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Living Free

The Living Free Crew

Talk on substance misuse, alcoholism and other addictions. Information on support groups is given.

news & politics

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SMART Recovery Australia - Tracy-Lee

Living Free ·

2025/05/22

Tracey-Lee had an unconventional childhood in which she experienced some trauma, relating to her father's outbursts of rage. At the same time she discovered a talent for performance and this gave her a pathway to self-expression. But as she enterered adulthood she felt unbalanced, developing a tendency to addictive behaviours as she searched for comfort and relief. After struggles with binge eating, amphetamine use and dysfunctional relationships, all of which caused her physical and mental

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Alcoholics Anonymous - Steve on 15MAY2025

Living Free ·

2025/05/15

Steve joined Michael in the studio to share his experience of getting sober in his early 20's, his early days in Alcoholics Anonymous and what his life looks like now.

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Al-Anon Family Groups - Bill on 08MAY2025

Living Free ·

2025/05/08

Bill grew up with an active alcoholic father and as a young adult sought help through an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting and was directed to Al-Anon Family Groups. He found help in those early years in the Al-Anon meetings and over forty years later he discusses the impact of Al-Anon in transforming his life and relationships, particularly with his father and with his family and friends.If someone else's drinking is causing you a problem, then you can phone the Al-Anon Family Groups helpline on 1300

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SMART Recovery Australia - Dan Raffell

Living Free ·

2025/04/24

Dan Raffell, National Co-ordinator and Trainer at SMART Recovery Australia, describes his lived experience of drug abuse as 'hands on vocational training'. He has put this training to good use over the last 22 years working in the drug and alcohol recovery field in his native Scotland and here in Australia. Today Dan joins us to chat about, among other things, how small changes in habits and behaviours compound themselves and can lead to huge long term improvement in our lives. He describes how

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Gamblers Anonymous - Adrian on 17APR2025

Living Free ·

2025/04/17

Adrian is in his 30’s and has been in Gamblers Anonymous for five years. He discusses how his gambling progressed from sports betting with the help of older kids at 13 years old, underage horse punting at TABs with school friends to becoming a serious problem in his life before he turned 18. It affected Adrian’s school and personal life and mixing betting and drinking soon made his situation much worse. He found recovery in Gamblers Anonymous after debt collectors contacted his parents and exposed

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Alcoholics Anonymous - Jeff on 10APRIL2025

Living Free ·

2025/04/10

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Recovery - Mandy and Richard

Living Free ·

2025/04/03

Mandy and Richard join Ann for a conversation about recovery from, among other things, alcohol, worry and minding other people's business. If someone else's drinking is causing you a problem, then you can phone the Al-Anon Family Groups helpline on 1300 252 666 or go online at al-anon.org.au for more information.If you would like to find out a bit more about alcoholism for yourself or a friend, then you can give Alcoholics Anonymous a call on 1300 222 222 or check out their website aa.org.au.Show

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SMART Recovery - Kerry

Living Free ·

2025/03/27

Kerry grew up in a home where there was violence and moved into adult life resilient but missing some of the skills for coping with life's difficulties. She developed an addiction to sugar from which she found recovery in Overeaters Anonymous, then several years later she found herself drinking too much and made her way to Alcoholics Anonymous. She discovered SMART Recovery in its early days in Australia and found in its approach 'the future of addiction treatment'. She is one of the longest running

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Alcoholics Anonymous - Jane on 20MAR2025

Living Free ·

2025/03/20

Jane grew up in a loving family even though both her parents were alcoholics, her dad recovering in Alcoholics Anonymous and her mum still actively drinking. Her parents split when she was around 6 years old, and her mum’s bender-drinking quickly escalated. Jane and her sister took care of her mum for a few years until her father began to look after them again for two years.Jane grew up fast, felt ill at ease with her school life and started rebelling at home, began drinking and taking drugs. She

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Narcotics Anonymous - Jesse on 13MAR2025

Living Free ·

2025/03/13

Jesse grew up in a good home with good morals. He was a small kid and often felt scared and lonely. He was bullied at school and eventually turned to alcohol and then drugs in his early teens as they made him feel like he fitted in and more relaxed.His drinking and drug use progressed, adversely affecting his work and ruining his close relationships. His mum was a significant influence in him seeking help when all seemed lost when he was in his mid-20’s. Jesse was fortunate to get into a 12th step

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Al-Anon Family Groups - Josephine and Dejan

