Video

Revolutionizing
the Approach

Explore the profound intersections of addiction recovery and mental health on the e-motion wellness® podcast.

Video Resources

e-motion wellness® Video resources

Our mission is to transform mental health care by strengthening the physiological and psychological foundations that help people create meaningful, lasting change.

At e-motion wellness®, we bring physiology-informed care, evidence-informed therapy, and community together to help people build the capacity to live differently. Through movement, breathwork, emotional regulation, and purposeful challenge, we help individuals strengthen self-trust, question the narratives that keep them stuck, and take meaningful action toward lives rooted in connection and purpose.

Explore the profound intersections of addiction recovery and mental health on the e-motion wellness® podcast. Delve into personal stories of triumph over adversity, gain valuable insights into mental health education, and discover essential resources for well-being and addiction recovery. Join us on this enlightening journey as we navigate the complexities of mental health while highlighting the importance of holistic wellness and recovery. Tune in to be inspired, educated, and supported on your path towards healing and growth.

See more on our podcast instagram page

David Ludlow is the Executive Director of Promises Brazos Valley, a recovery advocate, and a leader in behavioral health whose work is deeply connected to his own experience with addiction and recovery. David entered treatment on April 26, 2017, after years of substance use had taken an enormous toll on his health, relationships, career, and future. He arrived skeptical and initially unsure that recovery was something he truly wanted. But hearing the experiences of other people who had rebuilt their lives began to change his perspective. What started as simply showing up eventually became a commitment to doing the work and discovering what his own life could become. As David rebuilt his life, he knew he wanted to remain connected to the treatment community and help other people find the same hope he had found. That path eventually led him into behavioral healthcare leadership and his current role as Executive Director of Promises Brazos Valley. Today, David approaches leadership through many of the same principles that shaped his recovery: honesty, integrity, accountability, consistency, and showing up for others. He is passionate about creating treatment environments where people feel safe, cared for, and supported by teams that genuinely believe in the possibility of change. His story is also one of continued growth. David speaks openly about rebuilding relationships, taking personal responsibility, allowing recovery to evolve, and learning that asking for help is an act of courage rather than weakness. For David, recovery isn't simply about leaving addiction behind. It's about continuing to show up, doing the work, and creating a life that once seemed impossible.
E Motion Wellness Podcast | DAVID LUDLOW
Frank Parisi is a best-selling author, entrepreneur, recovery advocate, social media personality, and heart transplant survivor whose experiences have profoundly shaped the way he approaches life, recovery, gratitude, and connection. Through his writing, business ventures, advocacy, and social media presence, Frank uses his platform to share his story openly and connect with others navigating their own challenges. His perspective has been shaped not only by recovery, but by facing the possibility of losing his life and ultimately receiving a heart transplant. Those experiences gave Frank a different appreciation for the things that can easily be taken for granted—the people you love, another day with your family, and simply having the opportunity to be here. Today, Frank shares the lessons he's learned through recovery, entrepreneurship, and surviving a life-threatening health journey. His story is ultimately one of perspective, resilience, gratitude, and making something meaningful out of the life you've been given.
E Motion Wellness Podcast | Frank Parisi
Dayton Biggs is a U.S. Air Force veteran, Doctor of Physical Therapy, two-time amateur mixed martial arts champion, husband, father of two, and nearly eight years sober. His life today is built around many of the things recovery gave him the opportunity to fully experience: family, purpose, movement, adventure, and connection. Whether traveling the world with his wife and children, snowboarding, or training martial arts together as a family, Dayton has intentionally created a life centered on experiences that strengthen their bond. Martial arts has remained an important part of that journey. After becoming a two-time amateur MMA champion himself, Dayton now shares that passion with his family, using training as another way to spend meaningful time together, challenge one another, and continue growing. Nearly eight years into sobriety, Dayton's story reflects what can be built beyond addiction. His recovery isn't simply about the years he has spent sober, but the life he has created during them—as a husband, father, veteran, healthcare professional, athlete, and someone committed to making the most of the life and relationships he has today.
