Flourishing After Addiction with Carl Erik Fisher
Episodes
How a Little Becomes a Lot, with Eric Zimmer
10 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Sign up for my newsletter and immediately receive my free guide to the many pathways to recovery, as well as regular updates on new interviews, materi...
What Addiction Science Got Wrong About Dopamine, with Dr. David Nutt
15 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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BONUS: Can You Become Addicted to AI? A conversation with neuroscientist Tim Requarth on AI dependency, cognitive shortcuts, and what AI is doing to our brains
07 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Sign up for my newsletter and immediately receive my free guide to the many pathways to recovery, as well as regular updates on new interviews, materi...
On Stigma, Burnout, and the Fight to Keep Caring, with Dr. Melody Glenn
13 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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Wise Effort, with Dr. Diana Hill
31 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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BONUS EPISODE: a guided meditation for working with cravings, and Jud Brewer on Mindshift Recovery
16 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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Unwinding Self-Addiction, with Dr. Jud Brewer
08 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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What Is It Like to Be an Addict? with Prof. Owen Flanagan
22 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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Fentanyl Nation: Toxic Politics and America’s Failed War on Drugs, with Ryan Hampton
30 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Friend of the pod Ryan Hampton, a national addiction recovery advocate, author, and person in long-term recovery, is right in the middle of a hotly co...
First in the Family, with Jessica Hoppe
04 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Jessica Hoppe's brand-new memoir, First in the Family: A Story of Survival, Recovery, and the American Dream, is a tremendous exploration of addi...
The Zen Way of Recovery, with Laura Burges
21 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Join me on Sunday, September 8th, at 12 PM Eastern Time (9 AM Pacific) for From Recovering to Flourishing: A Foundational Workshop.Before spending thr...
The Supreme Court Blocks the Purdue Pharma Opioid Settlement, with Ryan Hampton
25 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This is a milestone for the Flourishing After Addiction podcast: our first repeat guest! I wanted to have Ryan Hampton back on the pod for a quick hit...
How to help people change, with Dr. Carrie Wilkens
12 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Carrie Wilkens is a psychologist with over 25 years of experience in the practice and dissemination of evidence-based treatments for substance use and...
Stash, Sedatives and A Life In Hiding, with Laura Cathcart Robbins
27 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
One of the great gifts of being out in the world talking about addiction and recovery is I get to meet so many fascinating and talented people working...
Why We Can’t Therapize Our Way Out of Addiction, with Dr. Bruce Alexander
05 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of Flourishing After Addiction, I had the honor of speaking with Bruce Alexander, a towering figure in the field of addiction theory. ...
What's Wrong? Personal Histories of Chronic Pain and Bad Medicine, with Erin Williams
15 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
As a bonus for this special episode with the artist Erin Williams, author of What’s Wrong? Personal Histories of Chronic Pain and Bad Medicine, I go...
Taking Ownership of Your Recovery Journey, with Dr. Ray Baker
01 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Dr. Ray Baker is a distinguished leader in the field of addiction medicine and a person in long-term recovery from addiction. This episode of Flourish...
Brutalities: Exercise, Extremity, and Love , with Margo Steines
11 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In the latest episode of Flourishing After Addiction, I am thrilled to be exploring the intricate relationships between addiction, recovery, pain, and...
Shame and Self-Stigma: Strategies for Change, with Dr. Jason Luoma
20 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Shame and self-stigma can be powerfully limiting and harmful, and they are especially common among people with addictions. We’ve discussed on prior ...
Navigating the Complexities of Addiction Treatment and Recovery, with Dr. Brian Hurley
06 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
For this episode of Flourishing After Addiction, I wanted a guest who could offer some insights into the journey of seeking help for addiction and rec...
A Buddhist Approach to Compulsive Eating, Food Addiction, and Emotional Sobriety, with Valerie Mason-John
15 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Valerie Mason-John (Vimalasara) is a writer, Buddhist teacher, a person in recovery, and the founder of Eight Step Recovery. In this episode of Flouri...
How Not to Kill Yourself, with Prof Clancy Martin
28 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Clancy Martin is a philosopher, an author, a recovering alcoholic, and the survivor of more than ten suicide attempts. His new book, How Not to Kill Y...
Understanding addiction through contemplative science, with Dr. Jud Brewer
17 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Judson Brewer ("Dr. Jud") is a renowned addiction psychiatrist and neuroscientist who has spent over two decades studying the mechanisms of ...
Brain surgery for addiction, and finding your own path in recovery, with Zachary Siegel
15 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Zach Siegel is one of our most respected and prolific journalists on addiction and drug policy. He is also a thoughtful, introspective soul who thinks...
On Psychological Flexibility and Reclaiming a Life Worth Living, with Dr. Steven Hayes
28 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
A little over 40 years ago, Dr. Steven Hayes experienced his first panic attack—when he was a young assistant professor in psychology, no less! In t...