Living Free ·

2025/03/06

Josephine grew up in suburban Melbourne in a family where addiction was an issue. Preoccupied with success, Josephine achieved highly at school and university but not without consequences for her mental health. Encouraged by her mother, she sought the support of Al-Anon. Now living in Berlin, Josephine and her partner Dejan both attend Al-Anon. In this episode, Josephine tells her story. Towards the end, Dejan joins the conversation and both partners discuss the importance of recovery in their

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SMART Recovery - Kate

Living Free ·

2025/02/27

Kate began her recovery from addiction when she decided to 'live' instead of following her life-long pattern of taking 'chemical holidays'. Using alcohol and drugs from a young age had had a negative effect on Kate's happiness and she found herself in relationships and situations that were dangerous for her mental health. Kate has found through SMART Recovery renewed joy and revitalisation of her creativity. She facilitates a Womens Meeting every Sunday night, via Zoom.SMART Recovery meetings use

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Alcoholics Anonymous - Katherine on 20FEB2025

Living Free ·

2025/02/20

Katherine grew up as the eldest daughter of an alcoholic mum and became the surrogate parent in the family as her mum’s drinking progressed. She was exposed to alcohol early in life, started drinking around 12 or 13 years old but it was around 15 or 16 that she sought it out.Often drinking to blackout, Katherine regularly had to ask her friends what had happened the night before and frequently learnt of her aggressive and abusive behaviour whilst drunk, burning many close relationships. At 17 yo,

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Gamblers Anonymous - Tim on 13FEB2025

Living Free ·

2025/02/13

Tim shares his story of developing a gambling habit through underage gambling on poker machines as part of social activity with family and friends. He always had some anxiety and when he discovered alcohol relieved it his drinking began in earnest. Tim’s drinking and then drug use increased in his late teens when he went overseas and was working in hospitality. He had a nervous breakdown in his early twenties but was not yet ready to stop drinking until his life was a mess about 5 years later.Tim

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Need support for a problem of alcoholism in a...

Living Free ·

2025/02/06

In this episode, Ann, Mitch and Zakia discuss the common experiences of people affected by the alcoholism of a relative or friend, emphasising the inclusiveness of Al-Anon family groups to people of all ages, genders, races and creeds. Information is given about how Al-Anon can help teenagers (through Alateen), adult children of alcoholics, First Nations people and LGBTIQ+ people through sharing what bonds us: the often devasting effect of someone else's drinking. If someone else's drinking is

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Replay - Young

Living Free ·

2025/01/30

Trigger Warning - mention of sexual assault and course language. Young walks us through his introduction to Drug and Alcohol culture in Nigeria, and how it differs from Australia

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SMART Recovery - Dr Patrick Pheasant (Repeat)

Living Free ·

2025/01/23

This episode was first aired in June 2024.Dr Patrick Pheasant is an addiction and trauma therapist who incorporates drama and role play into his practice, working with clients to recover from trauma via its manifestation in the mind and body. As well as his private practice, Patrick engages with addiction through his facilitation of two SMART Recovery groups focusing on the additional challenges faced by people in the LGBTIQ+ community. SMART Recovery is a group approach to dealing with addictive

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Alcoholics Anonymous - Lisa on 16JAN2025

Living Free ·

2025/01/16

Lisa felt that she was different from the start and grew up in a dysfunctional family affected by the family disease of alcoholism. She found out at an early age that alcohol made her feel better and she gravitated towards people that enjoyed alcohol so that she could enjoy it too. Lisa was a wild child, left school early and became a single parent in her early twenties. As life became increasingly difficult, she leant on alcohol more until her drinking was out of her control.In her late twenties

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Al-Anon Family Groups - Gary on 09JAN2025

Living Free ·

2025/01/09

Gary grew up with parents who had been affected by a drinker in their family. He went on to marry three alcoholics and was fortunate when a marriage counsellor suggested that he try Al-Anon Family Groups. Now, over twenty-four years later, he discusses the impact of Al-Anon in transforming his life and relationships.If someone else's drinking is causing you a problem, then you can phone the Al-Anon Family Groups helpline on 1300 252 666 or go online at al-anon.org.au for more information.You can

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Al-Anon Family Groups - Del

Living Free ·

2025/01/02

As the youngest child of a family of 9 children, Del grow up feeling invisible and often bewildered about the actions of others in the family. Del's parents drank and partied, distracted from the emotional needs of their children. As the result of this, Del found herself in early adulthood ill-equipped to recognise healthy from unhealthy relationships, leaving her vulnerable to mistaking any show of kindness as safety. It took several damaging relationships and emotional collapse for Del to realise

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