The AMPcast with Aliza Marie Prokop

Trauma isn’t a buzzword—it’s real, and for many, it resurfaces in everyday life. This podcast creates space to validate lived experiences, explore the impact of trauma, and walk alongside those navigating it. Through honest conversation and compassion, the goal is simple: help people feel seen, understood, and less alone.

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The AMPcast with Aliza Marie Prokop

Episode 19-Choose Freedom Today with Rose Ann Forte

May 11, 2026 • Aliza Marie Prokop • Season 1 • Episode 19

0:00 | 26:52

From the NRB Convention in Nashville, TN, Aliza welcomes international bestselling author, addiction and behavior habits specialist, and creator of the Choose Freedom® Today program, Rose Ann Forte, to the show. Rose Ann shares how she helps people renew their minds, rewire unhealthy habits, and reconnect with the person God created them to be. Blending biblical truth with neuroscience, her approach offers a powerful path toward healing, freedom, and lasting transformation. Tune in and be encouraged—there is hope for everyone.

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Hashtags: #TheAMPcast #AlizaProkop #RoseAnnForte #Addiction #RewiringtheBrain #Christian #Faith #Healing #Trauma #Therapy #Counseling #Podcast #Podcasting #PodcastCommunity #PFCAudioVideo

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Good evening. We begin tonight with an issue that continues to affect millions long after the original events have passed. Trauma. Mental health experts say trauma from earlier life experiences often resurfaces years later, influencing emotional responses, physical health, and relationships. While the incidents may be in the past, the body and brain can remain in a heightened state of survival.

SPEAKER_05 0:39

But these memories haunt me.

SPEAKER_06 0:43

I know it's over, but it doesn't feel over. I need help, but I'm afraid to open up about my past.

SPEAKER_03 1:33

This is where leaders, storytellers, and voices of hope are gathering from all over. And today I have somebody very special with me. And I'm so excited because she comes from a world that I think we all need to hear about. Her name is Roseanne Forte. She's an international best-selling author and addiction and behavioral habits specialist and the creator of her own program that she's giving to everyone called the Choose Freedom Program. Roseanne, thank you for being here today. I'm really excited to meet you again since I met you in September at the conference that we had for counselors. Tell me a little about yourself. Tell everybody just a generic what you're all about.

SPEAKER_02 2:23

Well, thank you for having me. First of all, it's so nice to be here and talk about this because I do agree with you that many people need to kind of more talk more openly about it. Yes. But my own story started with alcohol. Well, I guess even before that, cigarettes have quite the uh background in addictive behaviors, but I quit cigarettes close to 20 years ago. Um, but over time uh an alcohol problem developed. I was, you know, the interesting thing that I like to talk about is people always associate that with a a particular class of people, or you know, they're they're just not aware that this problem, there are no boundaries to it. I, you know, there's executives, there's leaders in the church, there's lots of leaders in the church. That's usually my audience, and it's not the homeless person that that cracks open a beer at 8 a.m. It's a problem before. Anyway, my story deals with the shame of uh admitting that it was a problem. I felt like I would be labeled, I already had my higher power who was Jesus Christ. That term, and and I'm just sharing my experience, right? I don't want to take away from anything, any healing that somebody's done through other programs. I think when I talk about my experience, I think even people who have healed with other programs, they're all saying this, wait, not me, right, not this, not this. So I really resisted um those things for a long time. I didn't tell my pastor, I didn't tell my uh counselor because I thought I'd be sentenced. And so I ended up going outside the church to heal to um kind of a neuroscience-focused habit change thing, and they I love the approach because they said, Hey, why don't you try to take attractively packaged poison out of your life for 90 days? I'm like, ooh, I like that.

SPEAKER_03 4:40

Wow, that's a great reframe.

