Podcast appearances and mentions of amy dresner

This Week on Dopey! We are honored to be joined by super big time NY Times best selling author, Oprah Winfrey buddy and thought leader, Dear Gabby Podcaster, Dream Manifester - Gabby Bernstein!!!!!!!! Gabby lays it all out how she went from horrible cocaine addiction to finding Self Love and creating her incredible career in helping people and teaching how people can help themselves! PLUS a crazy email from prison! Trouble shooting Heroin! And a chem sex Voicemail! PLUS ALSO Dave's high school friend's Jim and Devan are back to talk psychedelic New Years, rodents and Snakes on a brand new New Years episode of Dopey! Check out Gabby's book and tour dates here: https://gabbybernstein.com/events Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/dopeypodcast Here is what AI came up with:

Sean and Paul watch Mike's face get flushed red the entire time during their interview with author Amy Dresner ("My Fair Junkie"). 

This week on Dopey Tuesday! Amy Dresner is Back!!!! And fills us in on her experiences with loss, medical problems, and mental health challenges while maintaining her recovery. She shares her journey with epilepsy, including the triggers and treatments she has encountered. Amy also opens up about her struggles with depression and suicidal ideation, emphasizing the importance of seeking professional help and using coping skills! Despite the hardships she has faced, Amy remains committed to her recovery and offers support to others who may be going through similar challenges. In this part of the conversation, Amy and David discuss their experiences with sober dating and the benefits of dating someone in recovery.   https://loosiddating.onelink.me/CAgW/ftg17xhz   Dopey Podcast is the world's greatest podcast on drugs, addiction and dumb shit. Chris and I were two IV heroin addicts who loved to talk about all the coke we smoked, snorted and shot, all the pills we ate, smoked, all the weed we smoked and ate, all the booze we consumed and all the consequences we suffered. After making the show for 2 and a half years, Chris tragically relapsed and died from a fentanyl overdose. Dopey continued on, at first to mourn the horrible loss of Chris, but then to continue our mission - which was at its core, to keep addicts and alcoholics company. Whether to laugh at our time in rehab, or cry at the worst missteps we made, Dopey tells the truth about drugs, addiction and recovery. We continually mine the universe for stories rife with debauchery and highlight serious drug taking and alcoholism. We also examine different paths toward addiction recovery. We shine a light on harm reduction and medication assisted treatment. We talk with celebrities and nobodies and stockpile stories to be the greatest one stop shop podcast on all things drugs, addiction, recovery and comedy pathfinding the route to the heart of the opioid epidemic.

Welcome back to another compelling episode of "From the Depths of Darkness to the Light of Success" with your host, Chris Swiech. In this episode, we dive deep into the riveting memoir that has been making waves since its release - "Strip: A Memoir" by the talented author, Hannah Sward. Published by Tortoise Press in 2022, this remarkable book unveils the harrowing journey of a woman who stumbled into the world of the sex industry and emerged stronger, wiser, and filled with stories that will leave you spellbound. Hannah Sward's memoir is a raw and unflinching account of her tumultuous path through the sex industry, and it is a testament to the power of resilience, courage, and the human spirit. As we explore her extraordinary narrative, we're honored to share insights from some of the most renowned authors who have praised her work: JM Coetzee, Nobel Prize in Literature laureate and the genius behind "Disgrace" and other literary masterpieces, commends Sward's memoir for its touching honesty and light-hearted prose. Her ability to navigate a complex and sensitive topic with such grace is truly remarkable. Melissa Broder, the celebrated author of "The Pisces," "Milk Fed," and "So Sad Today," describes "Strip" as an arresting, weighty, and visceral journey. Sward's memoir takes us on a rollercoaster of physical, emotional, and spiritual survival that will leave you breathless. Amy Dresner, the fearless author of "My Fair Junkie: A Memoir of Getting Dirty and Staying Clean," is captivated by Sward's signature stark style. In "Strip," Sward fearlessly addresses intimate and taboo subjects, immersing readers in her world with vivid descriptions that leave no room for self-pity or indulgence. Her writing is both shameless and descriptive, keeping readers hungry for every word. In this episode, we'll have the privilege of delving into Hannah Sward's extraordinary journey as she shares her experiences, challenges, and ultimate triumphs in a world that often remains hidden from society's gaze. Join us as we explore how she navigated through darkness to find the light of success, offering hope and inspiration to all those who have faced adversity. As we unravel the pages of "Strip: A Memoir," we'll discover the true essence of resilience and the boundless strength of the human spirit. Tune in for an enlightening and moving conversation that will leave you inspired to overcome any obstacle in your own path. Don't miss this powerful episode of "From the Depths of Darkness to the Light of Success" with your host, Chris Swiech, as we journey through the depths of one woman's story and emerge on the other side, stronger and more determined than ever. Hannah Sward Links: Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/hannahswardauthor Website & Book- https://www.hannahsward.com If you would like to support the show please leave a 5 star review over on Apple Podcasts or leave a voice message on Anchor FM. You can also rate the show on Spotify now as well, please do so. Make sure you subscribe to the YouTube channel as well and turn on the notifications. You can also follow the show and my journey on IG @depthsofdarkside! Podcast Social Media: Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/depthsofdarkside Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/depthsofdarkside YouTube- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-M2lpVwCgEyM85menG_nvQ Spotify- https://open.spotify.com/show/4iiKx07baLZf9CzcNhdUsi?si=e91d5911f91647a9 Apple- https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/from-the-depths-of-darkness-to-the-light-of-success/id1510954182 Email- depthsodarkside@gmail.com Join us next time for another captivating episode of "From the Depths of Darkness to the Light of Success," where we continue to explore stories of triumph over adversity and the incredible resilience of the human spirit. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/lightofsuccess/message

Amy Dresner is a journalist, an author, a former comedian, and most importantly sober. Her book "My Fair Junkie: A Memoir of Getting Dirty & Staying Clean" has been hailed by critics and readers alike and it gives people struggling with addiction hope. She's got another book on the way and a successful podcast called "Rehab Junkie" but she also has real-life problems in recovery that she's very open about. Amy is hilarious. Like really, really funny. https://www.amydresner.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In my new book, TICKLED, I talk about a lot of stuff, including presence, precision, Bob Dylan, Harry Potter, and love. I also talk a lot about addiction and the extremely difficult time I had tackling the challenge of alcoholism. The end of my...

*Explicit* The hysterically funny Amy Dresner shares an up-close look at doing time on the chain gang, and what recovery looks like after sobriety. This leading truth-teller pulls no punches about the bumpy road to get clean and the aha moment of rock bottom. "Amys story is so compelling it no surprise her winning spirit and honest walk has made her a bestselling author" listen in as Amy Dresner chats with Audrey Lawrence, TEDx speaker, and author.

This week on Dopey! It's Thanksgiving and we are thrilled to share the holiday with some old friends.  Ray returns and talks about his recent trip to Mexico, the Beatles special and a bunch of other dumb shit. Then Amy Dresner returns to talk about her recent Propyfol experience, shaving her asshole and more! Plus my dad pops in and some emails and messages of gratitude on a super not corny but still super grateful new episode of Dopey!

Nathaniel Hodder-Shipp found breathwork while in treatment, then went on to study with a mentor for 11 years. He's the founder of Breathwork for Recovery and we talk about the transformative nature of breathwork, the explosion of it, how we are all recovering from something, trauma is something we all share, exploitation in the wellness community, ethics, breathwork training, Nathaniel's certification requires 800 hours of training while others will certify with 30 hours, breathing properly, the autonomic nervous system, Amy Dresner and My Fair Junkie, how certain conditions like epilepsy may not be right for breathwork, disclosures, access and resources, The Recovery Circle.You can find Nathaniel on his websites at https://breathworkforrecovery.com and nathanielhoddershipp.com and on Instagram @breathworkforrecovery and @spiritandceremonyEpisode recorded on 10/12/21Episode released on 11/17/21For more information on the podcast or its host, please visit sassylittlepodcast.com. There, you will find links to social media and an opportunity to become a member of the podcast community. We are on Twitter and Instagram @SassyLittlePod and Facebook @SassyLittlePodcast.Thanks for listening! If you like this sassy little podcast, please subscribe to it, rate it and review it, and tell your friends about it. For early access, ad-free episode and exclusive content, become a patron on Patreon. Cheers!

Interview W/ Amy Dresner Author Of My Fair Junkie Amy Dresner is the author of the book My Fair Junkie, a memoir of getting dirty and staying clean! Find it here: https://www.amazon.com/My-Fair-Junkie-Getting-Staying/dp/0316430951 Watch the full video interview here: https://youtu.be/7RDWV5vH5J4 Amy Dresner is a journalist, author, and former comedian as well as a recovering addict and alcoholic. She has been a columnist for the addiction/recovery magazine theFix.com since 2012 and has freelanced for Addiction.com, Psychology Today, Vice and many other publications. My name is Pej and I am a drug and alcohol interventionist! I am 14 years sober from Marijuana, Meth, Heroin, and a whole lot more. It has become my life's mission to help inspire and save as many lives as I can. Please call or text me any time if I can help you or a loved one get help. (949)751-7761 Subscribe to Peji's Recovery Corner podcast: On Itunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/pejis-recovery-corner/id1554963303 On Google: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9waW5lY2FzdC5jb20vZmVlZC9wZWppLXMtcmVjb3ZlcnktY29ybmVy On Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7mdmZQ6D7nNmrbYEOvkJL8 Stay connected on Social! TikTok: tiktok.com/@pejinterventions IG: https://www.instagram.com/drug_intervention/

The first time I heard Amy was on her podcast rehab confidential and I knew I had to have her on the show! There is no better way to celebrate National Recovery Month than to welcome Amy Dresner to the show. Amy is a journalist, comedian and now author of the book My Fair Junkie . Her story is incredible and the way she humorously portrays it with humor makes it so entertaining to listen to. We get a peek into her story and talk about what her life looks like today. Amy is also an advocate of harm reduction and we discuss it this week on sober exposure.   https://www.instagram.com/amydresner/ https://www.amydresner.com/

