Addiction Medicine Made Easy | Fighting back against addiction

A physician-mom sits across from us and tells the truth: she loved a good, kind man whose alcoholism, fueled by unhealed PTSD, dismantled their family one crisis at a time. From quiet home drinking to ER runs, withdrawal hallucinations, and an ICU ventilator, her story captures the clinical realities of alcohol use disorder and the human cost families carry in silence. She walks through safety plans for her kids, a neighbor’s garag...

What if the fastest way to help a loved one stop using isn’t pushing harder but stepping out of the “villain” role? We sit down with master addiction counselor and YouTuber Amber Hollingsworth to unpack a practical, compassionate framework that actually moves people from resistance to readiness. Amber explains why policing, nagging, and ultimatums create the perfect distraction from change—and how strategic empathy, active listenin...

The bell rings, the doors open, and the real work begins: keeping kids safe while the drug market slips into their phones and pockets. We sit down with Principal Leland Hansen to unpack the day-to-day reality of school-based prevention, from vape pens hidden in hoodies to Snapchat dealers who change handles as fast as administrators can warn parents. Leland lays out a candid, practical playbook that pairs firm boundaries with a hea...

The most dangerous phrase in senior health might be “I’ve always handled it fine.” We dive into how aging reshapes the risks of alcohol, benzodiazepines, opioids, nicotine, and today’s ultra‑potent cannabis—and why familiar habits can turn hazardous after 65. Drawing on frontline cases and recent research, we unpack the baby boomer lived experience, from “mother’s little helper” to daily cocktail hours in senior communities, then c...

Food isn’t just fuel and obesity isn’t just willpower. We sat down with bariatric surgeon Dr. Mark Vierra to unpack what weight-loss surgery really changes, why genetics and hormones can overpower the best intentions, and how a careful program decides who needs a scalpel and who needs a different plan. From GLP‑1 surges and ghrelin drops to PYY’s “brake,” we walk through how surgery reshapes appetite signals and why even modest wei...

Your brain is ancient, but your world is not. We unpack how a hunter-gatherer reward system runs into modern dopamine superstimuli—engineered foods, infinite feeds, one-click buys, and potent drugs—and why that mismatch can spiral into addiction. Using clear language and vivid examples, we explain cravings, compulsion, and consequences through the lens of dopamine: how normal rewards help us survive, how substances hijack that circ...

A brightly colored box at a smoke shop should not hit like an opioid, yet that’s the business model behind “gas station heroin.” We dive into how tianeptine—a foreign antidepressant with mu‑opioid activity—landed on American countertops as a “dietary supplement,” and why that mirrors a broader playbook: repackage potent psychoactives, exploit loopholes, pivot fast when bans arrive, and let consumers pay the price. Joined by Matthew...

Have you ever wondered what it's like to practice Addiction Medicine? In this episode I speak about what we do in Addiction Medicine - both generally as well as how we do things in our practice on the Central Coast of California. 

I share how our clinic treats substance use with low‑barrier access, kind care, peer support, and long‑acting injectables while partnering with therapists to address trauma and ADHD that often drive r...

Dr. Casey Grover welcomes Dr. Sarah Nasir, an addiction medicine specialist, for an insightful conversation about effectively communicating with patients and addressing common myths in addiction treatment.

• Personal journeys into addiction medicine that transformed both doctors' understanding of substance use disorders
• The science behind medication-assisted treatment and why it's not "trading one addi...

Mental health conditions and addiction are deeply intertwined, creating complex treatment challenges that require addressing both simultaneously. Dr. Mark Hrymoc, an addiction psychiatrist, shares insights on effectively treating dual diagnosis patients through parallel treatment plans that address both substance use and underlying mental health conditions.

• Dual diagnosis (co-occurring disorders) describes patients with ...

Dr. Casey Grover shares his personal struggle with food addiction and binge eating while exploring the science behind why certain foods trigger addictive behaviors in the brain. He examines how the food industry deliberately engineers products to maximize pleasure and consumption through carefully calibrated combinations of sugar, fat, and salt.

• Food addiction involves an intense dopamine response to certain foods that v...

This episode is the fourth and final episode of a four part series on stigma.

This episode is done in collaboration with Central Coast Overdose Prevention (CCODP) and was made possible by California Overdose Prevention Network Accelerator funding from the Public Health Institute's Center for Health Leadership and Impact.

First responders face unique mental health challenges due to the high-stress nature of their work, but stigma...

This episode is the third episode of a four part series on stigma.

This episode is done in collaboration with Central Coast Overdose Prevention (CCODP) and was made possible by California Overdose Prevention Network Accelerator funding from the Public Health Institute's Center for Health Leadership and Impact.

In this episode, Wendy Solorio shares her raw, emotional journey as a mother supporting her daughter Gabrielle through a...

This episode is the second episode of a four part series on stigma.

This episode is done in collaboration with Central Coast Overdose Prevention (CCODP) and was made possible by California Overdose Prevention Network Accelerator funding from the Public Health Institute's Center for Health Leadership and Impact.

In this episode, Gabrielle shares her powerful journey from fentanyl addiction to recovery, highlighting the unexpected...

This episode is the first episode of a four part series on stigma.

This episode is done in collaboration with Central Coast Overdose Prevention (CCODP) and was made possible by California Overdose Prevention Network Accelerator funding from the Public Health Institute's Center for Health Leadership and Impact.

In this episode, Ana Alamo shares her powerful journey from addiction to recovery, revealing how her personal struggles ...

Dr. Casey Grover explores the challenging world of benzodiazepines, explaining why these commonly prescribed medications can create more problems than they solve for patients struggling with anxiety and other conditions.

• Benzodiazepines work like alcohol in pill form, enhancing the brain's natural "downer" chemical GABA
• Long-term use leads to tolerance, dependence, and potentially Benzodiazepine-Indu...

This is a joint episode between the Addiction Medicine Made Easy Podcast and the Kratom Sobriety Podcast

Check out the Kratom Sobriety Podcast: https://kratomsobriety.com/

Trauma and addiction are deeply intertwined, with unresolved PTSD often driving substance use as people attempt to manage overwhelming emotions and physical sensations.

• Understanding PTSD beyond combat veterans—recognizing both "big T" traumas ...

We discuss practical strategies for staying up-to-date with addiction medicine research in this collaborative episode between Addiction Medicine Made Easy and the Addiction Medicine Journal Club podcast.

• Featuring a four-person roundtable with Dr. Casey Grover, Dr. John Keenan, Dr. Sonia Del Tredici, and Thomas Bannard
• Understanding why evidence-based medicine matters in addiction care
• Incorporating lived exp...

Mark MacNichol, a playwright and charity director, shares how his therapeutic approach called Anonymous Drama helps people in recovery and the justice system process trauma and develop emotional wellbeing by viewing their inner thoughts as characters in a play.

• Anonymous Drama is not traditional theater but uses dramatic techniques for therapeutic purposes
• The program helps participants identify characters in their...