Recovery is Not Always Linear

Recovery is Not Always Linear

How do people find strength in their journey to sobriety? This episode of the SMART Recovery Podcast follows that question through the work of Englewood Health’s addiction team in northern New Jersey. You’ll hear about Dr. Shardé McLeish’s shift from internal medicine to addiction medicine after realising, in her words, that simply saying a patient "just has to stop drinking" ignores the need for proper support and tools.

Her fellowship training led her to work with a wide range of substances, from alcohol and opioids to kratom and fentanyl, and she now focuses on stigma‑free, evidence‑based care where patients "can be seen and be heard and be treated like a patient." Alongside her, licensed clinical social worker and alcohol and drug counsellor Richard Moses shares his own recovery experience and how it shaped his therapy style.

He talks about "treating the whole person"—using a pizza‑slice analogy to look at work, relationships, housing, stress, and support—not just substance use. His reminder that "the setback is just a setup to a major comeback" offers a memorable burst of hope. The episode also walks through practical barriers like transport, childcare, and insurance, and how Englewood Health tries to ease them with telehealth, secure check‑ins, and community programmes at the LiveWell Center, including yoga, meditation, cooking and mental health talks.

Both guests stress that recovery is active and personal, with Moses noting that early in his career he set goals that turned out to be "your goals, they weren’t my goals" for a patient—an experience that pushed him to let people define recovery for themselves. Stories of elderly and younger patients finding stability with medications like buprenorphine, Brixadi, Sublocade and Vivitrol highlight that progress can be slow, messy and deeply human. As Dr.

McLeish puts it, "your recovery is not going to be linear"—so what support do you want in place for the next step on your path?