To Be Seen, Heard, and UnderstoodTo Be Seen, Heard, and Understood
Addict II Athlete Podcast
Coach Blu Robinson reflects on an emergency appendix surgery, childhood neglect, and the power of community support to highlight why being seen, heard, and understood matters in recovery. The conversation focuses on asking for help, accepting care, and building genuine belonging through service and vulnerability.
39:52•21 May 2024
To Be Seen, Heard and Understood in Recovery
Episode Overview
- Everyone needs to be seen, heard, and understood, especially in addiction recovery.
- Childhood neglect and trauma can make it very hard to ask for or accept help later in life.
- Trauma often shows up physically, particularly in the gut, and can be addressed through therapies like EMDR.
- Allowing others to help is not weakness; it strengthens community bonds and lets others benefit from serving.
- Honest communication and small acts of vulnerability are key steps to building trust and real belonging.
“"There are three things that all of us in humanity really truly need: to be seen, to be heard, and to be understood."”
How do people find strength in their journey to sobriety? This Addict II Athlete episode centres on one simple but powerful idea: "there are three things that all of us in humanity really truly need" – to be seen, to be heard, and to be understood. Coach Blu Robinson shares a recent health scare that left him in intense pain, thinking it was "gas pains" until a CT scan showed his appendix was about to burst.
Suddenly the therapist, coach, and helper was the one needing help. As he talks through the emergency surgery and recovery, you’ll hear how his team, friends, and family flooded him with messages, offers of meals, and practical support – and how hard it was for him to accept it. Drawing on his own childhood, where he often felt unseen and had to "fend for yourself" when sick, Coach Blu connects past neglect with adult struggles to ask for help.
He explains how trauma can show up in the body – from gut problems to stress held in the stomach – and links this to his work with EMDR and recovery. The heart of the episode is about community in recovery. Addict II Athlete’s service culture – hiking supplies to race aid stations, showing up for events, "giving back to the communities that we once took from" – becomes a living example of what genuine support looks like.
Coach Blu challenges anyone in recovery who pushes people away to reconsider: by refusing help, you might be robbing others of the chance to serve. Through humour, honesty, and some raw admissions about people-pleasing and fear of letting others down, this conversation shows how letting people in can boost self-worth, reduce isolation, and build real belonging. Are you letting your team see, hear, and understand you?
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