Shows
Gambling Recovery: Taking Back Your Life#21 Gambling Addiction in Plain Sight: What Recovery Can Look Like in Seven Months. The Story of Mason B.Today’s episode is an honest look at gambling addiction and recovery. Mason B. shares how gambling quietly took over his time, his work, his relationships, and his mental health, all while appearing functional on the outside. He opens up about secrecy, shame, bipolar disorder, and the constant pull to escape, numb, and chase more.
I wanted to share Mason’s story to show what recovery can look like in under a year just seven months, when someone commits fully, gets honest, and asks for help.
2026-02-1753 minGambling Recovery: Taking Back Your LifeSeason 2- #20 The Human Cost of Gambling, and the journey to Healing with Jody Bechtold, LCSW, ICGC, IGDC, PCMy guest is Jody Bechtold, LCSW, ICGC, IGDC, PC — a clinician, educator, and advocate who has spent her life standing at the intersection of addiction, mental health, and human suffering. As the CEO of The Better Institute, Jody works daily with individuals and families whose lives have been quietly fractured by gambling addiction.
What sets Jody apart is not just her credentials or expertise, but her understanding of what this addiction takes from people , trust, time, relationships, and hope. She speaks to the emotional weight carried by gamblers and the often-unseen pain carried by those who love them.
In this ep...
2026-02-0349 minGambling Recovery: Taking Back Your Life#19 Season 1 Recap – Returning for Season 2 February 3rdThank you to every single person who has listened, shared, and supported this podcast. Whether you’ve been here since episode one or you tuned in for just a single conversation, thank you. Your presence matters more than you know. As we close out Season 1, this recap isn’t just about numbers or milestones, it’s about growth. I’ll be talking about what I learned, the mistakes I made along the way, what surprised me, what challenged me, and how each step shaped the mission we’re building. We’ve reached listeners in over 50 countries, which humbles me , but it also...
2025-12-3044 minGambling Recovery: Taking Back Your Life#18 Massachusetts State Senator John F. Keenan and the Bettor Health Act: A call to help save lives from GamblingToday’s guest is someone who chose integrity over silence. Massachusetts State Senator John F. Keenan, who represents the Norfolk and Plymouth District, has emerged as one of the most courageous voices in America calling out sports betting for what it has become: a growing public-health crisis. While many celebrate the revenue, Senator Keenan has been willing to confront the human cost. Insanity, jail and death. He is leading the charge behind the Bettor Health Act, a bold legislation that would ban prop bets, restrict in-game wagering, remove gambling advertisements from broadcasts. Finally placing much needed guardrails around a growing addic...
2025-12-1645 minGambling Recovery: Taking Back Your Life#17 The Wife of a Gambler: Karen S.’s Story of Love, Empathy, and AccountabilityYou heard Bob S. share the night his gambling addiction finally brought him to his knees in episode 2, along with the years of secrets, anxiety, and quiet unraveling that led him there.
Today, we’re turning toward the other side of that story.
Karen, Bob’s wife, lived through every part of this journey without a guide: the confusion, the red flags, the half-truths, the moment everything came crashing down, and the long, deliberate work of rebuilding trust while keeping her family safe.
This isn’t a story about blame. It’s about the very real human cost of addiction , and the st...
2025-12-0251 minGambling Recovery: Taking Back Your Life#16 A Father’s Reckoning: The War Within, and the Love & Empathy That Pulled Him BackIn this powerful episode, I sit down with Dane L, someone who’s lived through many painful layers of gambling addiction: the rush, the secrets, the chaos, and the fallout that touches every corner of life.
Dane talks about burning through jobs, lying to family, and sinking deep into debt , convinced that fixing the money would fix everything. But instead, the addiction took more: his peace, his marriage, and moments with his newborn children he can’t get back.
After multiple relapses and rock-bottom moments, Dane finally walked into a GA room for the third time , completely broken, and finally read...
2025-11-181h 04Gambling Recovery: Taking Back Your Life#15 - Casinos in Our Pockets - How Legalized Gambling is taking over sports & our lives!In this episode of Gambling Recovery: Taking Back Your Life, im going to take you inside one of the fastest growing addictions in American sports gambling. A mental health emergency What started as a game has become a business built on human weakness and temptation.
Once about heart, competition, and being present with friends and family, sports have been rewritten by odds, profits, and algorithms. The leagues that once called gambling a threat now profit from it , while lives quietly fall apart behind the numbers. I’ll explore the scandals, the billions of dollars at stake, and the hidden costs no one...
