For Love of Recovery

When someone you love is struggling with addiction, it may feel like there's often not much room left for you. In this episode, Amber Hollingsworth, founder of the YouTube channel Put The Shovel Down, opens up about growing up as the responsible sibling in an addicted family. She shares what it was like to pay her older half-sister's bills for years, why she dreaded seeing an unknown numbe...

At 16, when most teens are trying to figure out high school, friendships, and who they want to become, Azlyn became convinced it was her job to help save her brother who was struggling with addiction. She covered for him. Kept tabs on him. Tried to protect him from consequences. Tried to protect her family. And when he went to rehab, she struggled with the idea of letting go of the role she had sp...

Drug tests. Revolving doors of rehabs. On and off the street. Judges, and parole officers — to families waiting and hoping for something to change. When a loved one’s treatment is dictated by external forces, why doesn’t it “work”, and what does it look like when it does? Dr. Sheila Vakharia — researcher, social worker, and author of The Harm Reduction Gap — has worked inside outpatient treatment...

When someone you love is struggling with addiction, it's easy to feel like you only have two options: fix it or walk away. But there's a third path—and it starts with understanding that while you can't force recovery, you're not powerless either. In this episode, I'm joined by Pam Lanhart, founder and executive director of Thrive Family Recovery Resources, a nonprofit supportin...

When one child is struggling with addiction, the fear and focus can consume everything — but what happens to the other kids in the house, the siblings who are angry, the ones who seem fine but aren't? In this episode, Kathleen Cochran, a mother and founder of Moms For All Paths to Recovery talks about one of the hardest and least-discussed realities of family addiction: how do you show up for...

Is Al-Anon and 12-Step the best approach for families navigating their loved one’s addiction? The pressure to issue ultimatums or cut them off entirely can feel like the only path forward. But what if the advice you've been given is outdated, incomplete, not for you, or just wrong? In this episode, Jane Mackey, CEO and founder of We The Village and certified family coach, challenges what families...

This episode is for anyone navigating a sibling's addiction, early sobriety, or the complicated road of family recovery. A year ago, I wasn't sure where my brother Justin would be today — or if he'd make it to his 21st birthday. This episode, releasing in honor of National Sibling Day (April 10th), is one I've been waiting to record for a long time. Justin is 21, one year sober, an...

Addiction is hard. But the stories we tell about it can make it even harder. When someone you love is struggling with substance use, the questions feel endless:  Do they deserve my love right now? Am I enabling them? Should I cut them off? In this episode, we unpack one of the most dangerous parts of addiction — the narrative around it. Because sometimes what harms our loved ones isn’t just the su...

If your sibling is sober, or you’ve finally put those boundaries up, but you still feel on edge, you’re not alone. Many siblings experience lingering anxiety after addiction—even when life finally feels calm. The chaos may be gone, but your body hasn’t caught up. In this episode, Shahem McLaurin digs into what happens after the crisis phase ends: why your nervous system stays on high alert, how ye...

What does it mean to grieve a parent who is still alive—but was never able to show up the way you needed? In this episode, Marci Hopkins shares how childhood abuse, emotional neglect, and a parent’s addiction quietly shaped her relationship with alcohol—and how drinking became a way to survive grief she didn’t yet have language for. For years, Marci’s drinking didn’t look extreme or chaotic. It lo...

What if everything you’ve been taught about recovery is wrong? What if the thing your family fears —medication—might actually be the one thing that could help save your loved one’s life? You might recognize names like methadone, suboxone, sublocade, buprenorphine, and others. In this episode, we strip away the sugarcoating and talk honestly about how these work, and what exactly medically assisted...

“How’s your brother? How are your parents?” Sound familiar? If you’ve ever felt like people are quick to ask about the loved one struggling with substance use—but rarely ask how you’re doing—you’re not alone. Or maybe they jump straight into offering advice. I know that feeling well. In this episode, I’m answering the questions I get asked most about my brother’s addiction—and the ones I wish peop...

