Siblinghood of Recovery

Each experience with addiction is different as each Family, each person struggling with addiction challenges is different, and each path to Recovery is different. This Episode is an introduction to discovering other paths of Recovery in advance to next week's interview with Susan Ousterman. By citing Dr. Noral Volkow's blog on NIDA's site, we highlight Dr. Volkow being a strong prop...

We're back and ready to get to work! Not wasting any time, the focus remains on how Parents can show up for their kids in doing their OWN work. We further finetune the mantra of healthier parenting being supported through the process of becoming a healthier individual. This Season will feature interviews with professionals leading Recovery and Mental Health facilities, as well as those workin...

My son walked this past week in his High School Graduation, culminating eighteen months of Recovery work and celebrating his investment in himself. To say I'm a proud Mom is an understatement. To say I am learning from all that he has done, is yet another understatement. To say I have so much more work to do, yep, it is yet another understatement.  Good news is, I'm ready. For now, thoug...

So many of us know Secrets. What many of us may not be aware of is how carrying secrets can impact our Well Being. The ultimate in support of key 12 Step Program tenants, honesty and transparency, three Research articles are cited and findings reviewed to help parents understand how approaching challenges with addiction with open communication, group support and professional guidance is a key aspe...

The process of addiction involves completely abandoning expectations. They no longer serve you, nor anyone else involved in the process. But...those hopes do exist. In this Episode I site Nora McInerny journey of grieving her Husband's death and how Nora refused to let anyone 'Should' all over her in how to heal from this loss. The same can happen with parents of children battling a...

I am beyond grateful to share this interview you! Journey with me as we listen to Buddy C., and how his embrace of Taoism led him to deeper Spirituality in his Recovery Journey. So much in here, I can't begin capture. Listen, learn, enjoy, and explore!  And Happy Mother's Day!  :35 - Buddy C's website, Powerless but Not Helpless  :45 - Sober Guy Podcast, Episode 385 5:00 - A brief o...

When parents place their child into Recovery, they often hear the words, “He is Safe”. Those words can bring up thoughts of failure and shame as we ask ourselves, ‘Why is my child safe, now? Why does safety include getting my child out of the Family System?" Don’t go there. Instead, know the language of the Recovery world and take these words to mean, it's time to do your own work.  Fami...

Focusing on just one article to highlight the value of Spirituality in adolescent addiction program success, I tread lightly. Although I am espousing the enormous and positive impact of Spirituality, our Higher Power truly is an incredibly personal part of Recovery. And who am I to define Higher Power to anyone but myself? What I can say is embracing one's Higher Power can be a daunting proce...

If we shift the approach to tackling our child's Substance Use Disorder from trying to gain control to trying to understand what is going on at the inner child level, perhaps we can become better parents while also serving ourselves in becoming better individuals. Channel your inner Roy Kent, one of my favorite characters from Ted Lasso, and plan on not always understanding the challenges in...

This Episode is dedicated to my friend Lisa. A walk with my friend this past weekend helped me realize how hard work through therapy and the 12 Step program has directly contributed to decreased Chaos in my life. Over a spectrum of several years, a consistent focus on developing healthy boundaries, and an increased awareness of personal traits born out of inter-generational trauma, has greatly con...

As a parent engaged in the Recovery process, I've had to look back at my past while I assess my role as "protector" over my children and ask, "Who was I really protecting?".  Is it healthy to over protect? No. Is it healthy to guard your children from danger? Yes. Do we often strike a healthy balance? I do not know.  The balance challenge rests in the awareness of when, ho...

When we try to help people, who are we really serving? When we support our loved ones through Recovery, there is a fine line between helping and gaining a sense of doing something right or accomplish the goal of being a better person. So, are we helping to make ourselves feel better? Is this something we learned in childhood? Why are we REALLY helping?   Digging into the concept of helping others...

Anger is an emotion that, for the most part, accompanies most of us in the beginning stages of our Recovery process. Once we join a 12 Step program, and work closely with a Licensed Therapist or Licensed Therapy team, it is an emotion we can hopefully look forward to regulating. If we do, it will serve us well as parents, and serve our children even better. 4:10 - Definition of Anger in Psychology...