Let's talk about sex baby lets talk about you and me ... Special Guests included Amy Dresner, author of My Fair Junkie (@amydresner), and Sober Sexpert Tawny Lara @tawynlara. Make sure to check out the Sexy Time Playlist that DJ Missing Mei created just for this weeks theme! SOBER POP Culture Club Hosts: Alysse Bryson, Founder of The Sober Curator, Brooke Robichaud, Founder of Sober Biz Babe, and katie MACK Founder of the Webby Award-Winning Podcast Fcking Sober the First 90 Days, DJ Missing Mei, Founder of The Creative Sober, and Pop Buchanan, Founder of Sober is Dope! SOBER POP Culture meets on the Clubhouse App every Wednesday at 6 pm Pacific / 7 pm Mountain / 8 pm Central / 9 pm Eastern Come join the club where the conversations always pop! Link to SOBER POP Content @thesobercurator Link to SOBER POP Club on Clubhouse App --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/soberpop/support

Amy Dresner is a journalist, an author, a former comedian, and most importantly 8.5 years sober. Her book "My Fair Junkie: A Memoir of Getting Dirty & Staying Clean" has been hailed by critics and readers alike and it gives people struggling with addiction hope. She's got another book on the way and a successful podcast called "Rehab Junkie" but she also has real-life problems in recovery that she's very open about. Amy is hilarious. Like really, really funny. https://www.amydresner.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I discovered Amy Dresner while reading TheFix.com about a year ago and was instantly hooked by her honesty. “Amy Dresner is your soul mate,” said a girl I was chasing at the time. Here are some of my favorite Amy Dresner articles: On 13th stepping: When I had 60 days sober, I started dating an AA member with 19 years. His sponsor told him he could do what he wanted, as long as he was willing to pay the consequences. My sponsor told me it wasn't a good idea because I was newly sober. I didn't listen. I liked the guy because he didn't talk my ear off about recovery. Guys with four years tend to tell me how to work my program, and how they won't get involved with me until I have a certain amount of time sober. “How come you donʼt lecture me about my program?” I asked my old-timer one day. “Because Iʼm trying to date you, not be your sponsor,” he told me. “And I donʼt consider you a ʻnewcomerʼ because you've been in and out of the program for 17 years. You just donʼt have any time.” Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSFVD7Xfhn7sJY8LAIQmH8Q/join https://odysee.com/@LukeFordLive, https://lbry.tv/@LukeFord, https://rumble.com/lukeford https://dlive.tv/lukefordlivestreams Listener Call In #: 1-310-997-4596 Superchat: https://entropystream.live/app/lukefordlive Bitchute: https://www.bitchute.com/channel/lukeford/ Soundcloud MP3s: https://soundcloud.com/luke-ford-666431593 Code of Conduct: https://lukeford.net/blog/?p=125692 https://www.patreon.com/lukeford http://lukeford.net Email me: lukeisback@gmail.com or DM me on Twitter.com/lukeford Support the show | https://www.streamlabs.com/lukeford, https://patreon.com/lukeford, https://PayPal.Me/lukeisback Facebook: http://facebook.com/lukecford Feel free to clip my videos. It's nice when you link back to the original.

Episode: 2021.7.22The Living Full Out Show with Nancy Solari guides you in finding your inner compass. Maybe you need that little push to get your dreams going. Perhaps you want to grow, but you're fearful of change. Taking that step in life allows you to live full out. Our first caller, Ericka, finds herself thinking about an old love interest. She feels like she made a wrong decision leaving the relationship because of how fun it was to be around him despite not having similar life goals. She asks Nancy for advice on how to move on and be open to dating again. Nancy explains the different types of love we experience in life and how we all have to go through them. Tune in to find out if Ericka is ready to date again. Our inspirational guest Amy Dresner grew up in Beverly Hills and had it all, but having lavish items did not conceal what she felt inside. She battled with body dysmorphic disorder, which led to anorexia and bulimia. After trying to overcome her eating disorders, she decided to use drugs as her coping mechanism. At 24, she moved to San Francisco to spread her wings but laid eyes with another drug that would cause her to move back instead of forward. Through therapy and rehab, Amy slowly got her life together. Listen to the whole show to hear about Amy's road to recovery. Our last caller asks Nancy for help on how to balance work and family. She feels like her kids and elderly parents all want her attention, and there isn't enough time in a day to cater to everyone. Nancy advises our caller to look for fun ways to make household chores fun for her teenage kids. Nancy also informs our caller not to be afraid to set boundaries when it comes to time for herself. Tune in to hear more advice on how to balance your life. Maybe you need help with the direction you're going in life. Perhaps you're finding it hard to balance work, school, or family. We all have an inner compass that guides us in life, and remember to trust ourselves and use those talents to lead the way in living full out. Call us 800-333-0001

Happy Friday loves!! YAY it's the Weekend!! Today's episode is super REAL and RAW!! Amy shares her journey of addiction, rehab, being sober and choosing herself. Amy gets RAW about self awareness and the work she's done to get there. Ali and Amy talk about being self aware, growth, and much more. Amy tells it all and then some and her book she wrote now and her passion for helping others. Tune in to get really real, laugh hard, maybe cry and become more self aware. Follow Amy at: https://www.amydresner.com https://www.instagram.com/amydresner https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1488420537?i=1000522329244 AND HERE'S ALI: www.alilevine.com Instagram.com/ALiLevineDesign Twitter.com/AliLevineDesign Linkedin.com/AliLevineDesign Pinterest.com/AliLevineDesign Don't forget to follow our podcast Instagram too!! https://instagram.com/everythingwithalilevine !! We are always updating fun news and clips there from the show! Giveaways too! So don't miss out! If you're loving Everything with Ali Levine, please leave us a 5 star review, written out with some love!! WE love you and appreciate the love!! The REVIEWS mean SO much to us and help others find the show!! DM Ali @Alilevinedesign and say hi and follow! Ali LOVES to connect with her community!! SCREENSHOT this episode if you LOVE it and Tag US so we can Share it!!

“Shame can't survive the light." If you have been on this podcast journey with me for awhile then you know that addiction and recovery are a recurring theme on the show--subjects very close to my heart as someone whose life has been spared by sobriety. With so much going on in the world and addiction on the rise, and so many people suffering in silence, I think it's important to talk about mental health, addiction and shine some light on the subject. After all, shame can't survive the light. So today on the show I am sharing the story of Amy Dresner--a true badass and an amazing example that you can get through anything with resilience and turn tragedy into triumph. Amy Dresner is a journalist, author, and former comedian as well as a recovering addict and alcoholic. She has been a columnist for the addiction/recovery magazine theFix.com since 2012 and has freelanced for Addiction.com, Psychology Today, Vice and many other publications. Her first book, “My Fair Junkie: A Memoir of Getting Dirty and Staying Clean,” was published by Hachette in 2017 to rave reviews from critics and readers alike. Elle magazine compared Dresner’s darkly comic memoir to Carrie Fisher’s “Postcards from the Edge” and Mary Karr’s “Lit,” calling Dresner’s book “one for the ages.” Dresner has appeared on the television show The Doctors TV and on numerous radio shows and podcasts, including Dr. Drew, Dopey and Rich Roll. She does regular speaking engagements around the U.S. and Canada. Her book is currently in development for a TV series. In this episode, Amy candidly shares her journey into and out of addiction and why it's never too late to change your life for the better. Growing up in Beverly Hills, Amy had it all:  a top-notch private school education, the most expensive summer camps, and even a weekly spending allowance.  But at age 24 she started dabbling in meth in San Francisco and soon became a full blown meth addict.  She managed to keep it all together until one night, high on Oxycontin, she pulled a butter knife on her husband and was promptly arrested for felony domestic violence with a deadly weapon. She found herself in the psych ward, divorced, and penniless.  She was court-ordered 240 ours of community service and for the next two years assigned to a Hollywood Boulevard "chain gang."  She cleaned up the streets and bounced from rehabs, struggled with sobriety, sex addiction, and starting over in her 40's. This conversation is raw, courageous and even shocking at times.  We talk about the dark side of addiction, fear, self hatred and shame.  The is a candid conversation about the struggles to success, the will to survive, and the conviction and strength required to achieve sobriety. Here’s what you will learn: How Amy started her journey from pain to purpose (2:50) What she learned and how she grew from her arrest and jail (11:31) How being on the "chain gang" shifted her perspective and changed her life (19:21) How shame affects us and how the 12 Steps helps us (23:51) Addiction doesn't discriminate and how to overcome the dark side by shining light on it (29:45) How to navigate feelings that come and go (36:52) How Amy was able to manage her depression and mood in the pandemic (45:43) How to manage making decisions about medications in sobriety  (52:18) Screenshot your favorite part and post to your IG story and tag me @amberlylagomotivation and @amydresner so we can see and repost to our stories!   Follow Amy: Facebook Instagram Twitter Website   Mentioned in this episode: My Fair Junkie: A Memoir of Getting Dirty and Staying Clean The Fix: Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Recovery News | Resources The Molecule of More   Your Unstoppable Life Mastermind is coming June 26th! We will work to help you activate your highest potential, so that you can live the life you deserve!!  Apply now and let us know you are ready for greatness!   Hiitide Book Club: I am excited to share that registration for the True Grit and Grace Book Club is now OPEN!!! Register here!   Unlock your highest potential and start living the life you deserve! Read the True Grit and Grace book here and learn how you can turn your tragedies into triumphs!  Thank you for joining us on the True, Grit, & Grace Podcast! If you find value in today’s episode, don’t forget to share the show with your friends and tap that subscribe button so you don’t miss an episode! You can also head over to amberlylago.com to join my newsletter and access free downloadable resources that can help you elevate your life, business, and relationships! Want to see the behind the scenes and keep the conversation going?  Head over to Instagram @amberlylagomotivation! Audible @True-Grit-and-Grace-Audiobook  Website @amberlylago.com Instagram @amberlylagomotivation Facebook @AmberlyLagoSpeaker

Alia chats with author and former standup comedian Amy Dresner about drug addiction, stabbing her ex-husband, and staying clean. Check out her book, "My Fair Junkie"!

