Meet The Therapist Who's Helping People Conquer Addiction And Trauma - Exclusive Interview With Ria Flanagan

Brainz Magazine Exclusive Interview

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Ria Flanagan (she/her/hers) is the Clinical Supervisor at Rise Up Recover, LLC and CEO of IWWC, LLC. Ria provides workshops, coaching, course creation, supervision, and counseling services to individuals struggling with the effects of addiction, trauma, and mental health issues. Her experience includes working with people struggling with addiction, trauma, and co-occurring issues: PTSD, depression, anxiety, sex addiction, Love addiction/Love avoidance, pain management, combat trauma, betrayal trauma, codependency, intimacy issues, couple's coaching, grief counseling, and process addictions. Her perspective is to view the person from all angles and address family of origin issues, spirituality, and mental and physical health. Ria is an eclectic practitioner using diverse modalities including Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR), Somatic Experiencing (SE), Internal Family Systems (IFS), Emotionally Focused Individual Therapy (EFIT), Post Induction Therapy (PIT), Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT), Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT), and uses a person-centered approach, meeting the client where they are and providing a safe space to move forward into recovery.

Before opening Rise Up Recover, Ria worked as a Clinical Director for PHP, Residential treatment, IOP, and a Detox Center and has experience providing therapy to first responders, nurses, doctors, CEOs, artists, ex-gang members, military. Ria is comfortable working with many individuals to provide support and tools to thrive. Ria is an AZ Board Certified Clinical Supervisor, Rainbow educator, and advocate, providing services to the LGBTQ+ community. Ria collaborates with other organizations as a consultant and educator. Her recent collaboration was with Ethical Narrative, uniting documentary film and experiential process to deepen the viewer's experience. She is currently publishing her first book, Happiness is an Inside_Playbook, through Balboa Press.

Ria Flanagan

Can you tell us more about your work and how you ended up where you are today?

I have loved writing since I learned how to and won my first award for a short story comic I wrote when I was eight or nine. I was an avid reader and loved theater, dancing and acting and as I was working on my Masters in Clinical Psychology with an emphasis in marriage and family therapy I also did some acting. My mother and grandmother instilled in me the importance of service work and I pursued a career as a therapist, working in inpatient and outpatient treatment settings, and as a clinical director before opening my own practice Rise Up Recover, LLC where I specialize in working with clients with trauma and addiction issues, and supervise associates working towards their independent license. I branched out to create courses and workshops and coaching with my second business IWWC, LLC.

My most recent evolution was a return to writing and I am in publication for my book, Happiness is an Inside Job_Playbook which combines my love of art, imagery enhancing the messages I am sharing with the world in hopes of helping others interested in self-development and leading more fulfilling lives.

What kind of audience do you target your business towards? 

I specialized in trauma and addiction and as I have had advanced training over the last 12 years I have been focusing on running Empowerment Workshops and somatic coaching for couples healing from betrayal or wanting to grow their intimacy. I am currently writing the second book in the Happiness Playbook series and am expanding my audience since this book is helpful for anyone wanting to increase happiness levels in their lives who is willing to be playful and dedicated to daily practices.

Can you describe the various therapeutic modalities used at Rise Up Recover?

We offer in-person and telehealth services and have a wide range of modalities offered including eye movement desensitization reprocessing (EMDR), cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), Internal Family Systems (IFS), dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), post-induction therapy (PIT), somatic experiencing (SE), Mindfulness, Motivational Interviewing (MI), individual emotion focused therapy (IEFT), psychodrama and other experiential modalities, including being certified in sex addiction therapy and certified in multiple addictions therapy.

What are your current goals for your business? 

I am slowly expanding my business to keep focus on my family and open to expansion with writing and teaching others in the future with workshops designed for therapists and coaches interested in running their own workshops.

What inspired you to create the "Happiness is an Inside Job_Playbook," and how do you see it contributing to someone's recovery journey? 

The playbook was inspired by wanting to help my clients regulate their nervous system during the Covid-19 pandemic. I created a course designed for clients to practice daily tools to help regulate and calm their nervous system. The reviews were positive and I noticed my clients were more regulated and happier which gave me the idea for the Playbook which came directly from the course but is designed as a workbook with daily tools and processes to also help navigate life purpose, kick out limiting beliefs, enhance gratitude, and learn ways to contain feelings of joy, passion, and love for longer periods of time. I thought of calling it, Peace is an Inside Job_Playbook, since my somatic experiencing training, originated by Dr. Peter Levine, has shifted my perspective and I correlate needing to have peace within body and mind to increase levels of happiness in daily life.

Daily practices like exercise, diet, meditation, affirmation, breathwork, prayer, and connection are the key to this shift. This is not to say I do these practices perfectly since playfulness is a big message I want to share, and I hope the imperfectness and playfulness charm the readers into being playful in their own process of finding joy and peace in their lives. When we can learn from what went wrong instead of shaming ourselves we are practicing grace, this small shift in perspective can be profound if you let it.

You have a new book coming out. Could you give us a glimpse of what it's about and the key ideas you hope readers will take away? 

Happiness is an Inside Job_Playbook is in publication and I have started writing the second book in the Happiness Playbook Series and I am focusing on relationships and intimacy which again starts from within ourselves. Noticing how we can block ourselves from receiving love in our relationships based on limiting beliefs and ill-written narratives. It is time to choose a new adventure and write a new narrative so we can practice love within ourselves which allows us to receive love from others.

Happiness is an Inside Job Playbook is available here: https://a.co/d/fUNm5rz

Do you have a favorite book, movie, or piece of art that's really meant something to you?

One of my favorite films is Academy Award Winning “Life is Beautiful” starring Roberto Benigni, who also was one of the writers on the film. The story of a father using his creativity and imagination to protect his sons from the brutal reality of WWII. I believe as parents we need to protect our children from too much access to the horrors of the internet. I love learning and knowledge but we must also be careful with what we are filling our minds with as news, advertisements and social media can be powerful for good but also very destructive. I think as artists we have to be intentional with our messages and be responsible for the images we are sending out into the world.

What are you most proud of in your work, or is there a particular achievement you would like to share with us?

I am proud that I have learned to trust my intuition and bypass other's opinions that did not have my best interest at heart. I am grateful that I was able against many odds to get an education and use it to help others through difficult times in their lives. I am proud that I can teach others how to believe in themselves and listen to their intuition through all the noise of the outside world.

Ria Flanagan

Last but not least, if you could share one valuable piece of advice or insight with our readers today, what would it be?

When we realize we have not been taught unconditional love because often caregivers did not have it modeled for them either we can start a process of learning how to be different and that requires guidance from someone who has been on that journey also. Find your guide, mentor, coach, therapist, consultant or whoever it is that has the training and experience to support you. Ask yourself: does the guide have the things I want? Because this means they have walked the walk and can share the road map with you.

We become free when we remove the conditions that we should be this way or that way to be lovable. With this freedom, we are empowered to create an incredible life and inspire those we love to do the same. Modeling self-love and acceptance of ourselves for who and where we are right now allows subconscious permission for others to do the same.

For more info, visit Ria on Facebook, Yelp, LinkedIn, Instagram, Google Business, YouTube and her Website, Workshops and buy her book Here.