2025-11-0423 minGambling Recovery: Taking Back Your Life#14 Thirty Years Free. Allen H.’s Journey of Service and GratitudeToday’s episode features Allen H., a man whose story of recovery spans more than thirty years. Even after more than three decades free from gambling, Allen remains deeply committed to his recovery , still attending three to four GA meetings each week and giving back through service. He’s a living example of humility, gratitude, and what it means to never forget how powerful this disease truly is.
His journey began in his early teens, playing poker and chasing that first thrill, a thrill that would one day lead to unimaginable lows. You’ll hear how Allen’s path took him from...
2025-10-2141 minGambling Recovery: Taking Back Your Life#13 Hope, Healing, and Redemption The Story of Steve KapelaToday I sit down with Steve Kapela, a man whose life is proof that recovery can take you further than you ever imagined. Steve has been free from gambling, alcohol, and drugs since May 12, 2008, and in the years since, he’s not only rebuilt his own life but dedicated himself to helping others do the same. He’s become a trailblazer in peer recovery, a licensed social worker, and one of the earliest certified gambling counselors in Ohio, eventually earning international recognition through the ICGC II and BACC credentials. Soon, he’ll be licensed as a Master Clinical Social Worker in fiv...
2025-09-301h 04Gambling Recovery: Taking Back Your Life#12 Teddy S had a choice-Get Help or Lose It All . The Moment That Saved a Marriage and a LifeAt 23 years old, Teddy S. first walked into the rooms of Gamblers Anonymous with his mother by his side. He wouldn’t see the inside of another GA room until the age of 45. And by then, the addiction had only grown darker and more destructive. When Teddy finally made the decision to take recovery seriously, everything changed, and he has never looked back. But recovery is never a journey walked alone. At home, his wife Linda was caring for their two young children, carrying the weight of uncertainty and heartache. Reaching her breaking point, she gave Teddy a clear ultimatum: ge...
2025-09-021h 04Gambling Recovery: Taking Back Your Life#11 Adam H stood on the edge of the Golden Gate Bridge, ready to let go. Despair turned into a return to life, faith, and purpose.Sometimes in recovery, you meet someone whose story feels less like coincidence and more like destiny. That was the case when I first heard Adam H share his journey. On an ordinary Saturday morning, while celebrating 15 years free from gambling, Adam spoke with a depth and honesty that felt like a spiritual awakening. In that moment, it was clear his path and mine had crossed for a reason.
Adam’s life before recovery was marked by loss, of peace, stability, and even the will to go on. His addiction took him to the edge of the Golden Gate Bridge, where he...
2025-08-1956 minGambling Recovery: Taking Back Your Life#10 This episode is for my parents , the ones who stood in the storm of my addiction and taught me what love really means
This episode is for my parents, and my brother
Today, I’m doing something I’ve been carrying in my heart since the day I entered recovery. This episode is for my parents ,the two people who stood in the storm of my addiction long before I ever saw it for what it was.
My mom passed two years ago. My dad, just this past May. And as I try to make sense of life without them, I find myself reflecting on everything they went through because of me. The lies. The worry. The helplessness. The pain I brought into our h...
2025-07-2222 minGambling Recovery: Taking Back Your Life#9 Sometimes the right person enters your life exactly when you need direction. For me, that person was Sam Sherman ,and this episode brings everything full circleToday’s guest is a special one, and not just because of what he does, but because of how our paths crossed.
Sam Sherman isn’t just someone I admire in the mental health space, he’s the reason this podcast exists. Years ago, I met a man named Teddy in a Gamblers anonymous room who made a lasting impact on my life. I never imagined that decades later, I’d be teaming up with his nephew to launch a podcast dedicated to recovery, healing, and honest conversation.
Sam found his calling in the mental health field unexpectedly, but once he stepp...
2025-07-0845 minGambling Recovery: Taking Back Your Life#8 Brian R lost his marriage, his trust, and himself . but one phone call became the turning point. From addiction to surrender
Today’s episode is one of truth, vulnerability, and the courage it takes to begin again.
My guest, Brian R is here to share the history of his gambling, his personal admission of powerlessness and the unmanageability that followed. This is more than a list of consequences. This is a look inside the life of someone who spent decades chasing bets, hiding lies, and losing pieces of himself along the way.
Brian’s story began when he was just eight years old, betting on fantasy football with his Father. From scratch-off tickets in high school to online sports betting as an a...