e-motion wellness Podcast | Dayton Biggs
Mike “StuBoy” O’Brien is a recovery advocate and co-host of Two Addicts and a Moron Podcast, where honest conversations, humor, and lived experience come together to challenge the stigma surrounding addiction and show people what life on the other side can look like. After roughly a decade of addiction, Mike reached a turning point when he realized he could lose one of the most important things in his life—his relationship with his daughter. With the support of friends, coworkers, and a recovery community that rallied around him, he entered treatment and began rebuilding his life. But getting sober was only the beginning. Mike had long told himself that if he ever figured out how to make it to the other side of addiction, he wanted to help other people believe they could do it too. That idea eventually became Two Addicts and a Moron Podcast, a platform built around real recovery stories without pretending recovery has to be serious all the time. Through humor, vulnerability, and conversations with people from different walks of life, Mike and his co-hosts have created a space where people can talk openly about addiction, mental health, resilience, and what it actually takes to rebuild a life. Today, that mission is expanding beyond the microphone. Mike helped launch the Two Addicts and a Moron Podcast Recovery Foundation, with the goal of connecting people who want help with treatment, transportation, recovery resources, and continued support—particularly those who may not have the financial resources or insurance to access care on their own. For Mike, recovery is ultimately about paying forward the help that was once given to him. His story is a reminder that getting sober isn't simply about leaving addiction behind. It's about discovering what you can build with the life you get back.
E Motion Wellness Podcast | Mike “StuBoy” O’Brien
Aston is an amputee and resilience advocate whose life changed in an instant after an accident forced him to confront challenges he never could have anticipated. His journey has required him to adapt not only physically, but mentally and emotionally as he learned how to rebuild his life and redefine what moving forward could look like. Through the highs, the setbacks, and the difficult moments in between, Aston discovered that resilience isn't about being unaffected by what happens to you. It's about allowing yourself to struggle, adapt, and continue moving forward even when life looks completely different from what you had planned. In this episode, Aston opens up about the accident that changed his life, adjusting to life as an amputee, navigating the setbacks that followed, and ultimately finding a renewed sense of identity and purpose. He shares an honest perspective on what it means to face circumstances you cannot change while recognizing that you still have a choice in how you respond to them. His story is a reminder that strength doesn't always look like having everything together. Sometimes it means getting back up, learning how to move differently, and refusing to allow one chapter of your life to determine the rest of your story. This conversation explores resilience, identity, perspective, and what becomes possible when we stop measuring our lives by what we've lost and begin looking at what we can still build.
Aston | Amputee and resilience advocate redefining what it means to keep moving forward.
Dr. Henry Lewis Higgins is a career emergency physician, healthcare entrepreneur, and executive with more than two decades of clinical and leadership experience. Throughout his career, he has focused on building community-based healthcare models that combine exceptional medical care with greater accessibility, affordability, and meaningful involvement from physicians and healthcare staff. His philosophy of care is rooted in a simple but powerful standard: approach every patient with a profound degree of empathy while treating them with an overwhelming amount of competence. Dr. Higgins is the founder and CEO of Family Hospital Systems and Emergency Rooms and has founded and operated emergency centers, hospitals, and other healthcare organizations throughout Texas and Nebraska. He also founded Cage Free Care, a direct primary care model designed to give individuals and employers more affordable access to primary, emergency, and specialty healthcare. Over the past eight years, much of Dr. Higgins' work has centered on developing RedStone, a recovery program operated through Family Hospital Systems. RedStone begins with the medical stabilization of individuals struggling with substance use and extends well beyond the initial crisis, working alongside community partners to provide meaningful support throughout the first two years of recovery. The program brings together medical professionals, behavioral health providers, and peer recovery specialists to create an integrated care team focused on what each individual needs to build sustainable recovery. This approach reflects Dr. Higgins' broader belief that addressing addiction requires more than getting someone safely through an immediate medical crisis—it requires continued connection, support, and a healthcare system willing to stay involved. In addition to his