The Unhooked Podcast

The Unhooked Podcast! “Run Regardless: The Power of a Cadence” We don’t always get to choose how hard the road is, but we do get to choose what we repeat to ourselves while we’re on it. Most people think endurance comes from stronger legs or maybe from people who are already strong. It doesn’t. It comes from strong thoughts. Mind training… Anyone who has ever…  run a race, walked through grief, lo...

The Unhooked Podcast! “Do No Harm… But Take No Nonsense” Loving Others Without Abandoning Yourself Protect your peace without punishing people. Because recovery isn’t just about getting sober (emotionally or chemically). It’s about becoming someone who can love deeply  without  losing themselves. Detachment is not indifference—it’s love with healthy boundaries.   And…   Peace isn’t weakness; it’s...

The Unhooked Podcast! Miss Havisham from Great Expectations was... •     Jilted at the altar on her wedding day. •     that day, she stopped all the clocks in her home. •     Left the wedding dinner untouched and the wedding cake to rot on the table. •     Continued to wear her wedding dress. •     Lived in darkness for decades. •     Her life became a monument to pain and betrayal. Miss Havisham...

Promptly admitting when we’re wrong is not about shame, humiliation, or self-condemnation. It’s about freedom. The longer we defend, justify, deny, or explain away our mistakes, the more tangled we become. Recovery, faith, and emotional maturity all point toward the same truth: freedom lives on the other side of honesty. Why is it so difficult to simply say, "I was wrong?" Most of us wou...

The Unhooked Podcast!  "Denial, Dunning-Kruger Effect and Self-Brainwashing" This week's topic fits well with recovery  - because addiction, dysfunction, and even everyday human behavior all involve blind spots.  The heart of recovery is recognizing that  all of us can fool ourselves.   When We Don’t Know What We Don’t Know Whether dealing with betrayal, back-stabbing, being cheated...

The Unhooked Podcast! Sharing experiences and tools and tips from the Rooms of Recovery regarding dealing with fault finders, trouble makers, high conflict situations... Peace is possible without sacrificing truth, dignity or self-respect! Listen in to check it out! Contact: Check out the Annie Highwater Facebook page or email us at AnnieUnhooked@gmail.com

The Unhooked Podcast! Storms are not optional in life! Recovery doesn’t remove storms — it teaches us how to stand in them differently. In addiction, dysfunction, trauma, or fear, we often spend years running  from  discomfort. Healing teaches us to stop fleeing and start becoming steady. Listen in for tools and tips from the rooms. Check it out!

The Unhooked Podcast! "Conflicts, Amends and Apologies...When Sorry Becomes a Prison" Life is a series of conflicts, that's just the reality of it…some are battles, others can lead to war. Looking at our side of the street at all times is critical. Listen in for tools and tips regarding navigating conflict whether you owe, or you are owed an apology or amends... from the rooms of rec...

Recovery isn’t just about substances. It’s about what happens when life hits hard… when the ground suddenly gives way beneath us emotionally, spiritually, mentally...as much as physically and financially! Sometimes we think we’re failing when really we’re  flooded . Flooding is when we are feeling a rush of inner emotional turmoil…it happens! Many things ignite it. Listen in to this week's too...

Whether dealing with big family, blended family or other people heavy situations…how do we deal with the stress as well as conflict driven people? I have just come through that.   Listen in for Experience, Strength and Hope from the rooms!

The Unhooked Podcast! Patterns in friendships and relationships are often repetitive... when we are impacted by someone else's repeated behaviors, how do we handle them, recover from harshness or rude disloyalty? It happens...to everyone! Listen to this week's tools and tips from the rooms of recovery!

The Unhooked Podcast! From a collaboration with the Experts - this episode is all about tools and tips from therapy, counselors and the rooms when it comes to stress, anxiety, panic attacks, C-PTSD and all things related. I could not WAIT to share the information contributed and gathered. SO many great ideas for dealing with daily stress, family traumas and dramas, financial worries, alcohol and a...

