One on One With Coach Blu: Goodbye 2021!One on One With Coach Blu: Goodbye 2021!
Addict II Athlete Podcast
Coach Blu and Marisa look back on 2021, reflecting on the growth of Addict II Athlete, the pain of loss, and the strength of community. They explain their ‘erase and replace’ approach to addiction, share how recreational therapy underpins their work, and outline hopeful plans for 2022.
52:06•29 Dec 2021
Goodbye 2021: Coach Blu and Marisa Talk Erasing Addiction and Building a New Life
Episode Overview
- Recreational therapy focuses on learning from activities, not just doing them, turning sport and leisure into therapeutic tools.
- The team promotes an ‘erase and replace’ philosophy: removing addiction while deliberately filling the gap with healthier, more meaningful pursuits.
- Addict II Athlete discourages clinging to the single label ‘addict’, encouraging people to build multiple identities such as athlete, parent or student.
- Like John Nash learning not to feed his hallucinations, participants are taught to stop feeding the ‘addict brain’ and redirect focus to growth and connection.
- Small signs of change, such as an athlete’s body language or a finish-line victory pose, are treated as evidence of deep internal progress.
“"If you’re going to erase addiction, you have to replace it with something of greater value or else why do it?"”
Get ready to be moved by real-life accounts of growth as Coach Blu and Athletic Director Marisa wrap up 2021 with a mix of humour, honesty and straight-talking recovery chat. This live One on One session is aimed at anyone in addiction recovery, their families, and those wrestling with mental health or compulsive behaviours, who want support that feels real rather than clinical.
Coach Blu, a mental health therapist and substance use disorder counsellor, and Marisa, a Certified Recreational Therapist, look back on eleven years of Addict II Athlete. As Blu scrolls through old team photos, he admits he’s in tears, watching kids grow up, athletes change their lives, and remembering those the team has lost. It’s emotional but never gloomy – more like a big team debrief with a lot of heart.
You’ll hear how recreational therapy shaped the programme from day one: it’s "not about bigger, badder, faster, stronger" but about what you’re learning in the middle of the activity. They explain their ‘erase and replace’ approach: if you remove addiction, you have to fill the gap with something of greater value, not just another obsession. That’s why they move people away from clinging to the word ‘addict’ and towards broader identities – athlete, parent, worker, friend.
There’s a powerful analogy from the film A Beautiful Mind and John Nash learning to live with schizophrenia by refusing to feed his hallucinations. Blu links this directly to addiction: the pull may still whisper, but "we just don’t feed it." Instead, they highlight tiny signs of change – like athletes crossing finish lines with arms in a V, that universal victory pose.
They also share plans for 2022, including a “no men left behind” team race and a year-in-review celebration, all designed to strengthen community and remind people they’re "stronger than you think you are." If you’ve ever wondered whether you can truly rewrite your story, this chat might nudge you towards asking: what could you put in that space where addiction used to sit?
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