SPEAKER_02 4:42

Yeah, because it was about that thing that was poisonous. Why do I keep choosing it? And so I entered that program, and over the 90 days my life was just miraculously changed, and um, you know, my my thought pattern shifted about a lot of things. I ended up working with them as uh an enrollment coach and a client journey coach. I studied the science, and then I was like, uh, you guys are teaching the kingdom without the king? The higher power stuff. Yeah. Well, they were just teaching all these biblical concepts. I remember it was not a um faith-based program, it was just a secular program. But everything in there was about what God told us first. Forgiveness. They they taught me how to process forgiveness. I and in the church I didn't understand how to do it. Yeah. And um, you know, rewiring neural pathways. Wait a minute, doesn't God say you can renew your mind? Yes. Um, just all these things, the gratitude. Well, we should be grateful for everything. Everything good comes from God, right? Right, right. And um, you know, when we pray, we're supposed to pray our gratitude first. Absolutely. So, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 6:05

Wow, and the book here that you have written, which I have in front of me, Transformed by His Promises, a 12-week devotional for freedom from life-interfering behaviors. So it doesn't just have to be alcohol then.

SPEAKER_02 6:18

Well, my journey started with the alcohol devotional that looks very similar to this, and it's called The Plans He Has for Me. And uh, that's where I started putting together all these things of like gratitude, reflection, prayer, meditation, meditating on his word. And um, I met Dr. Carl Benzio at the conference that we met at, the American Association of Christian Counselors, and he was saying, Hey, you know, I went to a conference, and you know how big it is, 8,000 people.

SPEAKER_03 6:52

It was huge.

SPEAKER_02 6:54

And I went to a conference a couple of years ago, and and he was doing a session on the things you needed to transform your mind. And I'm like, uh, I think I put all those things together in a book, and he goes, You did. So I shared my book. Wow. And he said, Roseanne, what you're doing is not only about alcohol, it's about all life-interfering behaviors. So that's how we met and we started collaborating and updating it for habits, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 7:25

So all sorts of behaviors, and you talk about the neuroscience of the brain. My world is trauma, so I'm a trauma therapist. So would you say that box was checked for you? It was, it was.

SPEAKER_02 7:37

It was definitely, I believe, I can't prove it, but I believe I was married to somebody with um narcissistic personality disorder and very covert, so I didn't understand it. And uh, I studied psychology and relationship um processes for decades to try and understand, and God's word to try and understand how to fix things and eventually, you know, not not fixable. So yeah, I did have um, I was diagnosed with major depressive disorder. I was using alcohol to cope. I believe I had C PTSD. Right. So all those things. But look at you now.

SPEAKER_03 8:17

I like look at you now. Whoa, you're the success story. If anyone could see you, they would be like, I want that book and I want to do exactly what she did. So hopefully that's gonna come. So, okay, talking about the neural pathways in the brain, and from my perspective being a therapist, I know the different centers of the brain that light up with addiction. So can you go into why you think willpower alone isn't the ticket?

SPEAKER_02 8:48

Yeah, well, willpower is our power, right? Right. And that power runs out. But when you use, you know, this the power of the Holy Spirit and his direction, and you you make choices every day that keep you in line and in relationship with him, that's how you renew your mind. That's how um that's how new neuropathways are uh created and uh the willpower is just knuckling it, it's miserable. And the Us humans are only capable of that for so long, and it's tiring. We don't we don't have that source of power within ourselves.

SPEAKER_03 9:35

It's like a spiral, because then if you don't have that source of power and you trip up one day, then you feel less than, and then if you feel less than, then why bother? And why bother lead you into a deeper hole?

SPEAKER_02 9:48

Right, and that's what created the shame, right? Because I'm a I'm a high achiever. When I put my mind to something, I could do it. And for this, I couldn't. I couldn't do it. And it's like, what's wrong with me? I was praying, right? I was doing all those things and the that the church calls you to do. I was I thought I was relying on him, um, but I didn't understand the nuances that he said, I think it's John 8.34, uh Jesus says, Truly, truly, I say to you, if you practice sin, you become a slave to sin. And I call this psychological slavery. Um and then uh the first day of the devotional is first Timothy four fifteen, and it says, Practice these things, immerse yourself in them so all can see your progress. And he was talking about practicing scripture, right? Living it. Yeah, and living it, and um that's kind of the hope that I hope people see is that it's not a a shortcoming, there's actually a process of practice. Anything we want to become good at is a process of practicing so it becomes second nature.

