Addiction Makes Three

What if your peace didn't have to wait? So many of us quietly tell ourselves: 💛 "I'll feel better when they stop drinking." 💛 "I'll relax when they get help." 💛 "I'll be happy when things settle down." But what if peace doesn't arrive at the end of someone else's recovery journey? In this episode, Amanda shares two powerful voice notes from a listener whose words capture something so many famil...

If you've been feeling exhausted lately... but it's not the kind of exhaustion sleep fixes... this episode is for you. When you're living with a partner or loved one struggling with alcohol addiction or substance use, it's not just the drinking that's exhausting. It's the constant worrying. The overthinking. The planning. The scanning. The mental load of trying to keep everything together while wo...

What happens when you spend so much time focused on someone else's addiction that you stop recognising yourself? In this episode of Addiction Makes Three, Amanda explores one of the quieter impacts of loving someone struggling with alcohol addiction, substance use, or addictive behaviours: the loss of self that can happen along the way. Through powerful listener voice notes and Amanda's own experi...

What if the hardest part isn't their addiction... What if it's what living alongside addiction has done to you? For this special 100th episode of Addiction Makes Three, Amanda shares real voice notes from listeners around the world about what it's really like loving someone struggling with alcohol addiction, substance use, or addictive behaviours. Together, their voices share... Feeling exhausted...

Have you ever stopped and wondered who you would be if addiction wasn't part of your life anymore? Not because you don't love your person. But because addiction has taken up so much space in your life that you've lost touch with yourself. In this episode, we're talking about the quiet loss of identity that can happen when you've spent years focused on someone else's drinking, drug use, recovery, c...

A client recently said to me, "I finally love my job... but I don't get joy anywhere." And I think that one sentence captures what so many people impacted by addiction experience. Because one of the sneakiest things about survival mode is that it doesn't always look like falling apart. Sometimes it looks like functioning. You still go to work. You still parent. You still pay the bills. You still s...

What happens when you've spent years being the strong one? The one who keeps going. The one who remembers everything. The one who holds the family together. The one who keeps functioning no matter what's happening around them. In this episode of Addiction Makes Three, Amanda explores the hidden exhaustion so many people impacted by addiction carry. The kind of exhaustion that doesn't come from a b...

Do you feel like you're always waiting for the next problem? The next phone call. The next argument. The next relapse. The next thing that throws everything off course. If you love someone struggling with addiction, that constant feeling of being "on" can become so normal that you stop questioning it. You tell yourself you're just stressed. Just tired. Just a bit anxious. But what if the reason yo...

Learn more about Discovery to Recovery here You know something needs to change. You know something isn't working. You know you're exhausted. But when you're living with addiction in a relationship, knowing what to do next can feel impossible. Maybe you're constantly thinking about your loved one's drinking, drug use, gambling, or addictive behaviour. Maybe you're walking on eggshells, trying not t...

What happens when the person you love recognises they have a problem (or maybe they don't)… and nothing feels steady? What happens when you keep hoping things will improve… but your life slowly becomes consumed by waiting? In this deeply honest episode of Addiction Makes Three, Amanda explores the emotional limbo so many spouses and family members of people struggling with addiction quietly live i...

One of the hardest parts about loving someone struggling with alcohol or addiction? How slowly survival mode starts feeling normal. The hypervigilance. The walking on eggshells. The overthinking. The emotional exhaustion. The inability to fully relax. And over time… you stop recognising yourself. In this episode, Amanda explores the hidden ways addiction impacts partners and families - and how sur...

Have you ever asked yourself, "Maybe It’s Me?" One of the hardest parts about loving someone struggling with alcohol or addiction? It’s not always the drinking, the lying, the gambling, or the chaos. It’s what slowly starts happening to you . And loosing your own trust is one of those impacts that is lesser seen and almost never spoken about. But it's impacts are devastating. In this episode, Aman...

Today Amanda shares the “hills she’ll die on” after loving someone struggling with alcohol and addiction… and after supporting hundreds of women and men impacted by it too. From waiting for rock bottom… to believing sobriety should magically fix everything… to thinking more information will finally make things feel better… This episode challenges some of the biggest myths people quietly carry in a...

