The Unhooked Podcast

The Unhooked Podcast! “Cognitive Tunneling, Misery Stabilizers and WHAT is an Emotional Meridian?” When our thoughts RULE us, even if for good reasons. Tools and tips for stabilizing misery and moodiness. Finding our emotional balance on the tight-rope walk that can be our life and circumstances. Have you ever noticed how we con at times seem to live between two extremes?  When things are good, th...

The Unhooked Podcast! "King Baby Syndrome, Recovery & Boundaries" Have you ever known someone who expects understanding but offers very little in return? Someone who wants forgiveness without accountability, help without responsibility, and loyalty without reciprocity? In recovery rooms, you may hear the term "King Baby Syndrome" This is an informal expression describing em...

The Unhooked Podcast! Splitters and Splitting In this week's episode we take a look at Splitting behavior as it occurs with those who have Borderline Personality Disorder, High Conflict Personality Disorder as well as people struggling with chemical dependencies. Many people are affected by splitting behaviors without realizing that's what they're dealing with.  Pulling information fro...

The Unhooked Podcast by Annie Highwater "When my mind is my Bully" There are times when thoughts of fear, embarrassment, dread...self-loathing etc., keep me up at night. Or...WAKE me up at night. Or...paralyze me when the alarm goes off in the morning and getting up to face the day is a battle. It happens.  No one is immune.  I'm better at navigating it, but it does happen.  When it...

For much of my life, I carried what I now understand as a Mother wound. As the youngest of six, I longed for the kind of Mother I saw other children have. I remember looking at Moms on elementary-school field trips and feeling something deeper and more wholesome than jealousy or anger. It was a painful longing. A quiet, aching wish for someone who felt safe, steady, nurturing, truthful, and strong...

The Unhooked Podcast! “Chaos has a Pattern: Navigating the Madness of it” For me this is familiar territory—especially theidea that chaos can feel random while actually following recognizable patterns. I learned this from a recovery specialist…I called her and these were her words that calmed me… "What's happening isn't random, chaos has a pattern."   There is, however, distincti...

The Unhooked podcast! If you have ever been told you are, "Too sensitive," this episode is for you. Being highly sensitive isn't about being emotional. It's about having an acute awareness, a strong sense of intuition, a sharp eye for detail and catching behavior patterns quick, many times before anyone else. This can lead to others dismissing your thoughts, invalidating what you...

The Unhooked Podcast! "Quick Tips for Moms, Dads, Partners, Relatives and any other entourage of a Loved One in active use" “Until we heal the family system, there is no hope for the person struggling.”  ~Ken Seeley I am the family member of someone who suffers with addiction.  I have also been through an addiction adjacent experience up close and very personal. I know the ups and downs,...

THE Unhooked Podcast! “Principles Over Personalities: Stop Letting People Pull Your Strings” Have you ever had somebody ruin your entire day? Sometimes without even being in the room... They said something. They didn’t say something. They criticized, insulted or ridiculed you. They ignored and dismissed you. They lied about you. They misunderstood you. They pushed a button—and suddenly you’re reac...

The Unhooked Podcast! "When You Don’t Know What to Do" This is a  really strong topic  to me… because “I don’t know what to do” is often how we feel and can be the exact place where recovery, faith, and emotional regulation intersect. “What do you  do  when you don't know what to do?” Sometimes it's a crisis. Sometimes it's a relationship. Sometimes it's a decision you ha...

The Unhooked Podcast!  “What I Did in the Dark” I know what anguish feels like.  I have lived through seasons of it.   Listen in for tools and tips from the rooms of recovery and hear what anguish taught me about surrender, resilience, and truth. Check it out!

The Unhooked Podcast! Listen in this week as Debbie, my friend from many years in the Rooms, shares her story and so much wisdom from Recovery. We combine our best practices for dealing with the madness (especially our own!)... Check it out!

The UNHOOKED Podcast!  “The Victim, the Villain & the Hero: Getting out of the Drama Triangle”  There is a pattern I have observed in many dysfunctional groups where someone creates a storyline that presents them as the victim and another as a villain, but it’s often not true or at the very least…exaggerated for a purpose.  Example: We knew someone who has needed a lot of favors over the years...

The Unhooked Podcast!  “Fire Starters and Chaos Creators”  The People Who Light the Match and Walk Away  The Emotional Arsonists in Our Lives     Many of us have known people who create a problem, trigger an argument, make a reckless decision, spread gossip, stir conflict, or disrupt an entire family system—and then act as if nothing happened.  When others react to the damage, suddenly the focus s...

The Unhooked Podcast! Sometimes our reactions aren't simply emotional, mental or even hormonal! Sometimes they are coming from a nervous system wired for threat! When that's the case, we need a different approach. Sometimes people, places and things (even texts and emails at first glance) can light my nervousness up like I'm in trouble! Listen in to this week's tools and tips from...

Listen to this week's Unhooked Podcast for a special guest, Writer/Director Mark Rosman share his story of being an award winning accomplished Director, while dealing with the anguish of a close loved one's battle with addiction. Mark is releasing a film soon titled, "Keep Coming Back" (one of my favorite recovery phrases) that will be interesting as well as encouraging for ALL s...

The Unhooked Podcast! "Factory Reset: There's Freedom in Being Fully Present” What if healing and finding peace isn’t always about fixing what’s broken? What if sometimes healing is simply returning to what we’ve forgotten to pay attention to?  Recovery Teaches Us to Come Back to Today, to the now… Many family members affected by addiction, alcoholic behavior and dysfunction live in: regr...

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...