The Unhooked Podcast! Have you ever felt like the walls are closing in… like you're being roast and your name is being dragged through rooms you’re not even in? Or maybe it's not just that internal feeling you are getting...maybe it's more direct, personal, in your face. Whether dealing with a high conflict personality (including those who are active in drug or alcohol abuse), a toxic...

The Unhooked Podcast! Unhooking from Expectations: Finding Peace Beyond Disappointment Today we are considering disappointments and expectations. Being disappointed by people, places and things can impact us in many ways. Betrayal can be devastating, being outcome focused can be excruciating when things take a wrong turn and so on. Listen in to this week's tools and tips from the roads of reco...

The Unhooked Podcast! "Unhooking from Stuck Grief" When grief or melancholy comes rising up or slamming in, how do we move through it...or move it through us? It's happened to me lately. Listen in to this week's podcast to consider ways to handle it, recovery from it or move the heaviness that sometimes comes in like a rising tide. Check it out!

The Unhooked Podcast! In these weeks tools and tips from the rooms, we look at how judgment runs interference for acceptance. Black and white, all good or all bad thinking. "When all you have is a hammer, everything is a nail!" What if situations can't be judged as much as people maybe shouldn't quickly be? Listen in for some lessons learned from judging (or being judged). Check...

The Unhooked Podcast! It's been a rough winter. I know what it's like to run low on energy and high on stress. What do we do to fire the engines back UP and keep going? Listen to this week's podcast for tips and tools from recovery to build that momentum back up and keep going. Check it out!

The Unhooked Podcast! Worry is something almost every family member of someone struggling with alcoholism, or addiction understands. Our minds start racing. We imagine the worst. We try to mentally control situations that were never ours to control. But recovery programs give us tools to interrupt that cycle. So today I want to share what my responses  to Worry. Not a perfect formula. But a  pract...

The Unhooked Podcast! This week is all about deciding how close we want to get to the fire! Drama, chaos, conflict, etc. It's critical to know the day we stop looking inward to heal or improve, we gradually get worse (Stoic belief). If you feel stuck or are experiencing "emotional vertigo" from dealing with the dysfunction and stress of the behavior of others...this one's for you...

This week's episode of the Unhooked Podcast pulls tools and tips (along with a few embarrassing memories and examples...for the sake of transparency) when it comes to dealing with those times when we are so stressed we almost can't take another thing. From the rooms, therapy, leaning into those experiences and great support and advice, I share how I stabilized, calmed down and found my way...

In this week's episode we look at "Magical Thinking," Magical thinking is when someone is expecting life to change without changing themselves. Without examining and working on behavior patterns, patterns of thought, reactions etc…   “Magical thinking is when we hope instead of heal.” Intentions and promises without effort don't bring about change and healing. Awareness doesn’t a...

We all have brutal days, it's life. How do I personally keep going? One step at a time...mantras, put the kettle on, running regardless.. Whatever you need. Listen to this week's short podcast with tips and tools for tough days, from the rooms of recovery. Check it out!

Looking back to a Summer when I was given a big dose of truth regarding my own emotional baggage and how often I needed to not make it a burden for others. Two things can be true at once... we can feel fear and sadness while knowing we need to change our perspective, patterns and habits. This gave space to those closest to me and kept them from the worry of tiptoeing around emotional meltdowns, fr...

This week’s take on tools and tips from the recovery is about empathy, triggers, and the quiet truth that healing doesn’t usually arrive in a lightning bolt.   If you’ve ever felt activated by things that shouldn’t be a big deal… this episode is for you.    Core idea: You can understand someone without co-signing them. You can hear venting without taking on the baggage   Empathy is seeing someone,...

"What should I DO?" I have received many messages asking this question, while I don't give much advice there are some things I like to suggest or strongly encourage family members to do when their son, daughter, or other loved ones are battling with a chemical dependency and alllll the dramas and traumas that come with it. Listen into to this week's quick episode regarding what t...