After a long hiatus, Recovery Reform is back. In this reboot episode, Dr. Taylor Nichols and McCauley Sexton reconnect to talk about where they’ve been, what they’ve been learning, and why they felt it was time to bring Recovery Reform back. We discuss the projects, research, advocacy, and other work Taylor and McCauley have been pursuing during the break, along with the experiences and conversations that have shaped their perspectives on substance use, treatment, recovery, harm reduction, and the systems surrounding them. This episode is a reset and a return to the conversations that started Recovery Reform: bringing together clinical expertise and lived experience to examine the multifaceted causes of substance use and the complex systems built around recovery. Expertise meets lived experience to unpack the multifaceted cause that is recovery reform.

Rachel Shuster is a registered nurse and a person in recovery from opioid use disorder. As a high-achieving high schooler and college student, she never imagined that she would fall victim to having a substance use disorder.

Recognizing that secrets die in the light, she is passionate about sharing her story, but is also interested in advocacy, evidence-based practice, harm reduction, and policy change within the addiction treatment field.

Rachel graduated from Waynesburg University in 2012 with her Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN). After graduating, Rachel worked in critical care for over 4 years prior to her switching specialties to addictions nursing following her personal journey through addiction to recovery. Academic papers: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/inm.70024 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33647158/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nurserachelshuster Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mrsrachelshuster/ Threads: https://www.threads.com/@mrsrachelshuster Twitter / X: https://x.com/mynameisrachel

Kirsten - AKA Sobriety Bestie - last had an alcoholic drink in 2009, then spent over a decade in AA. She left AA in 2020 and began doing the work of unlearning and deconstructing AA dogma, told that she was powerless, "diseased" or forever broken. Now she is dedicated to telling the truth about recovery and about how to rebuild after leaving AA.

She created her YouTube channel and podcast to be the voice, support, and truth that she felt that she needed in her early recovery and when she was looking to leave AA.

Website = https://www.sobrietybestie.com/messages/15-years-of-addiction-recovery-advice-in-41-minutes

YouTube = https://www.youtube.com/sobrietybestie

Apple Podcast = https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/sobriety-bestie-podcast/id1750328642

Spotify Podcast = https://open.spotify.com/show/48bBadXm0tgvgbGzr6pDuF

Instagram = https://www.instagram.com/sobrietybestie/