clinical and executive work, Dr. Higgins has held numerous medical leadership positions and is the founding Editor-in-Chief of the *Journal of Free Standing Emergency Medicine*. He has also served as owner and Chairman of the Board of the American Academy of Urgent Care Medicine. Dr. Higgins received his medical degree from West Virginia University, completed postgraduate training in General Surgery and Neurosurgery at the University of Oklahoma, and completed an Internal Medicine residency at CAMC/WVU in Charleston, West Virginia. Across every aspect of his career, Dr. Higgins has remained focused on improving the way healthcare is delivered through clinical excellence, empathy, accountability, community involvement, and innovative models of care. Outside of his professional work, he is devoted to his wife of 35 years, their four children, and their growing family.
Dr. Henry Higgins | Emergency physician and healthcare leader advancing addiction recovery care.
Mark England is a TEDx speaker, co-founder and Head Coach of Enlifted, and one of the leading voices in the study of how language shapes human performance, behavior, and identity. For nearly two decades, Mark has researched, taught, and coached thousands of individuals on the profound connection between the words we use, the stories we tell ourselves, and the lives we ultimately create. Before entering the world of personal development, Mark earned a Master's Degree in Education and worked as an elementary school physical education teacher. His background in education, combined with years of coaching athletes, entrepreneurs, military personnel, first responders, and individuals in recovery, led him to develop a practical framework for identifying and rewriting the unconscious language patterns that keep people stuck. As the co-founder of Enlifted, Mark has helped transform the way people approach mindset, communication, leadership, and recovery by demonstrating that changing your story isn't about positive thinking—it's about using precise language to create lasting behavioral change. His work has influenced coaches, clinicians, educators, and organizations around the world. In this episode, we explore the connection between language, identity, and purpose, why the stories we repeat become the lives we live, and how changing just a few words can unlock a completely different future.
Mark England | TEDx speaker, Enlifted co-founder, and expert on the power of language and story.
Dan Banion is a certified Enlifted coach, speaker, and recovery advocate dedicated to helping people break free from the stories, language, and beliefs that keep them stuck. Sober since 2017, Dan has learned that lasting transformation isn't just about removing alcohol or other unhealthy behaviors—it's about changing the way we think, speak, and relate to ourselves so we can build lives that are deeply meaningful and genuinely fulfilling. Before finding his purpose in coaching, Dan lived many different lives. Over the years, he worked as a Chippendales emcee, radio DJ, MMA ring announcer, and salesman, experiences that gave him a unique perspective on identity, performance, and the many roles people play throughout their lives. While each chapter shaped who he became, it was his own recovery journey that led him to the deeper work of personal transformation. Through the Enlifted methodology, Dan helps individuals uncover the unconscious language and limiting beliefs that influence how they see themselves and the world around them. His approach combines lived experience, practical coaching, and honest conversation to help people move beyond simply surviving and begin creating lives built on purpose, authenticity, and intentional growth. Whether he's speaking from a stage, coaching one-on-one, or sharing his own story, Dan's mission is simple: to help people realize that changing your life begins by changing the story you tell yourself—and that true recovery isn't just about getting sober; it's about becoming the person you were always capable of being.
Dan Banion | Certified Enlifted coach and recovery advocate helping people rewrite their story.
Jamie McKibben-Reese is an author, interventionist, speaker, and recovery coach dedicated to helping individuals and families navigate addiction, trauma, and long-term healing. Through her private coaching practice and the My Sober Journey Intensive Resiliency Aftercare Program, she provides compassionate guidance that extends beyond treatment, empowering people to build resilient, purpose-driven lives in recovery. Drawing from both professional expertise and her own lived experience, Jamie brings authenticity, honesty, and hope to every conversation. She believes that understanding our story is one of the most powerful steps toward changing our future, and that lasting transformation begins with connection, self-awareness, accountability, and the courage to heal. Jamie is also a passionate advocate for improving the addiction treatment landscape. She is committed to educating individuals, families, and communities about the realities of addiction, helping them make informed decisions during some of life's most vulnerable moments. Through open and honest dialogue, she champions ethical treatment, meaningful aftercare, stronger family