Former stand-up comic, recovering drug addict, and “all-around fuckup” those are her words not mine. Amy Dresner is a writer, and author who humorously chronicles her epic ups and downs for thefix which is a recovery themed online publication as well as Addiction.com, Psychology Today, Vice and many other publications. Amy's first book is called My Fair Junkie: A Memoir of Getting Dirty and Staying Clean. It covers a lot of her personal story and how she went from having it all growing up in Beverly Hills to falling into the grips of addiction.  Today we will be diving into Part Two of Amy’s recovery story and where we focus on her learning outcomes and what she recommends to anyone dealing with addiction or an addictive personality!

Former stand-up comic, recovering drug addict, and “all-around fuckup” those are her words not mine. Amy Dresner is a writer, and author who humorously chronicles her epic ups and downs for thefix which is a recovery themed online publication as well as Addiction.com, Psychology Today, Vice and many other publications. Amy's first book is called My Fair Junkie: A Memoir of Getting Dirty and Staying Clean. It covers a lot of her personal story and how she went from having it all growing up in Beverly Hills to falling into the grips of addiction.  Today we will be diving into Part One of Amy’s recovery story and what she learned along the way!

Author of My Fair Junkie: A Memoir of Getting Dirty and Staying Clean,  Amy Dresner, sits with Trev to talk about the book, podcasting, mental health and so much more! Make sure you check this one out, Amy is raw, truthful, and absolutely hilarious!Make sure you check out her podcast, Rehab Confidential. New Episodes drop on Mondays!Website: Amydresner.comFollow Amy Dresner on Social MediaFacebookInstagramTwitterDon't forget to head to Get-Punk.com  , the internets best source for punk vinyl and use the discount code STRUGGLE at check out for 10% off your order!  ALBUM OF THE WEEK:Stolen Wheelchairs: The America

This week, it's all about sobriety. Jon talks with Amy Dresner; author of My Fair Junkie: A Memoir of Getting Dirty and Staying Clean. Amy is also a journalist and former comedian as well as a recovering addict and alcoholic. She has been a columnist for the addiction/recovery magazine theFix.com since 2012 and has freelanced for Addiction.com, Psychology Today, Vice and many other publications.---If you or anyone you know is struggling with addiction or mental health issues and you feel you have nowhere to to turn, please call the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) National Helpline: 1-800-662-HELP (4357)---Check out Amy's book!https://www.amazon.com/My-Fair-Junkie-Getting-Staying/dp/0316430935Amy's Podcast: Rehab Confidentialhttps://www.amydresner.com/rehab-confidential-podcast/Follow Amy on social media:https://www.instagram.com/amydresnerhttps://www.twitter.com/amydresnerhttps://www.amydresner.com/---Check out Jon's latest comedy album, COMPROMISED MATURITY: https://800pgr.lnk.to/HuckWEFollow Jon on social media:Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/jon_huckTwitter | https://www.twitter.com/jonhuckJon's website | https://www.jonhuck.me/---Follow Producer Indy on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/indyfawcett---Produced by https://www.chobo.co—Recorded 2021-03-06—#SHJH #Sobriety #AmyDresnerSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/speaking-highly-with-jon-huck/donations

TW: Eating disorders, weight mention, self-harm, substance abuse This week I got to interview the incredible author and speaker, Amy Dresner. Amy tells her hilarious and honest story about her experience with anorexia, drug addiction, alcohol addiction, sex addiction, and self-harm. Amy taught me so much through her journey, I hope you enjoy. Follow me: IG: @jackieg.tv Twitter: @jackieeg7 Support this Podcast: Patreon.com/jackiegtv Buy My Book: Gumroad.com/l/findinghome     Follow Amy: IG: @amydresner https://www.amydresner.com

Jarren and the guys discuss the recent events in our nation's capital, then welcome comedian and author Amy Dresner. Things degenerate from there, however listeners will be left with a message of hope.

Jeannine and Kim interview Amy Dresner, a recovering addict, comedian, author of “My Fair Junkie: A Memoir of Getting Dirty and Staying Clean,” and podcast co-host of “Rehab Confidential.” On Christmas Day, 2011, Amy was arrested for felony domestic violence with a deadly weapon and sentenced to 240 hours of community service that changed her life. Connect with the show: https://instagram.com/chasingheroine?igshid=tztcj72h2pya Connect with Amy: https://instagram.com/amydresner?igshid=16f39s31z0sjc Connect with Jeannine: https://instagram.com/jeanninecoulter?igshid=n47wxsq9q468

Writer Amy Dresner talks addiction, recovery and dating.

Writer Amy Dresner talks addiction, recovery and dating.

This week Jamie talks to journalist, author and recovering addict and alcoholic, Amy Dresner.  Amy is the author of the super popular book My Fair Junkie: A Memoir of Getting Dirty and Staying Clean. They talk about Amy's own addiction story, how she recovered (a few times), the affect on her family, and Jamie also talks about her sister Melissa, who died in 2016 of an accidental opioid prescription overdose. Beauty obsession of the week: Jamie Makeup Blighlighter Things Mentioned: Jamie's maskne blog post Sydne Summer face masks  Don't forget to rate, review and subscribe! Follow along @itsJamieStone and @ALittleTooMuchPodcast.  

Aaron is a sober comedian who grew up terrorizing small town Georgia with his best friend, Muffin. Amy Dresner guest Co-hosts, and her and Kyle grill Aaron about getting into recovery at age 19, enduring a cultish rehab experience, and gaining self acceptance. Follow us on instagram @sobersplain

#299: On today's episode we are joined by journalist, author, and former comedian as well as a recovering addict and alcoholic; Amy Dresner. Amy is the author of the wildly popular addiction memoir "My Fair Junkie - A Memoir Of Getting Dirty And Staying Clean". On this episode we discuss Amy's journey as a drug addict, sex addict, and now recovering addict in the recovery program.  To connect with Amy Dresner click HERE To purchase Amy's book "My Fair Junkie" click HERE To connect with Lauryn Evarts click HERE To connect with Michael Bosstick click HERE Read More on The Skinny Confidential HERE For Detailed Show Notes visit TSCPODCAST.COM To Call the Him & Her Hotline call: 1-833-SKINNYS (754-6697) This episode is brought to you by ButcherBox Every month, butcher box ships a curated selection of high-quality meat right to our home. All meat is free of antibiotics and added hormones. You can customize your box to your exact preference. It’s a no-brainer! Options like 100% grass-fed and finished beef, free-range organic chicken, wild-caught Alaskan salmon, and more. Just go to ButcherBox.com/skinny now to sign up! The episode is brought to you by AncestryHealth  Your inherited health risks don't have to stay unknown. Learn if you're at lower or higher risk for some commonly inherited conditions linked to breast cancer, colon cancer & heart disease, with AncestryHealth. Find out what your DNA says about genetic risk with AncestryHealth®. Head to Ancestry.com/SKINNY to get your AncestryHealth® kit today! Produced by Dear Media

Amy Dresner is an author, journalist, stand up comic, and recovering addict. Her book "My Fair Junkie" chronicles her drug and sex addiction in raw and vulnerable fashion and is flying off the shelves. Kyle and Amy talk about race and recovery, get deep into their sex and love addiction issues, and the challenges of "sober dating." Follow us on instagram @sobersplain

Amy Dresner talks about addition, recovery and how shame never helped her stay sober (which she is now for 7+ years, w00t!).  Read about her journey in the wildly acclaimed, wickedly well-written memoir MY FAIR JUNKIE (Hachette, 2017; available in hardcover, paperback, e- and audio-books). Subscribe to her podcast, Rehab Confidential or politely stalk her on social media (website, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook).For more information on the podcast or its host, please visit sassylittlepodcast.com. There, you will find links to social media and an opportunity to become a member of the podcast community.Thanks for listening! If you like this sassy little podcast, please subscribe to it, rate it and review it, and tell your friends about it. Cheers!Episode recorded 08/02/20Episode released 10/01/20

Growing up in Beverly Hills, Amy Dresner had it all: a top-notch private school education, the most expensive summer camps, and even a weekly clothing allowance. But at 24, she started dabbling in meth in San Francisco and unleashed a fiendish addiction monster. Soon, if you could snort it, smoke it, or have sex with, she did. I love this interview with Amy for so many reasons. She is so fun and crazy funny that it brought out a different side of me, too. I tend to be a serious person-  this is very serious business, addiction and recovery-  and I often forget to let people see the other sides of me. From the moment Amy and I first spoke, we hit it off! We had a phone call the night before our interview in Los Angeles just to touch base and talk about the plan for the next day. Some people video their podcasts so I always get asked if there is going to be video etc… We were on the phone for an hour! We laughed and we connected on so many levels and I fell in love with her from that moment. We recorded in an office building and I feel certain the surrounding offices probably thought we were insane because we laughed so hard the whole time. It was several weeks later when I edited the show to schedule it to go live, and I had the same experience all over again. Sometimes I wish you guys could hear the unedited versions of these episodes, lol, because they are really funny and we are much less polished than the finished versions! I hope you enjoy this episode as much as I do. She is amazing and I am grateful I got to meet her and gain a new friend. Original recording date:  June 2018 www.amydresner.com Twitter:  @AmyDresner Insta:      @amydresner FB:          @amydresnerofficial The Fix:  https://www.thefix.com/bio/amy-dresner BUY THE BOOK!!!