This episode explores the very personal journey of Step work, specific to Step 3, and trauma healing. Both processes are incredibly personal. Resources mentioned, as always, provided below.  1:05 - Step 3 from the original 'Big Book', Alcoholics Anonymous 1:30 - Perfect is the enemy of good originally came from Voltaire quoting an Italian proverb the Dictionnaire philosophique in 1770, &...

As a Recovery Mom, Step 2 can be impactful in the release of a belief of control. The recovery process offers us an opportunity to realize we are in an insane situation, and we can let go of any sense of being able to control our lives in the midst of chaos. We can, instead, focus on our recovery. Al Anon, Families Anonymous and other 12 Step programs can offer fellowship as you journey through th...

We are dealing with a different world, when we enter the world of Recovery. New information, new therapists, new treatment options and decisions. Then, someone says: attend a Step Meeting. As I entered into the world of Step Recovery through Al-Anon, my greatest challenge was Step 2: Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity. In this episode, I explore the chal...

A significant amount of research is coming out regarding the indelible impact a Family Member's own self-care and Recovery process can make on an individual battling a Substance Use Disorder (SUD). This Episode highlights the positive outcome of improving the Family system, as the Family is, "one of the most important support groups for an individual seeking recovery from an SUD".  ...

Why the value of finding your people in a group of Recovery Moms directly contributes to a research proven likelihood that you are positively contributing to your Family Member's Recovery process. 1) A Multifamily Group Curriculum for Family Members of Individuals with Substance Use Disorders : Updates, Perceptions, and Outcomes. Authors: Sterling T. Shumway, Spencer D. Bradshaw, Mazie Zielin...

As Parents in Recovery, our entry into this new ecosystem requires developing an understanding of what we can and cannot control. As I journeyed into this new world, I became increasingly more grateful to Recovery leaders who introduced me to the one thing I could control: working on my healthier Self. 1) 1:23 Step 1: We admitted we were powerless over drugs and other people’s lives—that our lives...

My nerdlike passion for Neuroscience digs deeper into experiencing Powerlessness, and embracing the feeling of having zero control over my Qualifier within the challenge of dealing with Substance Use Disorder(s). And it is liberating. As always, strong recommendations for working with a Licensed Therapist and hug fandom speak on the 12 Step Program. I know it saved my life. Want to find a meeting?...

Happy 2022! We made it through the Holidays. Many personal triggers for the month of December, and I'm sure I'm not the only one in this big blue world ready to say goodbye to 2021. It's great to get on the other side. So, what to do in 2022? Curiosity got the best of me, as I looked back to see how much I gained from the 12 Step Program in 2021.  I wanted to look through a neurosci...

A reflection about the other child during the Family Recovery Process. 1) 2:30 Science.org Article, ' Primed for Addiction? People with brains wired for drug abuse don't necessarily become addicts' 2) 3:00 Readiness to Change reference in Episode 9 3) 4:15 NCBI article, Sibling influences on adolescent substance use: The role of modeling, collusion, and conflict' Note: also rel...

It's the Holidays, so it's not a matter of "if" Triggers happen, it's a matter of "when". A few techniques are provided from a very recent experience, accompanied by research, resources, and more. 1) The definition of triggers per the American Psychological Association, https://dictionary.apa.org/trigger , "a stimulus that elicits a reaction. For example, an...

An excerpt, emphasizing the value of the individual working on recovery, to contribute to family health, is taken from, Family Functioning and Readiness in Family Recovery From Addiction, Spencer D. Bradshaw, Sterling T. Shumway, Eugene W. Wang, Kitty S. Harris,  Douglas B. Smith, and Heather Austin-Robillard, and drives the subject matter of this Podcast. Here is the direct quote:   " Addict...

This Episode focuses again on Family Dynamics but more so on the parent's Readiness to Change. Again, citing work from, Spencer D. Bradshaw, Sterling T. Shumway, Eugene W. Wang, Kitty S. Harris, Douglas B. Smith & Heather Austin-Robillard, 'Family Functioning and Readiness in Family Recovery From Addiction' captures the simple acronym of RTC (Readiness to Change) that so many Tr...