much better your life is after starting your own recovery journey." ~ K

2023 podcast reviews from Galati Media year end report