EXPLICIT CONTENT. GOOD FOR A LAUGH OR TWO.  You're welcome, Lori

Amy Dresner- author of My Fair Junkie: A Memoir of Getting Dirty and Staying Clean. Amy Dresner is a journalist, author, and former comedian as well as a recovering addict. She was a regular columnist for the addiction/recovery magazine theFix.com since 2012  and has freelanced for Addiction.com, Psychology Today, Vice and many other publications.  She’s now a regular contributor to WorkitHealth.com. Dresner has appeared on the television show The Doctors and on numerous radio shows and podcasts, including Dr. Drew, Dopey and Rich Roll. She does regular speaking engagements around the U.S.  She is the co-host to Joe Schrank of the new Rehab Confidential Podcast. Amy wrote her book, My Fair Junkie: A Memoir of Getting Dirty and Staying Clean, in 2017. In her memoir, Amy describes growing up in Beverly Hills and having it all: a top-notch private school education, the most expensive summer camps and even a weekly clothing allowance. At the age of 24 she began experimenting with meth in San Francisco and unleashed a fiending addiction monster. Soon, if you could snort it, smoke it, or have sex with, she did. Smart and charming, with daddy’s money to fall back on, she sort of managed to keep it all together. But on Christmas Eve of 2011, all of that changed when, high on Oxycontin, she stupidly “brandished” a bread knife on her husband and was promptly arrested for “felony domestic violence with a deadly weapon.” Within months, she found herself in the psych ward–and then penniless, divorced and looking out on a court-ordered 240 hours of community service. For the next two years, assigned to a Hollywood Boulevard “chain gang,” she would sweep up syringes (and worse) on Hollywood Boulevard as she bounced from rehabs to halfway houses, all while struggling with sobriety, sex addiction, and starting over in her 40s. Her book is currently in development for a TV series.

Recovery Happy Hour celebrates inspiring stories of recovery from alcohol addiction and gray area alcohol abuse.  Hosted by Tricia Lewis, we look at life beyond the bottle and what's current in sober culture. Introduction: White People Go to Rehab, Black People Go to Jail Interview: Amy Dresner Links: www.recoveryhappyhour.com "White People Go to Rehab, Black People Go to Jail" www.AmyDresner.com Buy My Fair Junkie Rehab Confidential Podcast Amy on Instagram Rehab Confidential on Instagram  

Author of "My Fair Junkie" and co-host of the Rehab Confidential Podcast, comedian, Amy Dresner joins me on this episode! It get's pretty dark in some places as we talk about addictions to drugs, alcohol, sex, nicotine as well as swapping horror stories.   AmyDresner.com Twitter Facebook Purchase "My Fair Junkie" Rehab Confidential Podcast      

Author of "My Fair Junkie" and co-host of the Rehab Confidential Podcast, comedian, Amy Dresner joins me on this episode! It get's pretty dark in some places as we talk about addictions to drugs, alcohol, sex, nicotine as well as swapping horror stories.   AmyDresner.com Twitter Facebook Purchase "My Fair Junkie" Rehab Confidential Podcast      

Author of "My Fair Junkie" and co-host of the Rehab Confidential Podcast, comedian, Amy Dresner joins me on this episode! It get's pretty dark in some places as we talk about addictions to drugs, alcohol, sex, nicotine as well as swapping horror stories.   AmyDresner.com Twitter Facebook Purchase "My Fair Junkie" Rehab Confidential Podcast      

HILARITY ENSUES WITH THESE TWO. Amy and Lori talk the pandemic and quarantine. Amy searches for haircuts through a glory hole in a hazmat suit. Face masks for Jews? Amy's on it. Only aw and real recovery here folks. A perfect storm for relapse during COVID quarantine: isolation finance/romance/ambiguity/lack of connection. SMIZING? Have you heard of this? These girls talk everything from dating and recovery in quarantine, to Amy's biggest addiction.... love. → For detailed show notes, guest information and links, please visit THERECOVERYHOUR.com. → For more information and to book your consultation for 1:1 Coaching with Lori, click here. **episode recorded 05.30.2020**  

Joe and Amy interview Emmy Olea, a transgender woman in long term recovery.  Joe and Amy talk about why they hate nature and learn what’s appropriate when talking to a trans person. Emmy explains how she had to come out as gay, trans, and an addict to family and friends and describes some of the prejudice she originally faced in gay AA when transitioning.

My Fair Junkie with Amy Dresner Growing up in Beverly Hills, Amy had it all. But at 24, she started dabbling in meth in San Francisco and her addiction was unleashed. On Christmas Eve of 2011, she was arrested for felony domestic violence with a deadly weapon. Within months, she found herself in a psych ward, penniless and divorced.  Amy also faced 240 hours of community service where she would be forced to sweep up syringes (and worse) on Hollywood Boulevard. This is where things started to change. "I realized that no one was coming to save me." She decided to enter sober living, re-join a 12 Step program, and do her best to get her life back on track for good this time. After reflecting on how she would start to rebuild her life in her 40s, she dove into writing. Amy has been a regular columnist for The Fix, Addiction.com, Psychology Today, Vice, and she wrote a memoir about her story titled, "My Fair Junkie." She also recently started a podcast called Rehab Confidential. Today Amy is more than 7 years sober. You can find her book "My Fair Junkie A Memoir of Getting Dirty and Staying Clean" on Amazon. Do you want to take your recovery to the next level? Sobriety Engine is an incredible online community where you can find a ton of great tips, tools, and support from other men and women in recovery. Visit SobrietyEngine.com to join today. If you're ready to get fit and start living a healthier lifestyle while supporting your sobriety then you can learn more about having Jonathan as your personal fitness and nutrition coach at RCVRHealth.com