SPEAKER_03 11:01

Right. And you know, one of the earlier podcasts I did when we talk about trauma, um, if if you've listened to it or maybe you will in the future, talk about it not being the person's fault and how what happened to them wasn't their fault, but the healing is their responsibility. Yeah, and that's kind of what I think you're doing here.

SPEAKER_02 11:23

Yeah, it is, it is, um, you know, ultimately it's it's this difficult thing because we put ourselves in this situation, I'm just gonna be flat out honest on the on the drinking thing. Drinking is not um a sin, but being drunk is. Right. And I that's the only reason I used alcohol, you know. Of course. And and so uh, you know, I paid the consequence for my disobedience. And and you're right, once you become that slave to sin, there's a process. But the beautiful thing is he gives us the tools to work ourselves out of it, you know.

SPEAKER_03 12:01

And the people to come across our paths, right? Right. And and so on this subject before I move on a little bit, did you feel supported by your church at the time, or did you feel like there were gaps there? Not that they meant you ill, but any ill will, but did you feel when you said you felt like you couldn't go to them, was it just a judgment thing, or did you feel like maybe I better work on this myself?

SPEAKER_02 12:26

Or well, it's such a good question because that is the thing I'm trying to tackle here by speaking more openly about it. I can't say they didn't support me. Uh I have a podcast and I interviewed my pastor uh on the f or he interviewed me on the first episode and he's like, why didn't you come to me? And it's because most people, and I still experience this, most people will go, oh, okay, you're an alcoholic, and they I get labeled and they'd send me to a 12s, and I just I could not resonate with that. And um I just I I call it I was very resistant, and I think that kept me in shame for a lot longer because I couldn't openly talk about it. But the reality is once you let's just talk about processed sugar because that's something I I I really struggle with today, right? That can be an addiction, I guess, too. It is, it's the same thing, and that's what I noticed is is my pattern can change. Now I'm not getting high, but in a way I feel the dopamine hit. It causes inflammation in my body, it messes with my sleep, it makes me feel bad about myself because I overindulge, right? And so I am trying to get, and that's why it's life-interfering behaviors and habits. I am I am trying to get people to put it in a in a bucket and go, we all got something.

SPEAKER_03 13:56

Right, it's not just alcohol.

SPEAKER_02 13:57

Right, we all got something. Now, alcohol and drugs have a very can have a very dramatic effect. Right. But once you get through the physical addiction, what you're left with is changing a mindset and a behavioral pattern. Right.

SPEAKER_03 14:14

So would you say this when you say life-interfering behaviors here on the cover of your book, this would apply to not just alcohol then? If somebody wants to buy this book or working.

SPEAKER_02 14:33

And we're all picking something different. I'm picking uh picking up my cell phone first thing in the morning before I spend my time with God, and dang it, that is hard. Aboric habit to change. Other friends are doing um like a gaming habit, um, somebody is doing sleeping pills, somebody is and two people are doing actually the absolute their inability to make decisions, like they're frozen. So it's interesting that it's it's really magnificent for that. Like I'm afraid to make a decision. And so, all right, well, let's practice making a decision every week, even if it's a little decision, a tiny decision. So you start feeling good about saying, I'm gonna do this and you do it. I'm gonna do this and you do it. So, yeah, I Dr. Benzio likes to, who's the co-author of this book, he likes to say uh life interfering thoughts, emotions, and behaviors.

SPEAKER_03 15:34

So they all kind of correlate. We see they have a convergence there. So you created the Choose Freedom Program. Mm-hmm. What would you say is different about that? Can you talk about what that is specifically?

SPEAKER_02 15:47

Yeah, because the the book and the trainings that I've um done are dealing with a 12-week challenge, right? We can feel everybody likes doing a challenge, and then it's like, yay, I uh I feel better, I feel healed, and then temptation comes in, and just one time, just this once, you know. And I've talked to hundreds of people that were just completely transformed yet chose their habit again and then suffered a consequence. So I'm like, what's going on? What do people need to know not to choose that pattern again?

