In this rendition of The Way Out I am absolutely ecstatic to bring you what turned out to be a marvelous interview with Joi Andreoli, Author of the new book The Recovery Cycle: A Practical Guide to Loving Your Sober Life. Joi is also a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, Transactional Analysis Practitioner, Certified WANT® Communication Educator, and person in long term recovery. Many of us who have spent any time in and around recovery may have been introduced to the concept of the addiction cycle, of which there are a number of variations. For our purposes, the addiction cycle has four distinct phases starting with preoccupation and anticipation which then leads to addiction related rituals like the search for and preparation of the substance which then leads to intoxication or binging followed by the last phase which is withdrawal and negative effects like shame, guilt and remorse. Much of what we’re actively doing in Recovery is a process of replacing our addictions and counterproductive thought and behavior patterns with positive and healthy behaviors that over time begin to change the way we think, feel, react, and respond to the daily events and situations we encounter in our lives. Nature abhors a vacuum so just trying really hard not to do any particular thought and behavior pattern or addiction through sheer willpower without replacing the void with positive actions and practices is nothing short of unsustainable for most of us. Willpower is finite, but engaging in what Joi refers to as contrary action allows us to refocus and to realign our energies and efforts and as you’ve heard more than a time or two on this podcast, we can act our way into right living instead of trying to think our way into right acting. As we learn in the interview that is about to unfold before your very ears, Joi asserts that recovery too has a cycle which is the mirror opposite in the positive of the cycle of addiction so listen up. Contact Joi and learn more about The Recovery Cycle: A Practical Guide to Loving Your Sober Life: https://www.communicatewithjoi.com/ Recovering Couples Anonymous: https://recovering-couples.org/ Recovery Literature (Quit-Lit) Recommendation: The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous: https://www.aa.org/the-big-book Best piece of Recovery Advice: “Watch your thoughts, they become your words; watch your words, they become your actions; watch your actions, they become your habits; watch your habits, they become your character; watch your character, it becomes your destiny.” – Lao Tzu I will Survive by Gloria Gaynor: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dYWe1c3OyU Rainbow by Kacey Musgraves: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OFv566mj7s Don’t forget to check out “The Way Out Playlist” available only on Spotify. Curated by all our wonderful guests on the podcast! https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6HNQyyjlFBrDbOUADgw1Sz (c) 2015 - 2023 The Way Out Podcast | All Rights Reserved Theme Music: “all clear” (https://ketsa.uk/browse-music/) by Ketsa (https://ketsa.uk) licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd

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“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.

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