TAM+ EP 60: Rewiring Your Recovery: The Power of a Growth Mindset

The Addicted Mind Podcast

Duane Osterlind, LMFT

Health & Fitness, Medicine, Mental Health

4.8 • 621 Ratings

🗓️ 13 March 2025

⏱️ 18 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Have you ever thought, "I've tried recovery before and failed—why try again?" or "This is just who I am"? These beliefs might be the biggest barrier to lasting recovery.

In this solo episode, licensed therapist Duane Osterlind shares how a growth mindset can transform your recovery journey. Drawing from Dr. Carol Dweck's research, Duane explains how viewing your abilities and capacity for recovery as things that can grow and change (rather than fixed traits) makes all the difference.

Recovery is rarely a straight path. For many, it's a series of hopeful starts followed by setbacks. Each relapse can make doubt grow louder: "Maybe I'm not strong enough," or "Maybe I'll always be this way." These thoughts aren't just discouraging—they actively harm recovery.

When we believe change isn’t possible, we avoid challenges, give up easily, and see effort as pointless. This mindset isn’t just psychological—it impacts physical health, increases stress, and perpetuates addiction.

But there is another way. A growth mindset recognizes that your brain is neuroplastic—able to form new pathways throughout life. The same neuroplasticity that allowed addiction to take hold can help you build healthier habits. Through this lens, relapse becomes valuable data, not failure, offering insights about triggers and strategies for meaningful change.

Duane shares practical steps to build this mindset, like becoming aware of your self-talk, reframing challenges, embracing "the power of yet," and celebrating effort over outcomes. Recovery becomes about resilience and growth, not perfection.

Ready to change your approach?

Download the free growth mindset worksheet in the show notes.

Download The Worksheet

Join The Addicted Mind Plus Community for more support.

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Key Topics:

The difference between fixed mindset and growth mindset in recovery
How neuroplasticity makes lasting change possible in addiction
Viewing relapses as learning opportunities rather than failures
Practical techniques to develop a growth mindset in recovery
The importance of celebrating effort over perfect outcomes
How seeking feedback strengthens your recovery journey
Finding inspiration in others who have successfully changed

Episode Timestamps:

[00:00:54] Introduction to growth mindset in addiction recovery

[00:04:21] The research behind mindset theory and Dr. Carol Dweck's work

[00:07:00] Understanding brain neuroplasticity in addiction and recovery

[00:09:39] Actionable steps to develop a growth mindset in recovery

[00:12:31] The power of adding "yet" to negative self-statements

[00:14:05] The importance of seeking constructive feedback

[00:16:00] Closing thoughts: "Becoming is better than being"

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to the Addicted Mind Plus, the podcast where recovery, mental health, and wellness take the front seat.
0:07.3	I'm Dwayne Austerland, and joining me is my co-host, Eric Osterland, known for his insightful work on the Stuck Brain podcast.
0:14.3	In each episode, we'll dive into actionable, small steps to help those in recovery journey further along the path to wellness.
0:22.3	Our conversations are designed to be concise, typically around 15 minutes, though we may
0:27.0	occasionally delve deeper when the topic demands it. Our goal to provide you with practical
0:32.0	advice grounded in real experiences and expert insights to empower your recovery journey.
0:38.7	So whether you're on a break, on a walk, or just taking a moment for yourself,
0:42.3	join us as we explore the many facets of recovery and mental health, one small step at a time.
0:48.4	This is The Addicted Mind Plus, where your journey to wellness gets an extra boost.
0:53.2	So let's get started.
0:54.3	Hello, everyone. Welcome to the Addicted Mind Plus. My name's Dwayne Austerlund. And today I'm going
1:02.0	to be doing a solo episode. I'm going to be talking about embracing a growth mindset
1:08.5	in addiction recovery. So have you ever found yourself thinking,
1:14.1	I've tried recovery before and I've failed? What's the point of trying again? Or maybe even
1:19.4	people like me don't get better. This is just who I am. If those thoughts sound familiar,
1:26.3	I want you to know you're not alone.
1:28.1	These are what psychologists call fixed mindset thoughts.
1:33.2	Beliefs that our abilities, maybe our intelligence, and yes, even our capacity to recover
1:40.8	are static traits that cannot be significantly changed. I want you to know that it's
1:48.2	that very belief, that fixed mindset might be one of the biggest obstacles standing between you
1:55.5	and lasting recovery. So today we're going to explore how adopting what Stanford psychologist, Dr. Carol Dweck, calls
2:05.2	a growth mindset can transform your recovery journey from one of inevitable relapses and
	...

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