Elizabeth Kipp spent 40 years in chronic pain and 31 years on prescribed opioids and benzodiazepines—including fentanyl—until a pain-management track at the Betty Ford Center in 2013 catalyzed a complete turnaround. In this conversation, she unpacks the mind-body nature of chronic pain, the practical role of 12-Step recovery, yoga, breathwork, prayer/ancestral clearing, and the simple relapse-prevention principle that changed everything: staying in personal integrity. Listeners get a hopeful blueprint that blends science and spirituality with concrete next steps.

Sponsored by Rage Against Addiction

Guest Bio:

Elizabeth Kipp is a stress-management and ancestral-trauma specialist, recovery coach, and author of The Way Through Chronic Pain: Tools to Reclaim Your Healing Power. A former research scientist, she lived with severe back injury, surgeries, and physician-prescribed opioids/benzodiazepines for decades before completing a pain-management program at the Betty Ford Center in 2013. Today, she coaches globally (virtual), teaches mind-body practices, and helps people in recovery rebuild calm, clarity, and resilience.

Main Topics:

· Podathon for Recovery: 12 Days of Hope benefiting Rage Against Addiction

· Defining addiction to chronic pain and the “stress habit”

· Injury history, multiple surgeries, and 31 years on Rx opioids/benzos (incl. fentanyl)

· Why opioids don’t heal chronic pain; breath, hydration, gut, and brain effects

· Detox & pain-track at the Betty Ford Center; waking up with no back pain

· Chronic pain as brain processing; limits of reductionist medicine

· Memory/cognition impacts of chronic pain—and how they recover

· Recovery toolkit: NA/AA, 12 Steps, Recovery 2.0, yoga, breathwork, prayer/ancestral clearing

· Coaching insights: readiness to sponsor; a client shame-to-healing vignette

· Relapse prevention: “Stay in integrity with yourself”

· How to work with Elizabeth (virtual coaching) and where to find her online

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In this powerful “12 Days of Hope” conversation, Mallory traces her journey from early family turmoil and teen substance use to a heroin “aha” moment, intimate partner violence, and the hard climb back—culminating in nearly 12 years of sobriety (since Nov 23, 2013). Now working in behavioral health and deeply involved with local nonprofits, she shares the decisions, resources, and support that helped her become the mother and community advocate she is today. Listeners will hear raw honesty, practical hope, and the reminder that recovery is possible.

Sponsored by Rage Against Addiction

Guest Bio:

Mallory is a behavioral-health professional who has worked in the field since 2014, currently serving in business development for a large nonprofit. Sober since November 23, 2013, she’s an active community volunteer and fundraiser supporting local recovery organizations in Harford and surrounding counties—and a devoted mom whose lived experience fuels her mission to help others.

Main Topics:

· Podathon for Recovery: 12 Days of Hope benefiting Rage Against Addiction

· Family dynamics, instability, and early exposure to substance use and violence

· Moving schools, academic struggles, and early drug/alcohol experimentation

· Teen relationships, lack of consequences, and escalating risk

· The first blackout, normalization of chaos, and denial

· Divorce, housing insecurity, and seeking validation/escape

· Exposure to opioids and heroin; the “immediate craving” turning point

· Domestic violence, control, and textbook “going back” cycles

· Pregnancy, brief stability, relapse triggers, and partner reoffending

· A terrifying incident with a child ingesting an opioid—and the emergency response (Narcan)

· Getting out, getting help, and building a career that gives back

· Why storytelling matters: reducing stigma and opening doors to recovery resources

Resources mentioned:

· Donate t

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Karen, a self-described “not-the-typical addict,” shares how a neck injury and prescribed opioids spiraled into secrecy, debt, and withdrawal—until she chose help, called her doctor, and walked into her first NA meeting. She explains how control, trauma, sponsors, and step work shaped 21 years pill-free, the detour into alcohol, and the moment she finally said out loud, “I’m an alcoholic.” It’s a candid, practical blueprint for anyone wondering what recovery programs actually do—and why they save lives.

Sponsored by Rage Against Addiction

Guest Bio:

Karen is a longtime friend of the show and a recovery advocate. A former stay-at-home mom who became a Reiki Master and intuitive counselor, she’s 21 years pill-free, active in 12-step recovery, and helps clients release stored trauma to heal and move forward.

Main Topics:

· Podathon for Recovery: 12 Days of Hope benefiting Rage Against Addiction

· “Not the typical addict”: prescriptions, stigma, and secrecy

· 9/11, the D.C. sniper, anxiety, and the illusion of control

· Doctor-shopping, online pill mills, and financial fallout

· The turning point: calling the doctor to flag her chart, grief after surrender

· First NA meeting, feeling “at home,” and what sponsors actually do

· Step work vs. therapy; NA vs. AA and “higher power” (not one-size-fits-all)

· Relapse with alcohol, daughter’s ultimatum, and returning to meetings

· Resentments, gratitude lists, and practical tools that keep people clean

· Trauma stored in the body; Reiki/energy work and emotional healing

Resources mentioned:

· Donate to Rage Against Addiction

· Narcotics Anonymous (NA) & Alcoholics Anonymous (AA)

· “The Body Keeps the Score” (book reference)

· National Recovery Month (context)

Send us a text

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Follow the Conversations with Rich Bennett podcast on Social Media:
Facebook – Conversations with Rich Bennett
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TikTok – CWRB (@conversationsrichbennett) | TikTok

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