The 47-year-old Como father was a drug addict for several years before switching to alcohol.
‘I remember going to a service provider after about five years of drug abuse and left feeling very ashamed,’ he said. ‘I never went back and I continued to use for another year or so.
‘The only way I was able to stop was to leave Australia and the lifestyle I had created here, so I carted my young family off to New Zealand, and I just swapped amphetamines for alcohol.
Get in front of tomorrow's news for FREE
Journalism for the curious Australian across politics, business, culture and opinion.
READ NOW‘Five years of that and I decided I needed to change. I always knew there was more to me than this so I went to a gym and became a gym junkie.’
He said that although this was a better type of addiction, it still affected his relationships and he still never felt right inside.
‘I was an angry dad and partner, and became physically and emotionally abusive to my family,’ he said.
‘The penny finally dropped for me one day when I had my own nine-year-old son by the throat up against the wall wanting to punch him, which is when I knew something needed to change.’
Mr Powell said he finally found solace in 2005 in a program that addressed what was going on inside of him his whole life.
He then worked at a drug and alcohol institute for a number of years, where he realised there was a need for a program to assist others to resolve their internal conflict as well as their addiction.
He developed the online drug and alcohol addiction program, AOD Online ” You Are Not a Lost Cause, which was launched recently.
‘I developed this program from an accumulation of all I have learned on my life’s journey,’ he said.
‘I wanted something that could service people who didn’t have direct access to help and the bonus is that it can also be turned into a deliverable program, which I would love to take to remote areas where they need it most.’
He said the business he is in today is a culmination of years of study and hard work in dealing with the effects of his own drug abuse and alcoholism, which caused the destruction of close family relationships.
– For more information, visit www.lifetorque.com.au.