Liz Brody of Glamour has written a very powerful, eloquent, and insightful article on women and the opioid epidemic.This piece, released early this week, is available online and in print copies of Glamour magazine. Marti MacGibbon was interviewed, and quotes from Marti on addiction recovery and trauma resolution are included in Chapter 8, along with quotes from national advocates and survivor leaders.
Here is the link to the story: https://www.glamour.com/story/women-and-opioid-epidemic
Marti MacGibbon delivered the opening keynote speech at the North Sound Recovery Coalition’s inaugural National Recovery Month Event in Mt. Vernon, Washington. Five counties in the North Puget Sound area, north of Seattle, participated. The event was sponsored by National Alliance on Mental Illness, North Sound Behavioral Health, and others.
Marti MacGibbon with Event Planner and SAMHSA award winner Athena Haddon
Nationally renowned speaker and author Marti MacGibbon spoke to law enforcement, mental health specialists, community leaders and concerned citizens in Evansville, IN at the Old National Bank Auditorium. Both the event and Marti’s presentation focused on bringing the community together to address the nationwide epidemic of opioid and other drug addiction. Ms. MacGibbon is an award-winning recovery advocate and an expert on trauma resolution and addiction. The event was sponsored by Holly’s House and Ruth’s House. Marti’s talk included both clinical and experiential insights. Her down-to-earth style and ability to add light humor to any presentation makes Marti MacGibbon a popular speaker on such topics as overcoming adversity, mental health awareness, and addiction recovery.
Guest Speaker: Marti MacGibbon, CADC-II, ACRPS
Old National Auditorium
101 Main Street
Thursday July 20th
10:00 am – 12:00 pm
Marti MacGibbon, CADC-II, ACRPS, is a nationally renowned humorous speaker and nationally award-winning author. She holds five professional certifications in addiction treatment. Marti delivers a high-energy, often humorous presentation that includes both experiential and clinical insights into the recovery process, and provides tools to reduce stress, build resiliency, avoid burnout, and celebrate progress while facing adversity. She has recovered from and triumphed over nightmare experiences such as being trafficked to Tokyo and held prisoner by Japanese organized crime, homelessness, domestic violence, severe PTSD and hardcore drug addiction.
Facing the Opioid Crisis; Addiction, Recovery & Resilience
You will learn:
Humorous inspirational speaker Marti MacGibbon delivered the keynote speech at the Keys to Sustaining Recovery Conference in Asheville, North Carolina. The conference is designed for substance abuse, mental health, psychology, criminal justice, human services and other healthcare professionals. It was held at Mountain Area Health Education Center (MAHEC) Mary C. Nesbitt Biltmore Campus on May 3rd, 4th and 5th of 2017. Marti is author of two nationally award-winning memoirs, Never Give in to Fear: Laughing All the Way Up from Rock Bottom and Fierce, Funny, and Female: A Journey Through Middle America, the Texas Oil Field, and Standup Comedy. Ms. MacGibbon is a nationally renowned speaker, internationally known author, and expert on trauma resolution and addiction. Her personal story of triumph over adolescent sexual assault/abuse, addiction, mental illness, human trafficking, domestic violence and homelessness is inspiring, and she’s gifted in that she can tell her story with humor. She has been interviewed in Investors Business Daily and Entrepreneur, and articles she wrote have appeared in the AMA Journal of Ethics, and over 100 corporate and trade magazines.
This year’s Geminus Community Partners Conference in Merrillville, Indiana focused on secondary trauma. Marti MacGibbon delivered the opening keynote speech to an audience that included judges, community leaders, and professionals in a variety of fields: juvenile justice, child protective services, social work, behavioral health, addiction treatment, marriage and family therapy, legal and judicial, and healthcare. Marti’s powerful personal comeback story, clinical expertise, and skill as a humorist all contribute to a dynamic, informative, and inspiring presentation that is also entertaining. Marti also signed copies of her two nationally award-winning memoirs, Fierce, Funny, and Female and Never Give in to Fear.
Marti MacGibbon delivered the closing keynote speech at the Women in Criminal Justice Conference in Galveston, Texas. She followed the keynote with a workshop on stress management, stress reduction and emotional resiliency. The conference, held at the San Luis Resort, featured educational presentations from experts in the criminal justice field. Criminal justice professionals include probation officers, parole officers, correctional officers, legal experts, healthcare in correctional settings, and law enforcement. Marti is both a clinical and experiential expert on trauma resolution and addiction. Her powerful personal story of overcoming adversity, combined with her skill and talent as a humorist, make her presentations both fun and informative. Her message empowers, uplifts, and entertains audiences.
Local Author receives national recognition from the 11th Annual National Indie Excellence® Awards!