Z-Man sits down with comedian and author Amy Dresner.  They talk about her new book "My Fair Junkie" and have some laughs along the way. Todd Zalkins: I Want to talk about Amy Dresner for a second. Amy is a former professional stand up comic, having appeared at the Comedy Store, the laugh factory and the [inaudible 00:00:09], by the way, I've already left a bunch since she's been here. It's fricking classic. Since 2012, she has been the sole official columnist for the online addiction and recovery magazine called thefixed.com. She's also written for the good men project, after party, chat refinery 29 salon, cosmopolitan for Latinas and addiction.com. Let's see here, What else? ... Oh, she's got this fabulous book out by the way. It's called "My Fair junkie it is available everywhere Barnes and Noble Amazon. Todd Zalkins: Could you get a close up of this book cover Mike, we're going to show you guys the book cover it's called "My Fair junkie, A Memoir of getting dirty and staying clean" this is gonna be a great a little morning here . She's also had a ... the books been compared to Carrie Fisher's 1987 autobiography called "Postcards from the Edge", that's what Elle magazine said and Amy Dresner story of addiction is a story ... it's one for the ages she'll be speaking at "she recovers" on September 15th at the Beverly Hilton Hotel and at the mindful recovery symposium in North Carolina on October 26. Todd Zalkins: Ladies, and gentlemen Miss Amy Dresner. Come on over here and have a seat and hang out for a few minutes. Amy Dresner: Hi. Todd Zalkins: Hey Amy. How you doing? Put on those headphones for a second. Amy Dresner: Great to be here. Todd Zalkins: Nice to have you, thanks for joining us. Now really quick I gotta ask you I know you just sat down. Are you comfortable?  Amy Dresner: Yes.  Todd Zalkins: It's very important to me that you are comfortable. Amy Dresner: Yes, these pillows are weird. Todd Zalkins: Get rid of the ... You don't have to keep the pillow there. Amy Dresner: This is like for people with lumbar problems.  Todd Zalkins: I've got a lot of those aside I got a lot of problems. Amy Dresner: So do I. Todd Zalkins: Do you? Amy Dresner: Yeah. Todd Zalkins: We're gonna talk about some of those problems and mainly we're all stoked that you're in the solution today.  Amy Dresner: Me too, so is everyone else including the LAPD. Todd Zalkins: The LAPD is glad that she's [crosstalk 00:02:21] they feel like they got lucky with having you get sober. Amy Dresner: Oh God yeah, they've been to my house many times they were just ... "oh" we'll get to that. Todd Zalkins: We are going to cover that. I want to say congratulations on the book that you've come out with. Amy Dresner: Thank you. Todd Zalkins: I know that there's a lot of exciting other stuff on the horizon that we can't talk about right now- Amy Dresner: No, But it will be announced soon.  Todd Zalkins: Okay, cool. Tell us a little bit about where are you from, I know you've been stand up comedy and stuff like that. But where were you born and raised?  Amy Dresner: I was born and raised in Beverly Hills. I'm a Beverly Hills Jew. Todd Zalkins: You are. Are you still practicing that stuff? Amy Dresner: No, I was never practicing. I'm a Hollywood jew, a cultural jew[crosstalk 00:03:04] Todd Zalkins: There's a lot of them up right? Amy Dresner: But I don't go to temple or anything like that. I also went to Catholic school for four years because I was going to public school and then they were “oh” it was busing, It was during that time they were going to bus and my parents just threw me in this really gnarly Catholic school in Beverly Hills it was run by nuns. Todd Zalkins: Your parents threw you under the bus literally and figuratively. Amy Dresner: It just was really ... that was one of the problems when I got sober was the whole higher power stuff because I was really confused by the whole thing, but I went to school, I went to college in Everton in Boston. I lived abroad for a couple of years. And I've been in and out for the program for 20 years and now I have five, and a half years clean. Todd Zalkins: Congratulations- Amy Dresner: Praise Hashem. Todd Zalkins: I'm happy to hear that you're on a better path today and obviously it took a lot to get here. We're going to talk a little bit about the path and where it started out and let's just go straight to it. When did you discover the effects that drugs and alcohol provided you? Amy Dresner: I didn't drink till I was 19.  Todd Zalkins: No way.  Amy Dresner: Yeah, way. To back it up, I was kind of a goody two shoes and school and a straight A student and blah blah and I was really obsessed with purity and I think that's very alcoholic to be honest. We're either smoking meth, or we're vegan, we're not really good at the moderation thing. I was very ... I was not into sex or drugs or alcohol and my dad was ... My mom was living in Mexico at the time, and my father was "how do I get my kid out of Beverly Hills without her becoming a druggie"? Todd Zalkins: Now, real quick, was your family dynamic and tact and you have brothers and sisters- Amy Dresner: No, I have no brothers and sisters. My parents split when I was two. It was very ... Yeah, no.  Todd Zalkins: Okay, so you primarily live with dad.  Amy Dresner: I live with both. I split the week, half and half. My mother is a recovering alcoholic. She was trying to make a living and my father was a screenwriter and my father just sort of was more emotionally available, So I gravitated more to him and then my mother moved to Mexico when I was 13 so then I was raised sort of by my father from that point on. Todd Zalkins: Do you think and I to come from somewhat of a fractured family environment too but ... in your story or for you personally was a somewhat not intact family, did that contribute later on do you think to your alcoholism and addictions?  Amy Dresner: I think that not ... I certainly have abandonment issues and I'm certainly insecurely or what it's called anxiously attached I think what psychiatrists call it, so I definitely ... my mother had been ... she was a little bit shut down and she'd been beaten by her schizophrenic mother and her brother was schizophrenic too and so I felt that her inability to kind of love me the way that I need to be loved and yes I'm really fucking needy but definitely made me feel like I was not good enough, there was something wrong with me. Todd Zalkins: Okay. I appreciate that and I also want to kind of clarify this one that is I have never blamed ... oh yeah this, whatever happened childhood stuff, What have you. I guess what I'm getting at is, do you think that drugs and alcohol at 19 and you moved on from there, do you think it kind of help either sooth or compartmentalize the pain and again not to blame the childhood stuff, but did that work for you?  Amy Dresner: Oh, yeah. I always felt weird and unsafe in the world and confused by everything. And even though I was super smart, I just was terrified. I was so terrified and so for me, and I didn't like myself at all. I hated myself, and there's so much addiction and mental illness in my family. The genetics are there in force, so when I picked up, it was kind of instant. Booze made me ... I blacked out almost immediately.  Todd Zalkins: So, you're real sensitive to alcohol.  Amy Dresner: Yeah. And it was ... I'd get naked and violent and so I was Oh, maybe not that, but then I found crystal meth and that was the drug that made me feel, I got that moment of "Oh my God, this is what I'm looking for, I feel normal for the first time in my life".  Todd Zalkins: That gave you that little balance. Amy Dresner: Yeah, I was ... "why isn't everyone on this? holy shit, this is what I need to be on the planet, you're not going to take it away from me." Todd Zalkins: what was your crew of friends looking like just before you're 19 because that's when you started getting loaded, but what were your interpersonal relationships like in high school for instance? Amy Dresner: In high school I was with a bunch of other goody two shoes.  Todd Zalkins: Really? Amy Dresner: Yeah. No one really drank, no one really smoked. No one did any drugs-  Todd Zalkins: You guys weren't very fun. Me and my friends would be- Amy Dresner: No, I made up for it later, believe me, I was very sluttty and fun later- Todd Zalkins: You played catch up later?  Amy Dresner: Yeah, I was in a really ... all my friends were sort of not geeky just we were just straight, but my father was "hey, I'll bet you'll drink or smoke or do drugs before you're 18 and I said "I bet I won't "and he said "I'll bet you 1000 bucks" and I always make this terrible joke that's how Jews raise each other. We just bribe each other, so dumb. And so I waited till I was 19 to drink, and I was in college, and everyone's drinking in college. I was a virgin in college, and I was Oh, and I never drank, and I was "yaiks"! Todd Zalkins: Did you collect the 1000 bucks?  Amy Dresner: Yeah. Todd Zalkins: You better have. Amy Dresner: And then I was, okay, I'm a weirdo here in college, having never drank and having never had sex and we need to sort that now.  Todd Zalkins: Can you bring us back to ... if you can remember the first drink was it a party situation, couple of girlfriends, what was it looking like? Amy Dresner: It was in the dorms, and it was Greyhound and they were “Yea, It's Amy's first drink” and we had some great hounds. It was some boys, my roommate and it was all my close friends and I remember laughing and I drank and I was sitting down and then I got up and I fell down I didn't realize how drunk I was, but there wasn't that moment of kissing Jesus like that. That I had from crystal and then I just was drinking but it was college, everyone's drinking and throwing up and skipping classes and blacking out. It didn't look that different from anyone else's drinking at that point.  Todd Zalkins: The alcohol or the drinking stuff, you function pretty well early on, right? Amy Dresner: Yeah, I was having a nervous breakdown in college, but that was from mental issues, depressive stuff. I have a full blown eating disorder but I was still getting straight A's and that kind of stuff. I think the first or four nervous breakdowns. I like to have a nervous breakdowns every decade.  Todd Zalkins: I had one before you got here.  Amy Dresner: Did you? Todd Zalkins: I did. That's why I was sweating so bad. That's why you thought I was detoxing still. 11 and a half years sober I still going through post acute withdrawal symptoms. God, where was I here? In the college scene you're doing what everybody's doing and all that kind of stuff. Did you have that kind of epiphany where a lot of people you often hear, “okay, once I started doing this with these people, I'm part of something bigger” was it that feeling or absolutely not? Amy Dresner: I've always felt weird and sort of disconnected from other people and I still feel weird. I feel connected to I have great friends. I have great people in the program and that kind of stuff but no, I didn't have that ... despite my terror and my insecurity, I have a lot of weird fake bravado that some people think I'm really outgoing and I'm not terrified and so it was my early act as if. Todd Zalkins: Were you consumed with the notion or the idea of I really want everybody to like me. Amy Dresner: No. Todd Zalkins: You didn't have that going on. You're anarchist from birth? Amy Dresner: No. Todd Zalkins: Did you hate authority? Amy Dresner: No, because my dad was cool and I got good grades and No, I wasn't like that.  Todd Zalkins: Okay. So you just kind of rolled with stuff, you rolled with life and just. Amy Dresner: Yeah, I got special attention. I can be very ... I can figure out a way, I'm very manipulative and I can find a connection to the authoritative figure so that I get special treatment and my shit gets to fly. My bad attitude, my whatever. That special snowflake I'm different, that's the way I roll.  Todd Zalkins: You brought up a topic that I want to discuss for a few moments. You mentioned maybe some moments of depression or depressive disorder and stuff like that because I too have gone through it. I've battled a great deal of depression both loaded and certainly sober. So, at the young age that when you're in college and stuff like that, were you doing any type of treatment for? Is it okay if we talk about that for a second? Amy Dresner: Sure, I'll talk about everything, tell me anything. I got into therapy and I was really “wow”, something ... I need meds and he was “no” and I didn't get on sort of medication till I was maybe 22. I think it's important, I think that if you have a chemical imbalance, you should be on meds and that doesn't make you not sober. I'm an AA, I see it ... I blow 11 tradition all the time. I think it's super fucking outdated and I think that it drives away more people because they think it's a creepy Christian cult. Todd Zalkins: It saved my life.  Amy Dresner: Yeah, so I'm all about it, and I think more people need to come forward as sober and I'm all about the recover out loud thing to break the stigma. I don't think you can break the stigma of addiction without breaking the stigma of recovery, it's weird to me. Todd Zalkins: That's awesome. Amy Dresner: I'm really out with it. You can be on meds and you are still sober. AA is for your alcoholism. It is not for your fucking mental illness or your diabetes. It's not Christian Science, It's not Scientology. If you add fucking diabetes or fucking cancer and be “you need to drive around more newcomers. You're not doing your steps hard enough, you're not working, you're not connected enough to your HP” it's fuck you!. I definitely have a chemical disorder. Todd Zalkins: I so appreciate what you just said because and this is what I came to find and that is I could not out think my depression, I could not think It, I couldn't out exercise it. I couldn't out sponsor people. All the crap that we do from a recovery sense, which kept me physically sober, but mentally I was going through a tremendous amount of stuff. I just wasn't getting fixed.  Amy Dresner: I have a piece coming out in the fix about depression and sobriety.  Todd Zalkins: Awesome.  Amy Dresner: And what I've learned through Dr. Howard Weissmann who is amazing, amazing person and Dr. Addictionalist, psychiatrist, sober person used to be the chief medical officer of towns and treatment centers is first of all, there is something to AA making you being part of and sharing and being of service does create more dopamine receptors so it does actually fix your brain a little bit but there's a lot of us who have something called low dopamine tone to start with as addicts and you can have a genetic test to see if you have this enzyme where we have a problem converting folic acid that you get from food into L'methylfolate which is what creates dopamine and serotonin. You need enough of that stuff to fucking be going so you can take an L'methylfolate supplement and that's just changed my fucking life. Todd Zalkins: Yeah, because absence serotonin and dopamine being active in your system the low level depression that sets is so extreme. Tell me if you agree or disagree on this but this has been my experience and that is I think so many people end up getting frustrated when they're new and recoveries because they're just not feeling okay. It's because it takes a while. It takes a bit. Amy Dresner: Well, absolutely, my first year was terrible, I tell everyone. I never had a pink cloud. I would cry. Todd Zalkins: Same here, cry gray clouds. Amy Dresner: Yeah, I cried every fucking day. I was really angry and super crazy and had a lot of cravings and it was extremely difficult, but I think also, the problem to which I've realized and this will all come out, this is different in the book, but antidepressants deal with serotonin and drugs deal with dopamine, and so that's different. It's a different thing.  