Recovery: Building a new life after sobriety

When someone stops drinking alcohol or using drugs, it’s only the beginning.

For many people, recovery is a long journey — one that can mean rebuilding relationships, changing everyday habits and finding a new community and sense of purpose.

MPR News host Angela Davis talks during National Recovery Month with two guests who rebuilt their lives after alcohol or drug use brought everything crashing down — in very public ways.

Guests:

• Beth McDonough is a sober advocate, author and former Twin Cities TV crime reporter. She writes in her first memoir “Standby” about losing her job, home and sense of identity in 2008 following two arrests for drunken driving. Her new memoir, “Still Standing,” describes her recovery from alcoholism and how she rebuilt her life after her public downfall. She lives and writes in southern Utah.

• John Solomon recently stepped into the new role of executive director of lifelong recovery at Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation, where he also earned his master’s degree in counseling and completed treatment for bi-polar disorder and alcohol and methamphetamine use. He previously worked as a therapist in Alaska and as CEO of the Alaska Behavioral Health Association. He is a former singer and songwriter with the rock band Communist Daughter.

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Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.