Recovering Relationships

Why is it so difficult to walk away from a relationship that keeps hurting you? The answer may have more to do with your brain than you realize. In this episode, we explore the neuroscience of toxic relationships, including how dopamine, emotional attachment, and unpredictable patterns of affection can keep us connected to people who hurt us. We'll also examine how childhood experiences shape our...

The holidays can bring joy, but also stress, expectations, and challenges for families in recovery. Join Janice and Katie as they share practical tips and tools for navigating family gatherings, avoiding common pitfalls, setting healthy boundaries, and creating a happier, healthier, sober holiday season for everyone around the table. 0:00 – Welcome and introducing Katie 0:31 – Why this episode: he...

Janice Johnson Dowd explains what complex trauma is, how it develops through repeated adversity, and why it can shape relationships, emotions, and nervous system responses long after childhood. She also walks through practical steps for healing, including nervous system regulation, boundaries, and trauma-informed support. In this episode, Janice connects the science of complex trauma with everyday...

Have you spent years hoping your parent would change, only to find yourself having the same painful conversations over and over? How can you tell the difference between genuine change and another empty promise? In this episode of Recovering Relationships , we explore five signs that an emotionally immature parent may be making real progress—and why lasting change is measured by consistent behavior...

Is your phone just a tool, or is it training your brain to keep reaching for the next scroll, notification, like, or hit of novelty? In this episode of Recovering Relationships , Janice Johnson Dowd explores Digital Dopamine and the psychology behind problematic technology use, compulsive phone checking, social media habits, and excessive screen time. She breaks down how dopamine, anticipation, an...

When addiction damages trust, rebuilding it takes more than an apology. It takes time, consistency, honesty, and actions that family members can begin to rely on again. Katie and I originally recorded this conversation a year ago, but the message feels just as important today. We’ve condensed it into this 25-minute episode focused on what it really takes to rebuild trust after addiction. We share...

How do you convince someone you love to get help for addiction? The answer may be the opposite of what you think. When we’re frightened, angry, and desperate for someone to change, it’s easy to believe that if we can just make them understand how much damage they’ve caused, they’ll finally agree to treatment. But shame may actually make it harder for someone to ask for help. In this episode, Janic...

Healing Family Estrangement: What Helped Us Reconnect What does it actually take to heal a damaged parent-child relationship - and what does that process look like from the adult child’s side? In this deeply personal episode of Recovering Relationships , Janice and her adult daughter, Katie, talk openly about addiction, distance, boundaries, estrangement, and ultimately, healing. Katie brings a pe...

If you’re estranged from your adult child and wondering what you can do to begin repairing the relationship, this episode is for you. I share five things I’ve learned, personally and professionally, about family estrangement and the possibility of repair. We’ll talk about why parents and adult children can remember the same family very differently, why good intentions don’t always prevent hurt, an...

Estranged from Your Child? Start Here If your adult child has limited contact or cut you off completely, you may be asking the same questions over and over: Why did this happen? What did I do wrong? Why won’t they talk to me? And is there anything I can do to repair our relationship? In this episode of Recovering Relationships , we take a closer look at the “why” behind parent–adult child estrange...

Why can relationships actually feel harder after someone gets sober? Sobriety is supposed to make things better. But for many families, early recovery brings more conflict, more difficult conversations, and emotions that have been buried for years. That doesn’t necessarily mean recovery is failing. Sometimes, it means the real work of healing has finally begun. In this mini-episode of Recovering R...

Do you really need therapy - or is therapy only for people who are struggling with a serious mental health crisis? In this episode of Recovering Relationships , Katie and I take a closer look at what therapy is really for and why counseling can be valuable even when your life isn’t falling apart. Therapy isn’t about “fixing” you. It can be a place to develop greater self-awareness, recognize unhea...

Just because a substance is legal or readily available doesn’t necessarily mean it is safe. Janice explores how these products are marketed, why consumers may underestimate their risks, and why the constantly changing landscape of emerging substances creates challenges for individuals in recovery, families, clinicians, and communities. She also discusses the importance of recognizing what people a...

In part 2 of our conversation about grief and changing relationships, Katie and Janice talk about what happens when the person you love is still here, but the relationship you once knew is not. Katie shares what it was like to grieve the mom she remembers while learning to build a relationship with the sober mother Janice has become today. Together they explore the complicated emotions that come w...

Why do siblings raised in the same family often turn out so differently? In this mini episode of Recovering Relationships, I introduce the concept of family roles: the ways children often adapt in homes affected by addiction, trauma, or chronic family stress. Many children become the responsible one, the peacemaker, the lost child, the mascot, or the scapegoat. These roles aren't personality trait...

When Addiction Causes Family Roles to Reverse What is it like to grow up without a parent you can truly rely on? In this deeply personal conversation, Katie shares what it was like growing up with addiction in the family, including the painful reality of feeling emotionally parentless even while both parents were still alive. She reflects on how siblings often step in for one another, how children...

Difficult conversations are almost unavoidable in early recovery, but they don’t have to leave everyone feeling defensive, misunderstood, or emotionally exhausted. In this episode, Janice shares five practical ways to communicate more effectively as relationships begin to heal. You’ll learn how to prepare yourself before a conversation, manage expectations, prioritize connection over correction, l...

We thought sobriety meant things were finally going to get better. Then came our first family visit, and it was a disaster. In this episode, Janice and Katie look back at expectations, emotions, and misunderstandings that collided during early recovery. We talk honestly about what families may not understand about the recovering brain, the trouble with expectations, and what we wish we had known b...

In this mini-episode, I answer one of the questions I get most often: "What is the one thing I need to do to rebuild trust?" While there isn't a single action that restores trust overnight, there are five essential steps that create the foundation for healing and lasting change

In this episode of Recovering Relationships , Janice and Katie open with a heartfelt discussion on how to grieve someone who is still alive —a parent, partner, or child who is emotionally or physically distant. Together, they explore the concept of ambiguous loss and what it means to hold space for both love and disappointment simultaneously. About halfway through, the conversation takes a raw, in...

What happens when trust — the foundation of every healthy relationship — gets interrupted? In this episode of Recovering Relationships , Janice and Katie explore how addiction, betrayal, and emotional neglect fracture connections within families, and what it truly takes to rebuild them. Through honest conversation and lived experience, they unpack the difference between apologies and amends , why...

In the official first episode of Recovering Relationships, Janice and Katie discuss mental health, forgiveness, and the barriers that made reconnection difficult.

In this recording, we give an introduction into topics we may discuss in future recordings, while briefly introducing ourselves and our story.