Todd Zalkins: But we need both, and I know that I had destroyed[crosstalk 00:16:19] Amy Dresner: Yes, that's why ... guess what creates dopamine? Fucking smoking cigarettes, nicotine. Why do you think that everyone's fucking smokes? Why do you think everyone's fucking everyone? Or gambling or whatever because it's “ooh, new spike of dopamine.” Todd Zalkins: Do you wanna know what George Carlin, my favorite comedian said about smoking. He said “do you want to know why people smoke? Because it helps”. Amy Dresner: Yeah, I was smoking and then I was vaping which is so douchey. "Here's me with an enormous chrome, fucking penis in my mouth driving ... why are people looking at me like a doctor whose screwdriver”? And I was-  Todd Zalkins: It's a true value little compact thing to go. Amy Dresner: Oh and then instead of moving downward I was moving upward and I was getting ite once a CB radio and I was getting bigger, and I was ... I gotta stop, but when I stopped, I crashed so hard because all the dopamine and the nicotine was spiking left. Todd Zalkins: let's come back to college years, getting out of college years. In college, had you come across the methamphetamine or speed?  Amy Dresner: Nope. Todd Zalkins: Not yet. Amy Dresner: I remember ... Okay, this is not funny. I walked into my college dorm room and my roommate at the time was doing coc with her sorority sisters on my computer, and I was “Oh my God, you're doing cocaine on my computer? That's just so bad, this is disgusting”?. Fast Forward, 10 years I'm shooting cocaine, so all I have to say is careful what you judge because you become it. Todd Zalkins: No doubt. It's so funny you say that. I remember seeing a dear friend of mine, he was trying to kick heroin, and I told myself I remember I didn't make a joke. I was just ... "feel free to get off that shit" and here I was first off not having any clue as to the level of pain that someone's going through, and I love this person very, very much and yet I became that and more. Amy Dresner: Oh yeah that's the story of my book, everything I judged, that was it. Todd Zalkins: Tell the viewers and the listeners about the progression of what happened with you and where it turned and stuff like that. Amy Dresner: I didn't know who I was. I'd grown up very sheltered and after my second nervous breakdown at 22, 23 and getting fired from my job for drinking on the job which wasn't a ding for me but also depression. I moved to San Francisco and I was “let's just say yes to everything, we're gonna say yes to the universe” and I fooled around with girls and I had[inaudible 00:19:02] and I did Molly and I did crystal and I got on stage and dah dah, and it was the crystal that was “ding”. And it brought me down so fast within seven months I'm living in a flophouse with gutter pumps and skinheads but I'm ... “this is cool” because I'm from Beverly Hills I'm ... “this is a Tarantino movie I'm in way” I was digging it and anyway I got a huge infection in my face from crystal meth and my parents came up and they dragged me back to Los Angeles to get clean. Todd Zalkins: Really quick, were you injecting the drug?  Amy Dresner: No, I've never injected. Todd Zalkins: smoked or snorted. Amy Dresner: snorting at that point later was smoking. I didn't get into injecting till I got into coc and by that point I had epilepsy from Crystal so I was scared to fuck with crystal, because I was ... “coc's natural, crystal is made with gin brewing and drinals, so coc is different but- Todd Zalkins: I had a great deal of stock in Pablo Escobar drink, I really did. I sold the stock it's because I bought it from his affiliates. I don't have stock anymore.  Amy Dresner: That's good.  Todd Zalkins: Yeah, it's a good thing. Was there a point in time where things really turn. Let's face it for a while, we both know that drugs and alcohol can work wonderfully. They can work wonderfully for a while, and then- Amy Dresner: I don't know that crystal ever really works that wonderfully. I was staying up for 17 days in a row and refinishing furniture and dumpster diving, plucking my eyebrows for six hours writing a new Bible, I don't know that it was ever working that well. It was certainly keeping my depression at bay but- Todd Zalkins: From the outside it wasn't working from what I can tell, but however for you, you were working all sorts of stuff.  Amy Dresner: Yeah, I was writing a book and all this kind of stuff, but I walked into a market and I woke up in an ambulance and I'd had a seizure and that got me into my first of six of treatment centers. Todd Zalkins: Along the way, in your mid 20s, late 20s, were your parents or close friends going, "Hey, Amy, shake yourself here, you got to look at this" was that happening at? Amy Dresner: My parents didn't really know what was going on. They had gotten me in to work with a therapist was really hard on drugs, and I was high every session in a year, and he never fucking could tell.  Todd Zalkins: Want to talk about that really quick.  Amy Dresner: I was ... “you damn shit”. I do rails in the bathroom before I go into his office and he never fucking could tell. Todd Zalkins: I have that same story. Amy Dresner: My endowment would suit him, he was so fucking pissed, but my parents ... they didn't know what to do. They were just ... I wasn't done they were “go into treatment, please go into treatment”, and I was ... “Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you, I'm not ready, I'm not done, I need this” blah blah" and then I had that seizure and it really freaked me out and I went into treatment and I never fucked with crystal again. I got high on a bunch of other different things but I never touched crystal again in five years sober I developed full blown epilepsy seizure disorder. I've hyperactive lesions on my frontal lobe from meth. Todd Zalkins: Therapy is not effective if we're high. Amy Dresner: You think? Todd Zalkins: I couldn't fall off the chair, but I wanted to when you said "yeah, I'm packing my beak before I go to see a doctor" I actually would excuse myself in the middle of a session, "doc I'll be right back, I gotta use a restroom" I come back, and I've got shit all over my nose, and I don't think he even paid attention. Amy Dresner: Incredible right?.  Todd Zalkins: Yeah, I don't think he was really paying attention. Amy Dresner: He knew I was here because I had a drug problem and depression.  Todd Zalkins: Not a whole lot of parental intervention or there's not really crisis[crosstalk 00:23:06] Amy Dresner: They were trying. And then later on, they got very, very involved where they would just throw me in a rehab and detox all the time threatening to cut me off, drug testing me all the time, moving me from state to state, they got really involved. Todd Zalkins: Okay, and was at any particular time when you're exposed to treatment. Was there ever a moment that you're going "God, maybe I should change." Amy Dresner: Yeah, I stayed clean. When I first went to treatment, I stayed clean for a year, but I thought I was a tweaker and not an alcoholic, so I was ... "Well, I can drink", so I drank, and I blacked out. And I was in a blackout for three weeks drinking. I don't even know what happened. And then I was ... "oh, maybe not". And then I stayed dry for seven years.  Todd Zalkins: Wow. let's talk about that period. For seven years, you were physically sober on your own? Amy Dresner: Yep.  Todd Zalkins: And can you talk a little bit about untreated alcoholism, and sobriety, was it gnarly? Amy Dresner: I was depressed, My life was this fucking big. I was miserable all the fucking time. It was awful.  Todd Zalkins: That's awesome, though, that you were sober for seven years in that regard, physically speaking, because[crosstalk 00:24:17] Amy Dresner: That's why I tell people, “you can do it, but you're going to feel like shaking your life is going to be this fucking day and you're not going to change at all”.  Todd Zalkins: Seven years clean with no program, and then the other shoe fell off or something. Amy Dresner: Well, I had another nervous breakdown. That's my hobby, and I was gonna have a hobby, some people neat, so I have nervous breakdowns, that's my thing, but I haven't had one for a while. But, I popped open a bottle of wine. I fucking slit my wrists with the box cutter. I was like I'm out, and so that was pretty gnarly. That's in the book, got stitched up and then I came back to LA and I was making out with some loser at the standard and he brew pot smoking my mouth. And I was ... “Oh my god, I'm high” for the first time in seven years high, and I was ... “I can smoke pot”. I hate pot, so now I'm sailing in pot every day and hating it. And then I was ... "I can drink, it'll be okay, and then I'm drinking. Then I'm ... “I can do coc because coc's not crystal” Todd Zalkins: Its natural. Amy Dresner: Right. It's natural. It's not made from drinal and gin brewing and whatever the fuck else. And so then I am in treatment for the second time and I relapse out of treatment, and then I start injecting cocaine, shooting cocaine.  Todd Zalkins: There's a good snapshot of some progression right there. Amy Dresner: Yeah, and then shooting cocaine ... you can have a seizure shooting cocaine normally, but shooting cocaine with epilepsy is a seizure city, and so I'd shoot cocaine wearing a bike helmet, so I wouldn't pop my head open.  Todd Zalkins: Are you being serious? Amy Dresner: Yeah, I'm totally serious. I was "shit, Okay, I get it". It is a high impact sport. I get it, I'm going to wear protective gear, and it made total sense at the time. Todd Zalkins: At a party, "who's the chick with the bike helmet?" "Leave her alone she's got her little hobby, and we just leave her alone, she's a Mrs. Lance Armstrong of meth" that's fricking great, I've never had a protective helmet. Now, with regards to the epilepsy, do you medicate? Do you take something?- Amy Dresner: Yeah, I take medication, and I have it under control for, God almost five years now. Todd Zalkins: Good for you. This stuff kicks in after seven years sober, I'm assuming that we're getting close to the end of the line here of you're drinking and using. Are we getting close? Amy Dresner: No. Todd Zalkins: We have more to go. After you went back out, how long were you out for? Amy Dresner: I guess couple years. I finally started get sober when I was shooting cocaine. I don't know a couple years I guess on and off. It's hard to shoot coc constantly. It's expensive you have to feed the monkey, it's not exactly a social thing you can't get over and be “Hey, what's up, you want a beer? Let me get out my syringes”. It's very much a loner sport.  Todd Zalkins: It's tough to lay that stuff out of the bar. Get a couple shots, "guys hang on, I got the 100 here, could give me some water" Amy Dresner: I went to ... again, they did more therapy. This, that, I started going in meetings. I kept relapsing, kept relapsing, I got three and a half years clean. I had a grand mal seizure just because they screwed up my medication and they gave me Ativan and that caused the relapse. That caused another ... when that stuff hit me, I was ... “Oh, yeah”, so then I was on Atovan thing, more psych ward attempts and then, periods of sobriety. Basically, the end was 2011. I was married and I had been prescribed oxycodone for a shoulder injury and I had been sober about a year and a half at the time and I don't like opioids but I like anything that makes me feel different and that veil went down and I was ... “oh I don't give a fuck awesome” Amy Dresner: And I got in a fight with my now ex husband and it got physical and I pulled a knife on him and he called the cops and I got arrested for felony domestic violence with a deadly weapon and I went to jail. Todd Zalkins: How long were you on the oxycodone for? Amy Dresner: Only a couple months, not long. Todd Zalkins: Okay and is it shortly after that when you had I don't know if it's a moment of clarity but a moment of maybe willingness to make some changes? Amy Dresner: Like a typical alcoholic when we fuck up our lives then we drink over the fuck ups because "oh, poor me, look I'm going through a divorce and a criminal trial" and some drinking another suicide attempt, get into treatment again. I relapse in treatment, I get thrown another sober living, I relapse in sober living, I go to another sober living and at this point it's the end. My parents are just "we have no more money, we're over it" and my moment of clarity came when I was doing community labor for my domestic violence. Amy Dresner: I was sweeping the streets, I was on a chain gang with me and 40 fucking Mexican dudes and then "what are you here for do wedder, huh? I'm here for DUI, What are you here for?" And "I'm here for felony and domestic violence with deadly weapon" they're "Oh shit", So it was humbling.- Todd Zalkins: You're the very top of the line right there. Amy Dresner: It was super humbling. I was the only girL. It was very humbling to show up because I was "oh my God, I'm not a criminal”. I had more time than anyone else. I was one of the few people there for assault. It was extremely humbling and when I was sweeping trash and human feces and syringes in the hot sun for fucking eight hours a day, I had 240 hours community labor, and I had a life changing epiphany.  Todd Zalkins: And was it, "I gotta make a change" Amy Dresner: Yeah, I'd already was sober. I was sober already [crosstalk 00:30:10] I was sober living. Todd Zalkins: But sticking with it though. Amy Dresner: But It was ... I gotta change my fucking character and I gotta change my whole attitude. I'm going to change my whole victim attitude. Maybe this is the best thing that ever happened to me. Could this be the best thing that ever happened to me and not the worst thing that ever happened to me? And I just was ... okay, “you created this Amy. This is the result of all your actions and who you are. You don't like it? Change it”. And I just embraced I was ... okay, humility, work ethic. How can I find the humor in this, let's finish what we start, so we don't go to jail.  Amy Dresner: I just embrace the whole thing, and it shifted. I had been really a spoiled brat before then, I didn't want to take responsibility for myself for my life. I didn't want to be financially responsible and you meet your destiny on the road you've got to avoid it. Todd Zalkins: You're bringing up such good points here, this really self analysis and I think so many people cannot get past this part of sobriety which is "okay, I'm left with me now right, I got a little bit of physical sobriety" but now the emotions and all and it sounds like you're facing these things, demons What have you all this stuff head on. Amy Dresner: Yeah, and that was “I need a fucking really make a fucking change here”, but I still had the ... I was uncomfortable, I was broke, I was 42 years old, I was in sober living for two and a half years. I had a criminal record, I had no job, I was freelance writing, I was “fuck!” And I felt a little sorry for myself and I also was uncomfortable. Feelings would come up and I was pretty early in sobriety, I didn't know how to deal with them. Amy Dresner: Smoking a lot, vaping a lot and I picked up a sex addiction which to me is all alcoholism. All that stuff is alcoholism, it's all “how do I get out of myself” and so I don't think it's separate, I did go Oslo and SAA and all that kind of stuff and it's was really mortifying. That's why I wrote the book ... I am exactly who you wouldn't think would be a perpetrator of domestic violence or a sex addict or. I had everything growing up and I just destroyed my life and myself and addiction does not discriminate. Todd Zalkins: It doesn't, and I appreciate all your transparency big time and thanks for ... you're really putting it all the stuff out there and what I want to ask is did you have some pretty good direction from some other women in the program here "hey, Amy look we got you, we got you, Let's just do the stuff that we do over here, and things are going to get better?" Amy Dresner: Yeah. This is interesting. Well, I was in sober living, and I had a group of women around me that were great, but no one could stop me from acting out sexually and all this kind of stuff, and honestly, you got to hit a bottom with that, you're done when you're done. As my sponsor says, "you stop a behavior when what it's doing to you, is worse than what it's doing for you". I finally hit a bottom with that, and I was ... "Wait a second, I don't want to do this anymore", and it felt so exactly like drug addiction. "I don't want to do this, I don't want to do this. Here I am doing this" and then regretting it. I would cry coming back from some guys house.  