🔥 Do you turn to attention or validation from others when you need that quick dopamine hit?
🔥 Do you use food or emotional eating as a way to soothe or feel better?
🔥 Do you scroll when you feel bad—even though you know it leaves you feeling worse?
If you nodded yes to any of these, you’re not alone. These patterns aren’t about weakness or willpower—they’re about the fires we feed.
This isn’t your average talk on addiction. We’re going deeper.
Into intensity. Into cravings. Into why you’re not broken—you’ve just been feeding the wrong fire.Most of us know the “whack-a-mole” problem: someone gets treatment for alcohol but no one addresses the food addiction. Or they work on other addictions , but the patterns in love and technology never get touched. That’s because it was never just about the alcohol, the food, or the phone. It’s the intensity itself—the rush, the relief, the fire—that keeps pulling us back.
I look at everything through a recovery lens—because in one way or another, we are all addicted to something. When we slow down and look at the rhythm of our lives, we can start to untangle the deeper story. The goal isn’t to extinguish desire, but to choose which fire to feed.
The Love, Lies, and Screens
in-person registration is SOLD OUT. Click below to attend this class virtually.
At White Oak Medicine, we believe true health care means understanding your whole self—not just treating symptoms. Our Health Education Series is a free, ongoing community offering designed to explore topics that support nervous system regulation, emotional wellness, and root-cause healing.
These classes are practical, approachable, and rooted in our whole-person philosophy of care. Whether you’re curious about holistic practices, looking for new tools, or just wanting to reconnect with yourself—this space is for you.
Each class is led by Veronica, FNP, PMHNP, or a featured presenter selected for their expertise and alignment with our whole-person approach. These classes bring a range of voices and perspectives to whole-person healing—part education, part experience, and always grounded in the idea that your body knows how to heal with the right support.
Classes are free and open to the public.
You don’t have to be a White Oak member to attend, and are encouraged to bring a friend.
What if the fire you keep feeding wasn’t the solution... but the signal?
We’ve been taught to treat our cravings as flaws. To believe the problem is us—our willpower, our discipline, our worth.
We’ve been told to just put the phone down, stop eating, stop wanting, stop needing.
But the truth is: your cravings are pointing toward something deeper.
In this story-rich, soul-rooted class, holistic nurse practitioner Veronica Johnson breaks down:
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Why we reach for our phones, food, or relationships when we feel empty
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How intensity can masquerade as intimacy—and why it leaves us hungrier
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The role of dopamine, distraction, and nervous system imbalance in process addictions
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The archetypal fires of Hestia, Aphrodite, and Pele—and what happens when we feed them in shadow
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Why most “fixes” just fuel the cycle of never-enough
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How to recognize which fire you’ve been feeding—and how to tend a steadier flame
Date: Tuesday September 16, 2025
Time: 6:00-7:30 PM
Location: White Oak Medicine
155 W. Mills St. Ste. 103 Columbus, NC 28722
About Your Host: Veronica Johnson, FNP-C, PMHNP-BC
Educator · Clinician · Patient Empowerment Advocate
Veronica Johnson is a dually licensed Family and Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner dedicated to helping people break free from a system that prioritizes profit over true healing—and guiding them back to their own innate wisdom through holistic, root-cause care.
At White Oak Medicine, Veronica integrates functional and holistic approaches to offer a grounded path toward healing—one that centers nutrition, nervous system regulation, emotional well-being, and the power of informed choice. Her care model is relational, non-rushed, and rooted in the belief that healing happens when we feel safe, seen, and supported.
Whether through Direct Primary Care or Functional Wellness, Veronica helps people move beyond symptom management and toward true sovereignty—where nature, intuition, and body-based knowing become primary tools for lifelong well-being.
This work is about reclaiming your connection to yourself, nature, and the rhythms that make healing possible—not just for a moment, but for a lifetime.
Connect with Veronica: [email protected]
Follow on Instagram: @whiteoakmedicine
Facebook: facebook.com/whiteoakmedicine/
