Authors Brenda Hibbs and Jenna Smith to be Featured on Close Up Radio

CORVALLIS, OREGON, UNITED STATES, May 10, 2024 /EINPresswire.com/ -- In their powerful new book, The Other Twelve Steps: Building a Life Worth Living - A Guide to Post-Rehab Success, Brenda Hibbs and Jenna Smith tackle the myriad challenges that can ambush people just post-rehab or in early sobriety. Drawing from personal experience and years working in addiction recovery, Hibbs and Smith offer a compassionate, street-smart guide for staying on the path to a life well-lived after putting down the bottle or needle. Although these folks are determined to build a life free from addiction, the road ahead can be tough.

In 1939, Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) published its foundational textbook titled “Alcoholics Anonymous,” which outlines the Twelve Steps of Recovery. Ever since, these Steps have proven effective in guiding individuals world-wide through their recovery journey, enabling them to achieve and sustain sobriety. What Alcoholics Anonymous does not cover, however, are additional steps that those working toward a substance-free life can take to help clean up the mess that addiction has made of their lives.

As a mother, daughter, sibling, granddaughter, niece, cousin, and widow of loved ones who have battled substance use disorder, Brenda Hibbs is intimately familiar with the trials and triumphs of their journey. She has seen first-hand the impact of addiction and substance abuse on individuals and families, and is committed to helping those who are in early sobriety to achieve post rehab success by straightening out the crooked path that addiction has made of their lives.

Addiction killed Jenna’s Rock Star dad when she was 16, leading her to heavy alcohol use in her teens, trying to create her own rock star life. After the tragic death of her fiancé a few years later, Jenna began a terrible downward spiral culminating in “running away and joining the circus,” where she found other sad, addicted performers. She became destructive, reclusive, depressed, very good at hiding and lying. As her addictions worsened, Jenna lost most of her music equipment to pawn shops, along with the loss of the use of her legs (from nitrous oxide addiction), spending an entire summer in a wheelchair. But it wasn’t until Jenna lost her last two most loyal and tolerant friends that she realized it was time for a change.

“It took 7 years for me to really get clean,” shares Jenna. “It was slow to get going as I didn’t see any results for a good 3 years. At the beginning, I would attend local county health department classes and AA meetings. Although I learned a lot, I was still living a transient life, not in one location, and not committed at all. During those 3 years, I never attended a whole course from start to finish. I would go for a few months, leave, and then return. But without realizing it, I was incrementally learning a lot of really helpful ideas such as using “tools in the toolbox,” which I slowly implemented.

“It took those 3 years to change my behavior and reprogram my brain,” Jenna continues, “When I was 3 years in, I began to see really small changes, and my mind was blown. I would ask myself, ‘Wait a minute, did that just happen? Did I really not finish that bottle of wine?’ That was my turning point. Seven years later, I’ve made so much progress and have been pretty comfortable for 3 years now. I’m working on rebuilding and looking at the future with a lot of emotions. Rebuilding is both scary and exciting.”

Brenda explains, “One reason for writing the book is to put everything else people in recovery need in one place. We call it ‘Life Recovery,’ and cover practicalities such as paperwork, finances and legal stuff, while encouraging readers to live rewarding lives through education, volunteering and learning to say “No” without feeling guilty. We also address spiritual and emotional work. For example, in Chapter 7, (Re)Building Positive and Strong Relationships, we outline how self-forgiveness is the foundation on which all else is built. When you can forgive yourself, you can begin feeling like you deserve to have a new life.”

While often intimidating, handling the practicalities of life is a two-sided coin. “When I was able to step away from my addiction, I realized that I was spending a bunch of money on drugs and alcohol that I can now spend on happier things. Yes, finances are intimidating but they need to be straightened up so you can see that you now have the means to live a full life,” shares Jenna.

Jenna also explains that addiction itself can be seen as two sides of a coin. “Through my addiction, I have learned lessons that everyone can use every day for whatever life throws at them. My addiction created a situation where I had to begin searching for life knowledge. Most of us don’t tend to seek help when we’re in trouble, we tend to shut down.”

On the emotional side, Jenna is still navigating the course. “Other than hanging on to sobriety, the biggest challenge is not being able to completely let go of my past life. I’m still hanging onto old friends and places as they are all that I know. I don’t yet have a clear vision of where to hang out, where to go, where to find new friends, new hobbies. I have ended up becoming extremely introverted because of the fear of being triggered by old places and friends which of course, is very lonely. Putting myself out there is exhausting!”

Brenda and Jenna are both looking toward the future and how they can continue supporting others in recovery, and for Jenna, how to rebuild community. “The subtitle “Building a Life Worth Living - A Guide to Post-Rehab Success” really is our theme. Rebuilding a new life is a process that takes time—sometimes a long time. The book is quite dense with information which we recognize can feel overwhelming. So we are working together to develop on-line classes to expand on ideas from the book,” explains Brenda. “Jenna is also working on creating a private Facebook group and offering weekly Zoom meetings for anyone just post-rehab or in early sobriety. Our goal is to address the gap in practical guidance that we discovered during Jenna’s own recovery.”

The Other Twelve Steps, available in paperback, eBook, and audio, is available at TheOtherTwelveSteps.com along with The Other Twelve Steps Workbook. For more information on Brenda Hibbs and Jenna Smith, please visit TheOtherTwelveSteps.com where you can find a sample from the audiobook, enter in a drawing to win a free book, join their mailing list, and find compelling articles about the journey to sobriety on their blog.

Close Up Radio will feature Brenda Hibbs and Jenna Smith in an interview with Jim Masters on Wednesday, May 14th at 4:00 pm Eastern

Listen to the show on BlogTalkRadio

If you have any questions for our guests, please call (347) 996-3389

For more information about Brenda Hibbs and Jenna Smith, please visit https://theothertwelvesteps.com

Lou Ceparano
Close Up Television & Radio
+1 631-850-3314
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