support, and recovery approaches that care for the whole person—not just the addiction. She is the author of *I Never Left You, I've Been Here the Whole Time – GOD*, a deeply personal story of faith, redemption, and transformation, and *This Is Your Story Workbook*, an interactive guide designed to help readers uncover the beliefs, experiences, and patterns that have shaped their lives while providing practical tools for lasting change. Whether she's coaching families, speaking on stage, or collaborating with others to advance conversations around recovery and mental health, Jamie's mission remains the same: to inspire hope, encourage honest dialogue, and remind people that healing is always possible. She believes no one is beyond redemption, every person has the ability to rewrite their story, and no one should have to walk the journey of recovery alone.
Meet Jamie McKibben-Reese, a coach & more who focuses on recovery through healing & connection.
Craig "Bubba" Norton is the founder of A Better Boat Recovery Services, co-creator of GUTS (God's Unseen Training System), and a recovery coach, interventionist, and advocate with nearly 17 years of continuous sobriety. After overcoming his own battle with addiction, Bubba dedicated his life to helping individuals and families navigate the challenges of substance use disorders through interventions, recovery coaching, sober transportation, case management, and long-term recovery support. Drawing from lived experience, evidence-informed practices, the principles of 12-step recovery, and years of hands-on work, Bubba believes that lasting transformation comes from honesty, accountability, connection, and a willingness to do the work. His approach focuses on helping people build recovery capital—the relationships, resources, and life skills that create a strong foundation for sustainable recovery. As the co-creator of GUTS (God's Unseen Training System), Bubba is developing a coaching framework designed to equip recovery professionals with practical tools while empowering clients to build purposeful, resilient lives. His mission is rooted in the belief that recovery is not something anyone achieves alone—it is built through community, service, and meaningful human connection. Outside of his professional work, Bubba is married to Wendi Willoughby Norton, whom he considers his greatest source of love, encouragement, and partnership. Together they have built a life centered on faith, family, and serving others. He is also the proud stepfather of Mollie, whose presence continues to inspire his commitment to living a life of purpose and integrity. Whether he's leading an intervention, coaching someone through the early stages of recovery, or speaking to an audience about hope and resilience, Bubba's message remains consistent: no matter how difficult the past may have been, every day is another opportunity to choose a different path and create a better future.
Craig "Bubba" Norton | Founder of A Better Boat Recovery Services, helps individuals & families
Today's guest is Peter Doyle, a licensed therapist, addiction counselor, and recovery advocate whose career has been dedicated to helping people build lasting change. Peter has worked in behavioral health since 2008 and holds a Bachelor's degree in Psychology and a Master's degree in Addiction Counseling. After spending more than a decade leading residential treatment programs and operations, he transitioned into a Primary Therapist role, where he combines years of leadership experience with a deeply personal understanding of recovery. Having been on his own recovery journey for more than 20 years, Peter believes healing extends far beyond abstinence. His approach emphasizes whole-person wellness—addressing the mind, body, relationships, and purpose that create sustainable recovery. Throughout his career, he's remained committed to helping individuals move beyond survival and build lives grounded in resilience, connection, and long-term well-being. In this conversation, we explore what it truly means to recover, the importance of treating the whole person, and why lasting transformation happens when clinical expertise meets lived experience.
Peter Doyle | Therapist, addiction counselor, & recovery advocate with 20+ years of lived experience
Today’s guest is someone who’s lived through the darkest parts of addiction and turned that experience into a mission to help others find hope. Matt Handy is the host of the My Last Relapse podcast, where he has honest, unfiltered conversations about addiction, relapse, recovery, and what it really takes to rebuild a life. After spending nearly two decades battling heroin addiction, experiencing homelessness, and serving time in prison, Matt found recovery and has dedicated his life to helping others do the same. Today, he’s one of the founders of Harmony Grove Behavioral Health and is challenging many of the traditional conversations around addiction by encouraging authenticity, compassion, and individualized recovery instead of shame and stigma. Matt's story is one of resilience, redemption, and purpose.
Matt Handy | Recovery advocate, podcast host, and co-founder of Harmony Grove Behavioral Health.
Subscribe
e-motion wellness® movement and recovery community in San Antonio