Recovery Conversations with Kitty M.

Recovery Conversations with Kitty M.

Curious about how others navigate their sobriety journey? This conversation between Christina and her close friend Kitty Martz offers a relaxed yet honest look at what gambling recovery can actually look like over time. Instead of focusing only on “stopping the bet”, they talk about the different seasons of recovery – from those raw first 90 days where life feels like nothing but consequences, to the quieter, deeper work years later.

Kitty, executive director of Voices of Problem Gambling Recovery in Oregon, shares how meetings, community and structure can help, but also laughs about the pressure of things like “90 meetings in 90 days” when someone is juggling work, kids and caring responsibilities. Christina opens up about friendships that didn’t survive her growth, the grief of letting go of old connections, and the joy of finding new ones through the Broke Girl Society.

She explains how the women-only gambling support group has grown into a genuinely supportive space with multiple online meetings each week, where members try to avoid “you should” advice and instead share, “This is what helped me.” A big thread in their chat is learning to see triggers and urges as information rather than proof of failure.

Kitty talks about using feelings as clues, and about the need for more than just pure avoidance in a world where money and gambling are everywhere. Christina adds that over time, self-awareness and self-care become core parts of building “a life you don’t want to escape from.” You’ll hear gentle humour, real talk about relapse and guilt, and a lot of compassion for both newcomers and “old-timers” in recovery.

If you’ve ever wondered whether there’s one right way to heal from gambling harm, this conversation might have you asking a better question: what could your own version of recovery look like?