We Are Saving Lives And Making A Difference
We Are Saving Lives And Making A Difference

SMART Recovery® Podcast

Tisha Beckman and Ryan White share how their own recovery and peer support work through High Point Advocacy & Resource Center bring SMART Recovery tools, free services and hope to a rural Kansas treatment desert. The conversation focuses on lived experience, court and jail work, stigma, family healing and ambitious plans to expand support even further.

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43:05•2 Jun 2026

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Saving Lives in a Treatment Desert: SMART Recovery in Rural Kansas

Episode Overview

Lived experience from advocates in recovery helps build trust with people who feel misunderstood or judged.
High Point offers free evidence-based services, including SMART Recovery, counselling, peer mentoring and advocacy in a rural area with few options.
Peer-led SMART InsideOut classes in the county jail give people a practical way to start change before release.
Strong advocacy with courts, probation and other agencies can create alternatives to prison and open doors to treatment and second-chance programmes.
Language matters: being mindful of terms that carry stigma can make support feel safer and more respectful.

“Nobody’s too far gone. Everybody’s got a chance.”

How do individuals from all walks of life battle addiction? This conversation from the SMART Recovery® Podcast heads to rural northwest Kansas, where options for treatment are thin on the ground, but determination is not. Host Luke Frazier chats with recovery advocates Tisha Beckman and Ryan White from High Point Advocacy & Resource Center in Colby, Kansas.

Both are living in recovery and use their own histories with addiction, family breakdown, prison and stigma to connect with people who feel written off by the system. As Ryan puts it, “I like to say that my rap sheet or my record is my resume.” You’ll hear how High Point brings evidence-based services and SMART Recovery tools into a “treatment desert,” offering free counselling, peer mentoring, family support, court advocacy and SMART InsideOut groups inside the local jail.

Tisha shares the pain of losing custodial rights and rebuilding trust with children who were terrified by her past behaviour, and how that experience now helps her stand alongside other mothers who are labelled “bad” rather than “mums with substance use disorder who need help.” Ryan tells vivid stories of people facing long prison terms or dozens of charges who, with support and structure, find a way into treatment, sober living and meaningful work.

His reminder that “nobody’s too far gone… everybody’s got a chance” sums up the spirit of the episode. The chat also touches on language, stigma and why terms like “clean” can unintentionally hurt, along with big goals for the future: an inpatient facility that stays free for people without insurance. If you’ve ever felt stuck by geography, money, or your past record, this one shows how much can change when peer support, practical tools and genuine advocacy come together.

Who might you reach out to today, whether for help or to offer a hand?

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