SPEAKER_03 16:30

Choose freedom is what you're saying.

SPEAKER_02 16:31

Yeah, I'm saying, yeah, Galatians 5, 1 is for freedom that Christ set us free. Stand firm then and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. Wow! And so it's these concepts, I call them core concepts. There's 12 of them that I believe people need to uh, and they're all kind of integrated with the science of the brain as well. So there are these 12 biblically based science-correlated concepts. So this is why you want to continue to choose your freedom. And uh, you know, truth about temptation is one of them. It's addictive is one of them. You know, these patterns and behaviors, once you start engaging in them, your brain goes, Oh, I know what to do with that.

SPEAKER_03 17:21

I remember that.

SPEAKER_02 17:23

That lights up in your brain, that that dopamine center. Right. Um, as uh you'll recognize this one, it's um capture your thoughts, you know. Take your thoughts captive. Uh it's processing forgiveness and and how to forgive others, but more a neuroscience-based, like let's take the facts of what happened and take the feelings out and the trauma. Yeah, understand. Um that's excellent.

SPEAKER_03 17:50

Yeah. So that's not just telling a person to put a band-aid on it. You're giving, like, I do something called TFCBT, trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy. And the very beginning part of it, the first stage is psychoeducation, and that's exactly what you're doing, is you're showing them what happens to the brain and what happens to the pathways and explaining it to them.

SPEAKER_02 18:11

And that's what I I do a lot of work through personal experience, but the counselors and of course Dr. Benzio recognize, like, oh, this is cognitive behavioral therapy because there's a lot in here where I'm going, what's the truth about what's happening? And and it goes back to the attractively packaged poison. What's the truth? Is the truth that you have, you know, you're a loser? Or is it truth that somebody's deceived you into believing this is good for you? Right. It's not good.

SPEAKER_03 18:41

It's not. No. Wow. So shame, forgiveness, and identity affect the freedom journey. So what can you say to someone who's holding shame right now and wants that freedom?

SPEAKER_02 18:54

Yeah, I I think that's so important to understand because shame is about the difference between I did something wrong and I am wrong. Right. And that's where a lot of people in in addiction or or patterns that are interfering. There's something about I am wrong. And this beautiful thing about understanding how your mind was created, uh, it's like, wait, I can change something, I can, you know, I just don't you said it, but I don't feel like the diff as the same human being. Right. I feel completely transformed. And I would say, look at the people that have walked ahead of you and trust them that there's truth in that, there's truth in God's word. And it's it's a matter of practicing and seeing a different future. Yeah, it's not over for you.

SPEAKER_03 19:54

Right. That's what what I get in in my practice are people that come that feel like, well, it's just it's too late. Like I I've already burned bridges, I've already ruined my body, or whatever it may be. The hope is really low right now. So I like what you have in here. I almost don't want to write in it. I'll use pencil. But like, you know, giving a you have a space for the daily gratitude, which we know gratitude is huge. Yeah. Absolutely. And reflecting on what we you've written, it's beautiful.

SPEAKER_02 20:31

So Yeah, and I've I've literally seen people with a lot of trauma shift by going through that. And it's really it's cool for me to see because they'll go from hopelessness to having a bad day and spiraling is what I like to call it. But then the next day they come back and they go, you know, I'm really glad that happened because what I learned from that is I'm like, wow.

SPEAKER_03 20:57

That is great. Yeah, it's not like it's like recovery. Yeah, they're not stuck in that hole. They're they're not like falling in the trap and then, well, I'm in the trap, that's it. No. So what are the biggest lies that the people have that keep them stuck?

SPEAKER_02 21:11

Do you think it's not fixable?

