Podcast

Continuing with the “new year better you” theme, Jim outlines 5 specific areas of growth to help us in our recovery or just to lead a more flourishing life.

You’ll Learn:

1. We are made by God as Body – Mind – Spirit and we must take care of each area.

2. Our brains are only as good as what we fill them with.

3. The new year is a great time to reflect on which relationships need healing or renewal.

In this episode, Jim provides 5 practical tips to start the year with a ” new you” attitude and outlook. These simple, but by no means easy tips can guide us to better recovery and simply be a means to help us become the sons and daughters of a loving Father which God intends.

Takeaways:

1. Don’t expect someone else to save you

2. Foster a commitment to excellence

3. Choose happiness

Advent is a season of hope, and in this episode, Jim and Keith break open scripture to discuss St. Joseph, his faith, his likely fear and how he had hope anyway.

Takeaways:

1. Sometimes we just have to ” show up” even when we feel afraid or anxious

2. Faith can sustain us if we trust the Father in good times and bad

3. Look forward to starting anew this Advent and each day in Christ

In this episode Jim and Fr. Hoffa discuss the Pope’s recent comments on pornography to seminarians as well as the very misdirected and incorrect response from a German priest.

Takeaways:

1. The spiritual attacks from pornography are real

2. Celibate life is a gift to be cherished

3. No one is immune from the addictive nature and harms of pornography

In this episode, Jim outlines why planning, goals and virtue development are so important in recovery. You’ll learn why it’s important to realize it’s not just one thing but a change of mindset and focus on priorities and values that help you on the recovery journey.

Takaways:

1. Simple but not easy steps to building Integrity

2. We need to turn failures into learning moments

3. We need to shift our mindset from the default find the “easy” thing to finding the harder more benfical thing

It is the season of gratitude. Thanksgiving and Christmas bring family and friends together to celebrate their many blessings.

But how are you supposed to be grateful in tough times? Jim shares his thoughts in this episode of “Integrity Restored.”

You’ll discover:

• Specific blessings you can find in difficult moments.
• Tips for appreciating life at all times.
• How to focus on what you have rather than what you don’t have.

When faced with the life-altering diagnosis of a special needs child, a marriage is cracked open to reveal, both spouses feel unworthy of love. In this episode, Jim and Mary discuss the role of addiction in trying to mask and soothe their brokenness, how they broke free, and the hope for other marriages suffering from pornography usage.

Jim brings us the facts, the stark truths and the effects pornography is having on our kids today along with what we can do about it as parents, grandparents, clergy and educators responsible for the youth in our lives.

Takeaways:

1. Average age of first exposure is 8-11 years old
2. This can’t be a one and done conversation
3. We as the adults need to take the lead in educating ourselves and then the kids about the harms of pornography

In this episode, Jim takes you through 5 steps necessary to initiate a conversation with someone you care about regarding porn.

Takeaways:

1. Knowledge is key

2. Vulnerability is your friend

3. This is never a one and done conversation

In this episode, Jim outlines the addictive nature of the brain chemical Dopamine and its role in a variety of addictions including porn. He gives us the science behind the reward pathways and what to do to break free.

Takeaways:

1. Addiction is now understood as a brain disease

2. Because of the powerful feelings associated with dopamine, addiction can happen quickly.

3. We live in a world of abundance rather than scarcity, and our brains weren’t evolved for the “fire hose of dopamine”