EPISODE 112: RAFAEL

"I sometimes wish I could turn it off," Rafael told Renée about his emotional intensity. It's hard to believe when you first hear him - his energy is lighthearted and gentle, and his story starts out relatively uneventful - but Rafael is only recently recovered from polysubstance addiction. A series of difficult losses sent him seeking relief with self-medication, and soon he was taking Xanax bars before family Seders. Now at 27 and with two years of sobriety under his belt, Rafael finds himself struggling with feelings of worthlessness. He came to the show hoping Renée can help him excavate the deep self-loathing that fed and was fed by his past addiction. She can, and by the end they have a starting point for his healing as well as a few other goodies, including tips for navigating a love-language mismatch. Plus, Renée talks mushrooms in the intro and teaches a new strategy for resolving anxiety at the break.