Los Angeles: — The 11th Annual National Indie Excellence® Awards recognized Fierce, Funny, and Female in the category of Womens’ Health as a winner in this year’s competition. This title also received recognition in the category of Humor in this year’s competition.
This prestigious National award is open to all English language books in print from small, medium, university, self and independent publishers.
The National Indie Excellence® Awards exists to help establish independent publishing as a strong and proud facet of the publishing industry. Recognizing authors that put their heart and soul into their work, the NIEA is a champion of self-publishers and the small, independent presses that go the extra mile to produce books of excellence in every aspect. Established in 2007, the NIEA competition is judged by experts from all aspects of the book industry, including publishers, writers, editors, book cover designers and professional copywriters.
Winners and finalists are determined based on “overall excellence of presentation – a synergy of form and content.” Fierce, Funny, and Female is a memoir of resilience in the face of adversity and challenges. In her raw, vivid, and unabashed style, author Marti MacGibbon delivers a sometimes heartbreaking, often hilarious, always engaging account of her passage through trauma, betrayal, and loss in adolescence and young adulthood to discover her inner badass self. As one of the first women to work as a laborer in the Texas oil field, she set off explosives and staked oil wells before realizing her childhood dream of becoming a successful standup comic. Marti introduces readers to a wide range of characters in her life: from sleazy authority figures, wannabe Sixties musicians and crazed Corn Belt cult leaders, to Texas oil billionaires and wildcatters, to wild-eyed redneck coworkers who robbed banks on their lunch hour—in the company truck. The book includes scenes with iconic comedians, Hollywood entertainment industry moguls, and a legendary bluesman, and offers insights into resiliency, courage, and self-empowerment.
“We are proud to announce the winners & finalists whose books truly embody the excellence that this award was created to celebrate, and we salute you all for your fine work.” –Ellen Reid, Founder NIEA
For more information please visit: www.indieexcellence.com
Humorous inspirational speaker Marti MacGibbon spoke to over 350 business leaders in Chillicothe, Ohio at the city’s annual Chamber of Commerce dinner held at the Shoemaker Center on Ohio University Chillicothe campus. The theme of the event was Progress, Pride, and Perseverance, and focused on resiliency and overcoming challenges. The audience responded with a standing ovation. Chillicothe, Ohio is a thriving, closely-knit community, home to the ancient sacred Hopewell earthworks, also known as America’s Stonehenge. The community’s businesses and leaders are role models, since their energy, innovation, and unity help to build local economy while confronting issues that affect all their citizens.The Chillicothe Gazette’s Chris Balusik covered the event, and he’s a terrific writer.
Read More Online: Chillicothe Gazette
If laughter is the best medicine, then Marti MacGibbon has not only healed herself, but has healed others. Through traumas including drug abuse, eating disorders, and sexual exploitation, and into her recovery, MacGibbon has learned that the ability to laugh at herself and to make others laugh can be a lifeline. In her new memoir, Fierce, Funny, and Female, MacGibbon “celebrates her resilience and her willingness to keep laughing,” according to Foreword Reviews’ Claire Foster. In the interview below, MacGibbon tells how she achieved this.
Throughout my life, my sense of humor has served me well: as a means of communication, a coping mechanism, and a way of affirming and preserving my sense of self. I gravitate toward funny people, so that helps. When your friends make you laugh, or you make them laugh, it’s a celebration of life. I embrace humor that is never mean-spirited. My husband, Chris Fitzhugh, is one of the funniest people I’ve ever known; we’ve laughed together each and every day for decades.
I’ve lived through some very traumatic things. The addiction and trauma developed and escalated along the way; trauma, shame and fear fuel addiction. Then I discovered that life is brimming with second chances, and I took a chance—on healing and resilience.
Since my first day in recovery, I’ve celebrated humor and laughter, gratitude, love, and courage. Life is challenging, sometimes terrifying, but beauty, hope, and strength can be found every step of the way. When I reflect on the most difficult parts of my life today, that’s what I see. Look back, learn, and whenever possible, laugh—that’s my motto. Stand-up comedy taught me powerful lessons about life, and how to meet challenges and overcome them. I describe some of those lessons, and stories about how I learned them, in both Fierce, Funny, and Female and Never Give in to Fear.
As both author and keynote speaker, the stories come first, and I use stories to carry the message. The way I see it, our lives are made up of stories: things we experienced and remember today, and the stories we tell ourselves that influence our concept of self, and outlook on life. If you tell yourself good stories with positive outcome, your attitude tends to be more optimistic as you confront obstacles and difficulties. And you have the power to look back on past painful experiences, along with real or perceived failures—and see the courage and strength in your actions, the grace in situations, the lessons learned.
