When the Mask Comes Off: Addiction, Forgiveness & True Self-Care with Chason Forehand

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In this deeply honest and emotional episode of My Self Care Shi*, Kathy Love sits down with her dear friend Chason for a raw conversation about addiction, trauma, forgiveness, worthiness, and what true self-care actually looks like when the mask finally comes off.

Chason shares his life journey—from childhood abuse, addiction, homelessness, and survival, to healing, service, and founding Transformation Kitchen—a nonprofit built on dignity, community, and second chances. This conversation is about what happens when we stop performing strength and start paying attention to the pendulum inside us.

This episode is a reminder that self-care isn’t pretty.
It’s honest.
It’s brave.
And sometimes, it’s choosing to pause instead of pushing harder.

✨ What We Talk About

• Growing up in trauma and learning to survive
• Addiction, recovery, and forgiving yourself
• The danger of “partial healing”
• The monkey on your shoulder (and how to quiet it)
• Why journaling, brain dumps, and pausing actually work
• The moment someone paid it forward—and changed everything
• Building Transformation Kitchen as a trauma-informed nonprofit
• Letting people see your why
• Catching the pendulum before it swings too far
• Why true self-care means staying aware, not perfect

🧠 Key Takeaways

• You can be high-functioning and still drowning
• Self-care only works when you do all the work
• Forgiveness starts with yourself
• Awareness is healing
• Community saves lives
• Pausing is power

❤️ About My Guest

Chason Forehand is the visionary Founder behind two mission-driven organizations: HR Consultations, a boutique HR firm dedicated exclusively to empowering Social Good Entities, and HR-4U INC., a trailblazing Nonprofit committed to economic justice. Through bold advocacy and their groundbreaking Transformation Kitchen™️ program, HR-4U INC. champions living wages and workforce dignity for marginalized communities turning opportunity into lasting impact. "They don't just flip eggs, they flip lives."

🌱 Mentioned in This Episode

• The Outlier Project
• Rayo de Sol
• Journaling & brain dumps as daily self-care tools
• Recovery communities and the power of asking for help

🎧 Listen + Support

If this episode moved you:

• Subscribe to My Self Care Shit
• Leave a 5-star review
• Share it with someone who needs to hear it

🌊 Final Invitation

Before you rush to the next thing—
Take one minute.
Breathe.
Pay attention to where your pendulum is today.

That is self-care.

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If you’ve been struggling with emotional codependency or want to learn how to establish a healthy balance of independence and vulnerability in relationships, join Kathy on this transformative journey. Be sure to subscribe to My Self-Care Sht* and leave a review!

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