Sometimes the hardest part about addiction…. is realising how much you have changed too. In this deeply personal episode, Amanda opens up about the grief of losing yourself in survival mode. The anxiety. The hypervigilance. The exhaustion. The version of you that slowly disappeared while trying to hold everything together. Because addiction doesn’t just impact the person struggling. It changes the...

Mother’s Day can bring up a lot for many of us. And when addiction has touched your life… not all of it feels good. Because Mother’s Day can become this painful mix of hope, disappointment and grief all at the same time. In this deeply personal episode, Amanda opens up about the complicated emotional reality of Mother’s Day when addiction is part of your story. From unmet expectations… to feeling...

You’ve learnt a lot about addiction. You understand the patterns. You can see what’s happening. You’ve done the reading, the podcasts, the research. So why does it still feel like nothing is changing? In this episode, we’re talking about a trap that’s easy to fall into - especially when you’re trying to handle this better: 👉 learning more… instead of doing differently Because at some point, more...

You’re struggling with a loved one’s addiction and you’re trying really hard to make things better. Reading. Listening. Learning everything you can. Trying to handle this better. Trying to respond better. Trying to make things work. And yet… You still find yourself in the same place. Reacting. Overthinking. Carrying it all. And nothing is actually getting better - in fact it’s getting worse. In th...

Sometimes it’s not a big moment. Not a crisis. Not the worst day. Not the breaking point you thought it would be. It’s quieter than that. It’s the moment where something inside you says: “I can’t keep doing this like this.” In this episode, we’re talking about that moment. The one where you realise: 👉 This isn’t sustainable 👉 This isn’t working 👉 And something needs to change Even if you don’t...

You thought sobriety would change everything. I know I did... That once they stopped drinking… you’d finally feel better. More relaxed. More connected. Less on edge. But what happens when sobriety comes… and your relationship still doesn’t feel right? In this episode of The Part No One Talks About series, we’re talking about something that can feel confronting—but incredibly important to understan...

You thought sobriety would change everything. That once they stopped drinking… you’d finally feel better. More relaxed. More connected. Less on edge. But what happens when that moment comes… and you still don’t feel okay? In this episode of The Part No One Talks About series, we’re talking about something that can feel incredibly confusing: When sobriety isn’t the relief you expected. Because whil...

In this episode of The Part No One Talks About series, we’re diving into the invisible impact of loving someone with addiction. Because while addiction can be loud… The impact on you is often silent. This episode is for the ones who: Look like they’re holding it all together But feel like they’re bracing every single day And wonder why they’re so exhausted… even when nothing “looks wrong” What we...

This is the part no one talks about. Not the addiction itself. Not your loved one. But you . The spouse, the one without the addiction. In this episode, we’re diving into the hidden impact addiction has on your parenting.  The snapping, the numbness, the overwhelm… and the quiet guilt that follows. Because here’s the truth, It’s not that you’re an impatient parent. It’s that you’re running on...

This episode is a little different. I wanted to sit down and share a personal update, what’s been happening behind the scenes for me, why I went quiet for a while, and what I’ve been navigating over the past few months. Just before Christmas, I received some devastating news. A dear friend of mine, Jack Nagel, passed away suddenly. This episode is me trying to put words to that experience. The gri...

You might be telling yourself you’re just stressed. It’s January. It's school holidays. It’s work. It’s parenting. It’s just a busy season. But if you love someone struggling with alcoholism or addiction in your family or relationship, what you’re feeling might not be “just stress.” It might be survival mode. In this episode of "The Part No One Talks About" mini-series, I talk about: • Why you’re...

You’re tired. I know you are. Not just “busy” tired. Not just “it’s been a long week” tired. You are life + Addiction tired. You’re exhausted from holding everything together, for everyone, for years. If you’re living alongside addiction, whether your loved one is in active addiction, early sobriety, or years into recovery, and you feel like you’re walking on eggshells, holding your breath an...