When you recognize that you are sum of all your experiences, and make a conscious decision to love and accept yourself, you reach a place of empowerment in knowing that you are stronger, braver, funnier, smarter, not in spite of the things you’ve lived through, but because of them. In both Never Give in to Fear and Fierce, Funny, and Female, my voice as a writer proceeds from that place of empowerment. Trauma therapy, cognitive reframing, and mindfulness meditation helped me to get there, and I engage those tools to stay grounded and empowered today.
I spent years of my life at “rock bottom.” There was no single low point. But my recovery began with one powerful moment of clarity, a flame ignited by the recognition of hope and of unconditional love. I described that defining moment in Never Give in to Fear, and if I include it in this interview it may be a spoiler for those who have not yet read my books. I count one specific date as the turning point, because in that moment I found the strength to carry out a plan of action toward recovery. But many moments led toward that ultimate place of healing and empowerment.
Speaking as an addiction specialist, I want to remind readers that addiction is a disease, it’s not a series of bad decisions, or a failure to make a decision to end the cycle; it is not a moral weakness. The idea that an addict must hit rock bottom in order to recover has been disproven many times over. Addiction specialists and interventionists work to “raise the bottom” so that individuals can recover earlier in the disease process and not have to go through what I went through.
I like to describe what happened and leave it up to reader to make conclusions if they are so inclined. When I started doing standup in the 1980s, Jay Leno told me, “Never underestimate your audience.” He gave me, along with other beginning comics, a lot of valuable advice. Some of those stories are included in Fierce, Funny, and Female. I took a page from Leno’s playbook when I wrote Never Give in to Fear, and again when I wroteFierce, Funny, and Female. I would not describe the process as difficult, but I would say it feels pretty scary sometimes. If I begin to listen to the fear, worrying about what people will think of me, fear of judgment, etc., then I remind myself I may be either underestimating my audience, or underestimating myself. And then the fear is replaced by courage and a desire to create something that offers depth, humor, inspiration, entertainment, satisfaction and more for the reader.
I’ve been putting together an inspirational book that includes strategies for stress management, motivation, increasing creativity, and having fun. And I am beginning to work on a third memoir that uses stories and anecdotes all the beauty and power of healing I’ve experienced since I turned my life around. Within the past few weeks, it struck me that these two books may merge. Why not? It might be a fun read.
Marti MacGibbon
Stay Strong Publishing
Softcover $15.95 (424pp)
978-0-9860067-3-9
The subject matter in itself is daunting, even frightening, but MacGibbon’s courage and comedy make Fierce, Funny, and Female a winner.
Being funny is a survival skill. Marti MacGibbon’s incredible memoir Fierce, Funny, and Female is not only a survivor’s tale but an inspirational story of overcoming the unthinkable, again and again.
Through drug abuse and eating disorders, through sexual trauma and the murky waters of sobriety, MacGibbon relates how she found a way to smile again. An inspirational speaker and mental health professional, she has clearly made peace with her personal story.
Fierce, Funny, and Female has an accessible, friendly tone that sometimes stands in sharp contrast to the extremely dark, tragic subject material. These memories have clearly been shared more than once, and the chapters read like well-worn territory. This is MacGibbon’s story, and she’s sticking to it.
Rather than depict herself as a victim in every scene—which would be logical, considering what she’s been through—MacGibbon represents herself as a survivor. With the value of hindsight, sobriety, and a hell of a lot of therapy, her narrative self puts the pieces together to make sense of her wild and crazy life.
“I realize now that I was attempting to control the trauma not only with drug seeking, but with anorexia, that this is fairly common behavior for a teen with post-traumatic stress, but then I only knew I was running, as fast as I could, to keep ahead of some unknown, inexorable destruction,” MacGibbon writes.
The point isn’t to portray herself as a hero or even to score sympathy points: it’s to show that recovery is possible, no matter what your circumstances are.
Although being kidnapped, or forcibly injected with psychiatric drugs, aren’t everyday experiences, MacGibbon is very relatable and, yes, even funny while discussing such incidents. Her sense of humor, she shows, became a shield from an early age to “fight off all the other stuff,” including the guns, LSD, mental wards, hippies, and gangsters that pepper her pages.
What MacGibbon remembers—and doesn’t—may lead to flinching. She’s comfortable with her material and spares no one, even herself, from a gimlet-eyed inventory.
Above all, MacGibbon celebrates her resilience and her willingness to keep laughing. She goes in swinging, and from the first vivid scene, it’s clear that she is a natural comedian and a wonderful storyteller. As she tackles her difficult adolescence and young adulthood, she seems to ask, “What else ya got?”
The subject matter in itself is daunting, even frightening, but MacGibbon, like the best magician, assures her audience that there’s nothing up her sleeve. Her courage and comedy make Fierce, Funny, and Female a winner.
Read Online: http://eepurl.com/cJVK6n