SPEAKER_03 21:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 21:14

Yeah. I I would say that it's not fixable and there's something wrong with me. And it's it's my fault. It's my fault. Yeah, well, you're you're dealing with that trauma thing. Um yeah, definitely uh and in some of the deeper trauma areas, it is not understanding their identity and who they are in Christ and seeing themselves as wonderfully and beautifully made with gifts uh that are to be used. The power within them. Yeah, by by Him. Everybody was created with a gift and a purpose, and we are in this world trying to conform and be the same. And what we're supposed To be doing is celebrating our individuality because that's that's what God is going to use to further His kingdom as your individuality is what's special about you. And then when you get rid of a habit that's life interfering, then you have time to focus on this gift that you've been given. Like let's examine what that could be. Did you love to read? Did you love to teach? Did you love to make flower arrangements? Do you like woodworking, right? It doesn't let's just go back to who you were created to be and spend time there because that's where your true joy is going to come. That's right.

SPEAKER_03 22:42

Or find out what you might like to try. Maybe you were so engulfed in the addiction that maybe you didn't get a chance to try new things or go to new places, or you kept yourself small.

SPEAKER_02 22:54

Well, it's I can only see this in myself in retrospect, but I had a couple of decades of wanting to write books.

SPEAKER_03 23:01

Um you did that like a lot. How many do we have? Let me look.

SPEAKER_02 23:06

I have four. Oh, only four? Yeah, in like uh six years. Um that's impressive. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 23:14

And the cover's beautiful too. It if you want, all of you can go look for it. It's got a sunrise and some clouds. I mean, just looking at it is beautiful. It's common. It really is. So yeah. So okay. So where can people find out more about you specifically?

SPEAKER_02 23:30

Tell us about it.today. Cool. Dot Today. Yeah, dot today. Well, it's funny, somebody wanted to charge me like $65,000 for choosefreedom.com. Um, no. And I like choosefreedom.today better.

SPEAKER_03 23:50

So it was That's even better, of course. Choose Freedom Today. Don't look at yesterday, forget about tomorrow today. It's called it's called being in the moment. That's perfect, actually.

SPEAKER_02 24:00

Yeah, and I have a podcast now, and I I switched from alcohol now to wisdom and godly decision making because I realize that this once you get out of the physical aspect that it's really about, you know, making godly decisions every day. So yeah.

SPEAKER_03 24:19

So do you find that there's a lot of people from different faiths coming in? Is it just different branches of Christianity? What what do you think?

SPEAKER_02 24:26

Mostly different branches of Christianity. Yeah, this really appeals to people that are flirting with their relationship with God or deeply embedded and going, what's wrong with me? Leaders in the church, that's I think. Wow.

SPEAKER_03 24:40

So you I know you touched on that. Um, so you're saying that pastors, this is a huge problem, probably because of the in immense pressure they're under.

SPEAKER_02 24:50

Because alcohol is not considered a sin, and so it's this easy, distractable thing. Everybody deals with stress and and then it you cross this invisible line where you go, uh-oh, and I'm so compassionate about that because so many people don't, you know.

SPEAKER_03 25:11

There was a um documentary of one of my favorite artists, shows my age, Rust Taft. Are you familiar with Rust Taft? I'm not. Okay, you need to look up Rust Taft. Those who are listening that know the 80s and probably early 90s, Russ Taft was a big contemporary Christian artist, and he had a documentary where he talked about how he was inebriated most of the time while he was performing, and he's changed it all around. So I would think that that would be kind of the attitude that he had too. Might be something you might want to see. So um thank you so much for being here. This reminds us that healing does happen in connection as opposed to isolating yourself. None of us are meant to walk this journey alone. So thanks for listening to the Ampcast, and thank you, Roseanne, so much for being here. You can go to what is it again? www.choosefreedom.today. Be sure to subscribe, share this episode with someone who may need encouragement, and we'll see you next time on the Ampcast. Bye.

SPEAKER_01 26:14

You've been listening to the Amp Cast with Elisa Marie ProCop. To find out more, go to AmpCounseling.com. You can discover more information about all our services that we offer. Be sure to follow our social media platforms using the icons at the bottom of the page. Don't forget to check out our show notes for today's episode, where we will have links and contact info for today's guests. Well, that's all the time we have for this episode. Thanks for joining us, and we will see you next time for another edition of the Amp Cast with Eliza Marie Pro Cop Dealing and Healing from Trauma.