2025-06-111h 19Gambling Recovery: Taking Back Your Life#7 Jordan S. believed he could manage it ,one more bet, one more chance. But the truth was always there: gambling was in control, not him.From innocent March Madness brackets with his brothers to secret loans, mounting debts, and gambling away life’s biggest milestones. Jordan’s addiction didn’t explode overnight. It crept in quietly, tightening its grip until his world began to fall apart.
For over two decades, he lived in the illusion of control, telling himself he had limits, that he could manage the chaos, that one more bet might fix everything. But the truth was always there: gambling was in control, not him.
Behind the scenes, the damage rippled out, straining his marriage, lying to the people he loved most, and leavin...
2025-05-2747 minGambling Recovery: Taking Back Your Life#6 When Desperation Meets Community , Parents of a Gambler: A Journey from Heartbreak to HopeIn this deeply personal episode of Gambling Recovery: Taking Back Your Life, I sit down with Mark and Julie, two parents whose story echoes the pain, fear, and hope that so many families experience when a loved one is battling gambling addiction.
Their 27-year-old son, Joey, had just entered an inpatient gambling rehab program when they found their way to a Gamblers Anonymous meeting. Lost and searching for answers, they were pointed toward a Monday night GA meeting in downtown Chicago. A simple suggestion that would go on to change their lives.
This episode is about what happens when desperation m...
2025-05-131h 23Gambling Recovery: Taking Back Your Life#5 Gambling consumed everything Jason S cared about. His story is one of addiction, identity, and the courage to break through silence and shame.
Today, we have a powerful and deeply personal story to share. My guest, Jason S, knows firsthand how gambling can take hold of a person’s life. How what starts as a thrill, a side hustle, or even just a way to pass the time can spiral into something that consumes everything: work, relationships, and even your own well-being.
Jason’s journey began with poker games in high school, escalated through pharmacy school, and continued into his professional life, where his addiction led to sleepless nights, hidden lies, and a desperate search for control.
But Jason’s story also comes with a...
2025-04-2936 minGambling Recovery: Taking Back Your Life#4 Australian journalist Aaron Timms exposes the machine driving America’s betting obsession, and the warning signs we can’t afford to ignore.Today’s guest, Aaron Timms, is a freelance journalist from Australia, now living in New York, who has written for The New York Times, New York Magazine, The Guardian, and more.
Back in 2021, he wrote a powerful article for The Guardian about the rise of legalized sports betting in the U.S. and the marketing machine behind it . A piece that left a lasting impression on me. I remember thinking at the time: If I ever start a podcast, I want to talk to this guy.
In the piece, he also reflects on Australia’s experience, a country that legalized gambli...
2025-04-1545 minGambling Recovery: Taking Back Your Life#3 Martin S Lived a Double Life , Until Gambling Almost Took His Last BreathToday’s guest is someone who spent 25 years living a double life, gambling from the moment he woke up until he went to bed, lying, deceiving, and destroying everything in his path, his marriage, his family, his finances, and, ultimately, himself. He was an action gambler, a stock market addict, a sports bettor, a blackjack and craps player. Anything to keep the machine going. He lied about where he was, faked car accidents, and even had a second phone and computer just to cover his tracks. And when it all came crashing down, when the reality of losing everything finally hi...
2025-04-011h 08Gambling Recovery: Taking Back Your Life#2 Bob S had success , a family, and a hidden addiction that almost cost him everything.Today, we’re stepping into the life of Bob S., a man whose journey with gambling addiction took him from the thrill of dominoes with his grandparents to a hotel room in Cleveland. A night where he hit his own rock bottom. At 37, with a new promotion in hand and a family waiting back home, Bob found himself drowning in despair, his life unraveled by a decades-long battle with a Gambling disease that started innocently enough but grew into a relentless force. From caddie shack card games to secret credit lines with bookies, Bob’s story is one of chasing wins...
2025-03-1849 minGambling Recovery: Taking Back Your Life#1 Gambling took my freedom, my family, and myself — but it couldn’t break my spirit.This is the story of my darkest days of my gambling addiction—a time when my choices weren’t just destroying my life, but my family’s too. I’ll share the raw truth about hitting my own rock bottom, including my three-month stay in county jail, and the journey that led to 13 years of sobriety. How I found hope through hopelessness.
But now, it’s not just about my recovery—it’s about helping others fight the same battle I once fought.
This is my story of recovery, hope, and humility. I hope my story inspires you to find your own path to taking
2025-02-2728 min