Heroin-Assisted Treatment, and Making Sense of Addiction, with Prof Sir John Strang
13 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In the weeks prior to this episode, the story broke that the UK’s Middlesbrough clinic, which offered a pioneering Heroin Assisted Treatment (HAT) p...
Hope, Justice, and the Future of America's Overdose Crisis, with Beth Macy
22 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
As I’ve written before, Beth Macy has an extraordinary gift for encapsulating our nation’s greatest challenges in gripping, intimate, and wise sto...
Spirituality and justice in addiction treatment, with Dr. Ayana Jordan
08 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Dr. Ayana Jordan is a renowned expert in addiction and other mental health conditions, newly recruited to NYU to an endowed professorship for her fasc...
From Psychoanalysis to Psychedelics: Therapy for Addiction, with Dr. Jeffrey Guss
28 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Dr. Jeffrey Guss sits at one of the most fascinating and unusual intersections in all of mental health: between psychoanalysis, addiction treatment, a...
Crafting a Life in Recovery, with Prof. Melissa Febos
14 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Melissa Febos is one of our most accomplished memoirists and essayists, a passionate and fiercely honest writer who, across several of her works, has ...
Transforming Addiction and Suffering with Philosophy, with Prof. Peg O'Connor
16 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
From quite early in her life, Peg O’Connor felt a “double dose of shame” - from her lesbian identity on one hand, and her struggles with alcohol...
Many Pathways to Holistic Recovery, with Holly Whitaker
02 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
One important vision I have for this podcast is to share diverse experiences of addiction and recovery. How people write about it, yes, but even more ...
Healthy relationships in recovery, with Dr. Bevin Campbell
05 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Taking care of our relationships is a crucial way we take care of ourselves and the wider world. Some of the most common questions I get in my clinica...
Our addiction to the self, with Dr. Mark Epstein
17 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Dr. Mark Epstein is a hero of mine. He is a Buddhist psychiatrist and author who has been a voice of kindness and wisdom in our field for decades, and...
Why history? With Prof. Benjamin Breen
18 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
With so much suffering today, and in the midst of a historic overdose crisis, you might wonder: why bother looking to the distant past of addiction? H...
Recovery research: Beyond abstinence, with Dr. John Kelly
01 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
How do we best tap into the positive side of recovery, beyond abstinence, sobriety, and remission? What does the science actually show about growing a...
How to Be Loved—Writing about Addiction and Recovery, with Author Eva Hagberg
06 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
A lot of us folks in recovery have big collections of self-help and memoir books, and with good reason. Books give us solace, they help us see how oth...
Buddhist recovery, lovingkindness, and feeling comfortable in your own skin, with Buddhist teacher Gary Sanders
22 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
As Ram Dass once said, “If you think you’re enlightened, go spend a week with your family.” I’m thinking about this quote as many of us are gr...
Self-control, the science of social psychology, and “The Power of Us,” with Dr. Jay Van Bavel
07 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
What happens when we define ourselves in terms of group memberships? How does culture and society affect our capacity for self-control and self-regula...
Working with the Shame of Addiction: a Philosopher's Perspective, with Prof. Owen Flanagan Jr.
24 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Owen Flanagan is a philosopher who has long studied topics like consciousness, neuroscience, morality, and responsibility. But early in his career, ev...
An insider’s view of the Purdue Pharma bankruptcy case, and how to fight for change without sacrificing personal recovery, with advocate and writer Ryan Hampton
11 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan Hampton, an alumnus of the Clinton White House, had an up-and-coming career in politics until the early 2000s, when he became addicted to OxyCont...
Psychedelics for addiction and “the freedom within,” with psychiatric researcher Dr. Elias Dakwar
15 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In mental health treatment today, psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy is nothing less than a sensation, and some of the most promising results are in a...
“Health in All” to prevent and treat addiction, with public health leader Dr. Wilnise Jasmin.
28 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Flourishing after addiction requires flourishing for all. The public health of addiction and recovery has several important lessons, not just how to r...
Mindful Recovery from Addiction, Pain, and “MORE,” with Dr. Eric Garland
09 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
For decades, clinicians have used mindfulness-based interventions to treat stress, physical pain, and mental disorders. But there’s more to meditati...
Beyond Mindfulness: Integrating Buddhism and Recovery, with Buddhist teacher Kevin Griffin
26 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
This episode’s interview is with Kevin Griffin, a Buddhist teacher who has trained with some of the leading Western Vipassana teachers—including J...
A Compassionate Alternative to the War on Drugs, with Maia Szalavitz
26 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Roughly 35 years ago, harm reduction saved Maia Szalavitz’s life. It was 1986 in the East Village, and though Maia was an Ivy League kid who read tw...
What is recovery? With Dr. Katie Witkiewitz
26 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
 Six percent of American adults say they are “in recovery” from a problem with alcohol or other drugs, but it’s not always clear exactly what t...
Introducing: Flourishing After Addiction
14 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
I'm Carl Erik Fisher, and this is Flourishing After Addiction, a new podcast exploring addiction and recovery from the widest possible diversity ...