Amy Dresner: It was horrible. I have a male sponsor, and I've had a few male sponsors, and that can be tricky. People get a little bit weird about that. Only one of them spurk me, so that's pretty good odds.  Todd Zalkins: Hey, there we go, all right. Amy Dresner: I'm serious. That shit happens in the rooms. Such predatory behavior is very much prevalent in the rooms, and it sucks. Todd Zalkins: let's talk about that for a second because, I think the program has gotten ... first and foremost we're not talking about the bedrock of mental health. Amy Dresner: No, of course not. Todd Zalkins: Okay and I do want to say this though, and I think that you're going to concur, but I'm gonna speak from my own experience that is there's a lot of really good groups where people look after each other- Amy Dresner: Absolutely, I was not obviously in one of those. Todd Zalkins: I'm thankful I was raised in a group of ... This guys, they would just say “look, you're going to men's meetings man, you don't need to be dealing with other” ... primarily I did but my point being that, not to give the program a bad rap. There are wonderful groups. There are some places let's face it, there's gonna be some stuff-  Amy Dresner: The steps ... the program is solid. The fellowship is a microplasm of the real world and if you think it's going to be some safe ... wherever there's a power hierarchy and there becomes a power hierarchy in meetings, you're going to have sexual predatory behavior because there's a power imbalance. Happens in Hollywood, it happens to the government. It happens in the military. You think AA is going to be immune to that? Because, it is people who are sick, and I think that for me, what I've seen in my 20 years in and out of the program is that sexual and intimacy and relationship recovery are sort of the last version for many men. Todd Zalkins: Physical sobriety comes first, we all know, and I think too, that there's a lot of people who just do not address stuff that maybe the program just can't fix.  Amy Dresner: Also, they just think "oh, I'm sober and that's okay". If you're not having integrity, you're treating women like garbage, that's part of this whole thing. We use this in all our affairs, but I did not have women pull me aside and go "Hey, these are the predators and dah, dah, dah". Todd Zalkins: This is predator X, there's Y and stay the fuck away from that guy.  Amy Dresner: You know what though? I don't consider myself a victim. I needed validation, I was new, I wanted love, I wanted attention, I wanted to check out, I was never raped, I was a willing participant although I wasn't on all cylinders at the time, but I did have a lesbian sponsor for three and a half years and she was “you're not going to mixed meetings anymore, you're going to women's meetings and gay meetings, and that's it”. And I was “how am I going to get laid doing that?” And she's ... “you're not, you're gonna concentrate on recovery.” “My God, that sounds boring”, but I got a crush on a girl, and I'm straight.  Amy Dresner: Again, it's alcoholism. It's “oh, you, you're gonna fucking fix it, you're my happiness, you're my outside answer”. That's the whole thing that I talk about is for me, the substance is so immaterial. It's just a matter of dessert, extra donut or a coke. It's “oh, I put something in my body and I changed my feelings”. Now I've been celibate for a year and a half. I'm not on nicotine. I become this weird person that I always made fun of.  Todd Zalkins: It sounds like you identified a whole bunch of stuff, worked on a whole bunch of stuff, and speaking of work, I want to ask you about the "my fear junkie" book. At what point did you start writing that? Amy Dresner: I was chronicling the sweeping the streets stuff while it was happening, and it was everyone's favorite Facebook posts of mine. I would take pictures of what I saw, “another day on the chain gang”. I didn't hide it at all, that's kind of my way to deal with shame is sort of “here it is”, and the people were just “oh my God, this is amazing”. And everyone was rooting me on. They were ... “those were so hilarious, get arrested again”. I was “Oh no”. My editor at the time was “you have a book, that's the framework of your book", “Okay”.  Amy Dresner: I've been writing for the fixed since 2012, this must have been 2014 where I started to I think put started writing the book.  Todd Zalkins: How did it take you to finish? Amy Dresner: I had six months, I have a six month deadline. That was it, and I was made sure I hit that deadline because I was thinking "oh, they're going to give an ex junkie all this money", and I wanted to be on deadline. I'm good like that. That's what the program is given me is showing up, integrity. If I say, I'm going to be there, I'm going to be there. I make my deadlines, I show up, I keep my word.  Todd Zalkins: I totally appreciate what you just said there Amy. We got to change so much beyond just the getting ... the drink, the using whatever[crosstalk 00:39:08] Amy Dresner: That's just the beginning. That was the answer. Then you've got to really learn how to become a good person, and have a moral compass and act ... I had one sponsor, and he said “you don't have to be a good person, you just have to act like one, no one knows the fucking difference Amy” Todd Zalkins: Oh, that's interesting. Amy Dresner: And I was ... "but that's not truthful". And he's right. You act like a good person over and over and over. No one cares about your intentions, they care about your actions. Todd Zalkins: That's right.  Amy Dresner: But if you act like a good person over and over and over again, you become a good person that becomes your character. Action is character. Todd Zalkins: It's kind of like retraining the DNA, and just your brain, everything. Amy Dresner: It actually, you create a new neural pathway, which is your default go to and that's your default go to pathway and so now I don't have to try to be a good person. I mostly am a good person. Todd Zalkins: When some big fucking hairy guy, this guy was just massive. He goes, “you gotta change or you got a die son” I'm looking ... “What the hell, Why? What does that mean man?” And now I understand that now. I have to change. We have to make changes in order for us to, I think be reasonably happy and to somewhat thrive in this life of ours because the other direction doesn't sound too appealing to me today. I don't think it does for you either.  Amy Dresner: No. Oh God no. And most people have love the book. I've gotten a lot of messages where people are ... “holy shit, you keep it real. Thank you for your honesty and your humor, I just feel less broken, I feel less alone. You made me laugh at stuff that before I just felt so ashamed about”. I have a bunch of psych ward stories. I got 51, 50 four fucking times and the sex addiction stuff, all of it. And people were just “Thank you”, even a parole officer wrote to me and he was "I understand addiction better than I ever have with 23 years on the job. Todd Zalkins: That's so cool. Amy Dresner: And I was ... “Fuck yes!” I fucking accomplished something, but some people are ... “she's a dick in the book” and, I was “you know what? that's the reality I was mentally ill, and I was on fucking drugs. You bet your sweet ass I was a fucking dick”. I choose to throw over being likable for the truth and also where's their transformation? If you're an angel when you're fucking shooting cocaine and smoking crystal meth and boning guys half your age on Tinder, why the fuck get sober?. Todd Zalkins: I so relate to this. I remember getting some messages from some moms in the Midwest, this great. She says “Todd, my son really got a lot out of your book but if you're my son, I would have spanked you a lot more” and, I said “getting lined” and, the reality is though, a lot of people, this is so true they harbor stigma. It is really tough to digest and really look at what we're like when they're in it.  Amy Dresner: Yeah. I was really honest about what it was like, because if you're trying to look good writing an addiction memoir, you're not being honest enough for real. Jerry Stahl who is a friend of mine and blurb the book who's my icon. There's a great quote from him, and he said ... he wrote permanent midnight, which was one of the first iconic addiction memoirs, and he said, "if you had the nerve to live, what you lived, you should have the nerve to write it". I was "Okay bitch"  Todd Zalkins: Oh, that's cool.  Amy Dresner: I wrote everything, I didn't want to write. The stuff where I was ... "Oh, God, I do not want to put this on a page". I thought, "Amy, don't hold back" Todd Zalkins: Yeah, there's only one thing in mind that I could not ... I was not ready to look at the child abuse and molestation. Amy Dresner: I'm sorry. Todd Zalkins: No, it's okay. I'll tell you why it's okay, because I'm on the other side of it today, and I've done a shit load of work about it. At 18 months sober I was not ready. In fact, I kept burying it, does that make any sense? Amy Dresner: Yeah, of course.  Todd Zalkins: Just push it down and, I'm a proud survivor today. I'm not a victim. Amy Dresner: Good for you. Todd Zalkins: It's all good. Amy Dresner: That's heavy shit, that's trauma. Todd Zalkins: Yeah and it's okay, but I want to come back to this book of yours is helping a lot of people find recovery is that right? Amy Dresner: Yeah some people ... even though people are "oh you're bashing AA meetings or whatever. I wasn't someone who rolled in a meeting. I was “I love this” and I wasn't someone who rolled into a meeting was sober from that day forward either. I was ... “this is creepy, what's what the Kumbaya hand holding, what's what the shit on the walls”? And because of my honesty and my anger around the whole thing, going to a big book study and just sitting there fucking bored and waiting to blow some dude or whatever I was doing at the time. People were ... "you made AA seem cool" and I identified. And I met people readers at a meeting for their first fucking meeting, and they got clean. Todd Zalkins: And how much does that ... doesn't that give you just a great feeling that people are getting it. Amy Dresner: It's service. People were ... "you gave me the opportunity to save my life, Thank you"  Todd Zalkins: That's the best. Amy Dresner: And I was just ... "holy shit" Todd Zalkins: That is so cool. Amy Dresner: I know, it's super cool. Todd Zalkins: At the beginning of the show while I was reading a bit about your bio Amy, it sounds like you got a couple of speaking engagements coming up what's going on there? Can you share with the listeners. And the viewers? Amy Dresner: I got asked to speak at "she recovers" which is a 600 women event at the Beverly Hilton from September 14 to 16th with Mackenzie Phillips and Cheryl Strayed and Janet Mock, and I'm ... "are you sure you want me? I have sailor mouth and obnoxious" and they're ... "yeah, we want you"and I'm "okay" Todd Zalkins: That's so cool. What's the date again and is this open to ... do you buy tickets or[crosstalk 00:45:05] tell people. Amy Dresner: They're still ... you can still buy tickets. If you're a woman, it's sherecovers.com I think the LA event, you can just google it, it'll come up. You can get a day pass too. I'm speaking on the 15th at the gala and then I'm super honored to be there. I'll be there signing books and meeting people and then I got asked to be the speaker at the mindful recovery and wellness symposium in North Carolina, so it's huge in the deep south, that's gonna be interesting.  Todd Zalkins: And by the way guys, It's called "she recovers" not "he recovers" so if you're a dude don't plan on enrolling, or you gonna dress really nice and put a lot- Amy Dresner: What's cool about it, is that "she recovers" is for recovering from anything. Trauma, eating disorder, cutting all of that stuff. It's not just alcohol adiction. [crosstalk 00:46:03] Todd Zalkins: It's recovery symposium for all such a good stuff. Amy Dresner: Looks like I might be speaking in Canada in January and I feel so honored that people want to hear what I have to say because I was just such a fuck up for so long. To turn it around and be an inspiration is incredibly humbling.  Todd Zalkins: I am honored to have you on today, and I want to show the book cover again for people who joined us late. “My Fair junkie” by Amy Dresner is a memoir of getting dirty and staying clean. It's available everywhere, and she's not leaving me with this copy. I'm very upset about this by the way. Amy Dresner: I only have one hardcover left.  Todd Zalkins: One hardcover?  Amy Dresner: You can buy it, why don't you buy it?  Todd Zalkins: I'll buy it. I will buy it. I thought we're going to trade ... I'm just kidding [crosstalk 00:46:56] anyways you guys give this a look. It's available everywhere. I want to thank you so much for being on the program. Amy Dresner: Oh my God, thank you for having me. Todd Zalkins: If we could have one more parting shot before I get to some thank you's. Could you share with it doesn't matter if men or women out there listening something that can make them believe and realize there is hope out there. Can you share with the listeners, the viewers. “You know what? I'm struggling”, you can do this right? Amy Dresner: Yeah absolutely. No matter how many times you've fallen on your face, you can absolutely get this, you just need to find someone who believes in you and believe that they believe and just take the action. Don't let your feelings drag you around. Your feelings in your head will lie to you and they are not your friend. That's the thing that I finally gotten is sobriety was not to listen to my feelings and if you know if you want to use, wait 20 minutes, just watch something on TV, take a bath, jack off, call someone whatever, because the urge passes whether you use or not.  Amy Dresner: And it took me a really longTime to figure that out. You can tolerate your feelings. It's not fun, but you can tolerate and you don't pick up and you don't open up that vortex. You do that one day at a time and it gets easier. You have to act yourself in the right thinking. That's all there is to it. It's hard, but it's doable. And if I can get sober fucking, anyone can get sober. I'm the female Robert Downey Jr said. Todd Zalkins: You see, that was a perfect way to part ways. Amy Dresner telling it like it is and certainly how it was for her, and I think a lot of people are going to be inspired by what they've heard today and certainly hopefully a few people pick up the book, "My Fair junkie". I want to do a quick little thank you to some people who are checking this out. Joshua Richardson, Brandon Yates, Brian birch, Chris, Roseanne, Kelly shelters, Erica, Elaine Smith, Katie Gibson, Nicholas, Monica Steffi. You guys thank you so much for making some comments on the board while we're chatting away and hopefully share this video today and once again, Amy Dresner, I wish you all the success in the world with your book, "My Fair junkie".  Todd Zalkins: And I know that I am going to order it, I will. You're going to leave here with a copy of my book. I signed it for you can use to burn stuff- Amy Dresner: Or I can use level a table or whatever. Todd Zalkins: Anyway, thank you so much Amy for being on the program with us today.  Amy Dresner: Thank you for having me. Todd Zalkins: It was absolute pleasure. And you guys thank you for watching Facebook Live and thanks for listening when the same gets onto Spotify and iTunes. Thank you everybody for joining us.