What does it really mean to love someone through addiction — and how do we move beyond the idea that rehab is the only way forward? The answer is rarely simple. We want to show up, to help, to protect — but sometimes our love feels heavy, confusing, or not enough. Joanna and I talk about the complicated love of siblings — the guilt, the hope, the heartbreak — and how stories like hers and mine can...

What happens to the child who’s always told to “be good” while all the attention goes to their sibling? They grow up invisible. They become the Glass Child. In the third and final episode of our Parentification Series, I talk with TEDx speaker Alicia Meneses Maples , who coined the term glass child, about what it’s really like to be the sibling who carries the burden quietly. We go deep into: The...

What if the version of you that kept your family functioning — the fixer, the peacemaker, the one who never asked for anything — isn't the version you want to be anymore? Psychotherapist Kate Nichols joins Dominique to unpack what it really means to be a cycle breaker when you grew up in a family shaped by addiction. They dig into the guilt that comes with changing, the grief of leaving old ro...

If you were the kid who held it all together—the one who comforted your parent, kept your sibling safe, made things feel normal when they absolutely weren’t—this episode is for you. In the first episode of our Parentification 101 mini-series, I sit down with therapist and author Whitney Goodman to talk about what it really means to be a parentified child—and why it so often falls on the eldest dau...

Brock Bevell spent years as an undercover cop — then became the person he used to arrest. After a career-ending injury led to opioid addiction, he lost everything before finding his way to recovery. In this episode, Brock shares what the fentanyl crisis looks like from the inside, what families of people struggling with opioid addiction need to understand, and how recovery advocacy is creating rea...

You've probably heard the myths: that offering housing, food, or money to someone struggling with addiction just “enables” them. That people using suboxone or methadone aren’t ready to make a “real change.” But what if those ideas are not only wrong—but harmful? In this episode, harm reduction advocate and person in recovery Sarah Laurel dismantles the most persistent misconceptions about harm red...

I used to think stepping up for my brother meant taking control — managing his choices, absorbing his consequences, and being available every time things fell apart. What I didn't realize was that playing "mom" wasn't protecting him. It was protecting me from the uncertainty of letting go. In this episode, I open up about the fear, shame, and exhaustion of loving a sibling throug...

When someone "gets sober" or begins their recovery journey, we want to believe everything will fall back into place. But the truth? Recovery is M E S S Y. Relationships don’t magically heal overnight. Trust isn’t instantly restored. And for families, the real work is just beginning. In this episode, Janice Johnson Dowd—author, social worker, and person in recovery—gets real about what it...

Sibling estrangement can create grief like no other, especially when addiction is part of the equation. In this episode, Fern Schumer Chapman, journalist and author of Brothers, Sisters, Strangers and The Sibling Estrangement Journal, opens up about her 40-year estrangement from her brother and the profound emotional toll it took on her. Fern’s story offers a raw look at the pain and complexities...

Feeling torn between “tough love” and showing support? What if the answer is not choosing between helping or detaching, but finding a balance? In this episode, Molly Sinclair, takes us through her journey of navigating her mom’s, her brother’s, and her own addiction with empathy and boundaries. Molly explains evidence-based tools like the Invitation to Change approach, whether you should let someo...

Family addiction can bring holiday stress, uncertainty, heartbreak, and tension to what’s supposed to be a joyful season. If gatherings feel overwhelming as you're navigating a loved one’s substance use (especially a sibling's), you're not alone. Minaa B., licensed social worker, mental health educator, and author of Owning Our Struggles , shares how to set boundaries, prioritize self-care, and pr...

What happens to a family when a loved one's addiction leads to homelessness? And what does it take to reach someone who seems completely unreachable? Kevin F. Adler lost his uncle to decades of homelessness and addiction — and turned that grief into a movement. In this episode, he shares what families misunderstand about loved ones experiencing homelessness, why isolation is the real driver of...

Teen drinking or drug use may start off with curiosity or peer pressure, but it often goes beyond that. In this episode, we uncover the connection between undiagnosed ADHD and substance use—a surprising link that’s often missed but affects nearly half of adolescents in drug and alcohol treatment. Learn how to spot the signs of both conditions, and discover how families can support loved ones strug...