Recovery Catalyst - Substance and Behavioral Addictions Unpacked
Welcome to Recovery Catalyst Podcast. I’m Cat York and as a woman in recovery, I created this show for anyone navigating the ups and downs of sobriety without the dry, textbook lectures. Whether you are sober curious, finding your footing in early recovery, working through traditional programs like Alcoholics Anonymous, or exploring an alcohol-free lifestyle, you have a home here. We talk openly about mental health, the heavy weight of trauma and the complexities of dual diagnosis. Our mission is to foster honest conversations around addiction, recovery and emotional healing. If you are looking for an authentic community that truly understands the challenges of substance abuse and building a meaningful life after addiction, you have found your place.
This show answers questions such as:
1.) How do I process and heal from the heavy weight of trauma without turning back to substances?
2.) What does daily life look like when transitioning to an alcohol-free lifestyle?
3.)Do I have to use traditional programs like AA or are there other ways to recover?
4.) How can I find my footing and stay motivated during the early days of sobriety?
5.)How do I build a fulfilling life after giving up my main coping mechanism
6.)Where can I find a community of people who truly understand what substance abuse feels like?
7) How do I untangle my addiction from my underlying mental health struggles?
8.) Who am I sober and how do I learn to tolerate my own thoughts without substance abuse?
9.) How do I handle the loneliness or social awkwardness when navigating a heavily drinking world?
To follow, support, or apply to be a guest, visit: https://www.podpage.com/recovery-catalyst/
Episodes
48 episodes
How To Heal After A Toxic Relationship with Heather Melville
Have you ever caught yourself asking, “Was it really that bad, or am I overreacting?” That question is often the first sign that gaslighting has taken its toll. In this episode, I’m joined by relationship coach Heather Melville, founder of Heal...
Official Trailer
We’re building a recovery podcast that skips the dry lectures and speaks to real sobriety, from sober curious to early recovery to long term healing. We name the hard parts like trauma, mental health, and dual diagnosis while focusing on how to...
Creative Reset: Burnout Recovery with Lexi Reid
Burnout doesn't always announce itself with a crash; for many high-achieving professionals, it’s a slow-burn reality characterized by constant stress and emotional exhaustion. In this episode of the Recovery Catalyst Podcast, we explore practic...
Better Communication Can Protect Kids During Divorce
Shannon Darrow is a divorce coach and mediator, and the host of In Between Them — a podcast featuring honest conversations with adults about what their parents' divorce shaped, broke, and built in them as children. Her desire is to bri...
Trauma Surgeon’s Guide to Burnout & Mental Health with Dr. Daniel Eiferman
What happens after the operating room doors close? For most, it’s not the heroic scene depicted on screen—it’s the weight of high-stakes decisions and the pressure to remain unshakeable.In this episode, Cat York sits down with trauma sur...
Grief Without Shame
We sit with the raw truth of losing someone to addiction and the extra burden of shame that families carry in silence. Katie Rizzo shares how she uses poetry and community to keep Nicholas’ story alive while pushing back on stigma and broken sy...
How To Stay Sober By Building A Life You Want
We talk with Dr. Larry Smith about how addiction can start young, hide behind achievement, and keep us trapped through an inner voice that promises relief while stealing our lives. We also lay out the daily practices that keep him sober for 26 ...
Using the Law to Fight Addiction with Attorney Mark Astor
We talk with attorney Mark Astor about what families can do when addiction or severe mental illness hijacks a loved one’s decision-making and the stakes keep rising. We break down how civil legal tools can create safety, accountability, and tim...
New Ways To Connect With Recovery Catalyst
I share practical updates that make it easier for us to stay connected and shape Recovery Catalyst together, from a new website to simple ways to send feedback. I also explain why I’m adding more solo episodes.• Launching a new website ...
A Moment Turns Addiction Into Action with Bryan Blackmon
We talk with Bryan Blackmon about leaving Texas for a Los Angeles dream, sliding into addiction and homelessness, and finding an unexpected lifeline through an 85-year-old landlord named Elaine. Bryan shares the mirror moment that made him choo...
Anxiety Said Midnight So I Hit Record with Cat York
We share a raw, late-night check-in about living with debilitating anxiety while staying sober and trying to keep life moving. We talk honestly about panic attacks, the long list of things we try for relief, and why kindness matters when there ...
A Veteran’s Road To Shamanic Trauma Healing
We talk with veteran and shamanic trauma specialist Jeremy Chenvert, host of “The Shaman Stories Podcast” about how trauma can linger even when you “should be fine,” and how healing starts when the nervous system finally feels safe. We share co...
Sober Travel That Actually Works with Teresa Bergen
We talk with sober travel writer Teresa Bergen about how to protect sobriety on the road without shrinking your life. We share practical ways to handle social pressure, build sober-friendly plans, and travel with more freedom and better memorie...
Healing Beyond The Plate with Dr. Ellyn Hilliard-McLeod
We sit down with Dr. Ellyn Hilliard-McLeod to talk about why real healing takes more than a perfect diet and how symptoms can reveal what needs to change in our lives. We dig into processed food traps, core beliefs around eating, and the inner ...
Journey From Addiction to Spiritual Freedom
Fenix Shephard recounts leaving home at 14, surviving abuse, addiction, homelessness, being part of the LGBTQ+ community along with multiple arrests before finding sobriety and a personal relationship with God beyond organized religion.F...
Leading with Self‑Awareness
Certified IFS practitioner and trauma‑informed coach Kurt Bush shares his journey from manufacturing and ministry into Brimstone Coaching Group, helping leaders overcome imposter syndrome and lead with authenticity. Through t...
Rewiring Safety: Somatic Healing
Gazit Chaya Nkosi, an autistic AFAB trans non-binary Jewish mystic and somatic coach, discusses neurodivergence and "neurocomplexity," somatic parts work, and the Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP) — a passive, auditory method that helps the nervous...
Sober Up and Show Up
Cat York sits down with Daryl Dittmer, who overcame severe addiction at 19 to become an entrepreneur, author, and life coach. Daryl shares his recovery story, the role of treatment and AA, and the moment he chose to change his life.The c...
When AA Isn't Enough: Finding Your Own Path to Sobriety
Host Cat York candidly shares her sobriety journey, describing early detox, repeated relapses, and the support and limitations she found in Alcoholics Anonymous.She discusses challenges specific to women in recovery—difficulty finding sp...
Twelve Step Journey to Inner Safety
Host Cat York interviews Barb Nangle about her transformational recovery through ACA and OA, how she healed codependence, built internal safety, and developed strong boundaries that reshaped her life and relationships.The episode covers ...
Gloria Battini on Mediumship, Grief & Healing
Host Cat York speaks with spiritual medium and consciousness mentor Gloria Battini about her path from anxiety and toxic relationships to becoming a medium and guide. They discuss how intuition and mediumship can support healing, especially in ...
Pain, Grief, and Practical Coping Skills
Cat York interviews Dr. Jeffrey Bone — chronic illness coach, author, and host of To the Bone — about his personal journey from years of misdiagnosis to a diagnosis of chronic inflammatory response syndrome and common variable immune deficiency...
Mixtape of Healing: Johnzelle Andersons Journey
On this episode of the Call Her Cat Podcast, host Cat York interviews licensed therapist and author Johnzelle Anderson about his powerful debut, Mixtape: A Memoir. Told uniquely in "tracks" instead of chapters, Mixtape charts...
Finding Healing in Everyday Messiness
Host Cat York interviews Paul Granger about his decades of full-time volunteer ministry, the challenges of inconsistent income, and the daily practice of loving God and loving others.Paul shares honest stories of loss, perseverance, and ...