Writers Dylan Brody and Amy Dresner talk bleeding on the page, but not your Facebook page. Felicia reveals her difficult past with a suicidal mom, and Susanna just had a polyamory break-up, and somehow they all lived to tell about it.  

Amy Dresner is the most brilliant, funniest, wildest writer you've never met, she used to be a stand-up comic and is still funnier than one. If you want to hear from someone who took it ALL THE WAY; that would be Amy- rehabs for meth, coke, and alcohol, psyche wards, and that's not even counting the food issues and sex addiction… but she swapped all that for Yerba Mattes, vaping nicotine, and writing for "The Fix" and advice columnist Amy Alcon, among others. I know Dresner well, because I'm lucky, and now you will know her too, if you are worthy. The first classic quote we get from her is “You can't be full of dick and full of sadness. Be sad after, when they don't call you again, but you can't be sad during it.” I think I will get that stitched into a pillow. We delve into “daddy issues,” and where hers came from, if she has any. Amy discusses vulnerability and the line between that and just being a drama queen, and we segue into how she developed a sex addiction after her marriage ended, but also (paradoxically) came into her own sexually. She owns her mistakes, her peccadillos, and we discuss what makes us get attached to men, as opposed to "just sex." Dresner talks about the most annoying thing men and women do, then shares about being sentenced to “community labor” because of that little “knife incident” and that time she ran into an ex while sweeping the streets with other felons. At some point when we're talking about her seizures and Yerba Matte habit (it's a tea, people) I admit that sometimes I worry about her, which is apparently a common reaction from her Alanon friends who need to “stay in their lane.” Amy gets so real and deep about accepting people, no matter what their path, I'm reminded again why I love her. It took a bunch of dick jokes, but we get to the beautiful empathic, vulnerable core of being alive. Also, of all the different kinds of therapy (we've both had shit tons) what helped us the most? We finish off about amongst other things, shame vs. restraint, Tinder in Brooklyn, having overwhelming emotions and why “damaged people” are dangerous. Strap in, it's going to be a bumpy night.                        

Mishka Shubaly made me cry. Not because he's a best selling author of Kindle Singles including “The Long Run,” “Are You Lonesome Tonight?” and most recently “Of Mice and Me.” Not because he's an ultra-marathon runner and punk rock singer, touring with bands such as The Strokes, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs and comedian Doug Stanhope. Not even because I've interviewed him before. But before he makes me cry… We talk about the realities of touring, karma vs. science the origin of his name, and the deepest voice you will ever hear saying, “I'm a little mouse or a little bear,” which leads to a cool story about his ethnic origin (you'll never guess.) He drops an exclusive bit of news, you have to listen to find out, and then we discuss the drawbacks of having a threesome with Mishka, myself and Amy Dresner. Then at minute 26.16, Mishka starts talking about my writing, how he feels reading it and then something gets in my eye… We talk about our families and how hard it is to let them love us. Eventually we circle back to my first interview question, “When was the last time you thought about suicide?” and discuss what keeps us from “tapping out.” Far from feeling heavy after it all, I get home from interviewing Mishka at 3 a.m. feeling curiously light, “seen,” and though you were not actually there, I'm sure you will feel it too.