Tim Fletcher is the Founder and President of RE/ACT (Recovery Education for Addictions and Complex Trauma). He used his skills as a pastor and counsellor to develop a program to help the people he cared for overcome addiction. He realized the need for individuals to first become equipped with tools, and then put those tools into practice in a healthy, safe and loving environment - and herein lies his unique skill.

During his early years, he learned that everyone has a loved one who struggles with addiction, and many people struggled with unrealized addictions and unhealthy coping techniques. He found that 97% of addicts also struggled from Complex Trauma (C-PTSD) - corroborating the research of Dr. Gabor Maté. After researching C-PTSD which was identified as, “A series of events that occur where a victim feels unsafe, and as such, develops mental disorders which inhibit them from coping in stressful or harmful circumstances”, he concluded that research was showing that there is a physical difference between the brains of those who grew up in loving and nurturing homes and those who didn’t – before any addiction became prevalent.[1]

Links:

Tim Fletcher Website

https://www.timfletcher.ca/

Theo Von Interview

(language warning. Theo is a comedian and a spiritual seeker)

https://youtu.be/K60u6ObDsrI?si=_Oc2yXE9OfWqS7lf

[1] https://www.timfletcher.ca/about-tim-fletcher

Cory Kostyra is the pastor of Bradford Community Church and is making great inroads into his small city. Bradford is a bedroom community north of Toronto that is described as the primary country urban area of Bradford, West Gwillimbury, Ontario. This small city overlooks a farming community known as The Holland Marsh, located on the Holland River that flows into Lake Simcoe.

We have never featured a country urban area on the podcast, but apparently that is a thing.

In his other occupation he is part of the Ontario Provincial Police Traffic Support Unit that cleans up after highway accidents. Both highways 400 and 404 are major, multi-lane arteries flowing in and out of the Greater Toronto Area and often dealing with injuries and fatalities along their routes.

Unfortunately, Cory suffers from PTSD and has a story that will help us understand what many in police, EMS and healthcare are facing. So, we want to talk about that, but we also want to hear about some of the open doors in community since Cory entered pastoral ministry.

Links:

Bradford Community Church

https://www.bradfordcommunitychurch.com/

Living with PTSD

https://veterinarian.news/service-dog-refused-entry-into-bradford-restaurant-incident-leads-to-education-around-legislation/