What happens when the identity that once defined your life disappears?

In this powerful episode of The Hanley Effect, hosts Dr. John Dyben and Dr. Rachel Docekal sit down with speaker, author, and founder of the Choose Yourself Movement, Hakeem Bourne Mcfarlane, to explore how personal loss, trauma, and identity struggles can lead to addiction, and how radical accountability can lead to transformation.

Hakeem shares the deeply personal experiences that shaped his path: the devastating loss of his younger brother, the pressure of athletic success, and the collapse of his identity when his dream of becoming a professional athlete ended. Without the structure sports once provided, he found himself spiraling into destructive patterns that many high performers face when achievement becomes their entire sense of self.

Through years of ...