Families Navigating Addiction & Recovery

In this solo episode of Families Navigating Addiction and Recovery, I challenge the traditional, outdated "guidelines" that often trap families in black-and-white thinking.

From ultimatums and "tough love" to complete division, conventional advice frequently ignores the neurological realities of addiction and leaves family members facing severe chronic stress, burnout, and health risks.

While ...

In this episode of Families Navigating Addiction and Recovery, I sit down with Gina Birkemeier, LPC, author of Generations Deep: Unmasking Inherited Trauma and Dysfunction to Rewrite Our Stories Through Faith and Therapy.

We dive into how inherited family patterns, secrets, and shame drive both addiction and family dysfunction. Gina shares how families can recognize when they are operating out of trauma, h...

In this episode of Families Navigating Addiction and Recovery, I'm joined by my colleague and friend Kristin Horstman, a gray area drinking coach.

We dive into what "gray area drinking" actually means, why traditional labels like "alcoholic" often create barriers to getting help, and how families can use nervous system regulation, co-regulation, and targeted nutrition to break the cycle of cravings and sup...

In this episode of Families Navigating Addiction and Recovery, I sit down with Christina Veselak, founder of the Academy for Addiction and Mental Health Nutrition and a licensed marriage and family therapist. We explore the critical, often-overlooked "third leg" of addiction recovery: stabilizing brain chemistry through targeted amino acid therapy and nutrition to eliminate cravings and prevent relapse.

Christina T. Veselak is the ...

In this episode, I'm sharing an overview from Session 6 of my 6-week Brain Health Masterclass for Families Impacted by Addiction.

This session is about making your best decisions with more confidence, especially when addiction in the family has created stress, fear, and uncertainty.

When addiction is present, decision-making can become reactive. You may find yourself making choices out of fear...

In this episode of the Families Navigating Addiction & Recovery podcast, I'm sharing an overview of Session 4 of my Brain Health Masterclass for Families, titled "Building Healthier Connections." In this session, I talk about how one person in the family can begin a change process that is not dependent on the addicted person changing first. I explore what it means to build a healthier connection with your loved one...

In this episode of the Families Navigating Addiction & Recovery podcast, I'm sharing an overview of Session 3 of my Brain Health Masterclass for Families, titled "Fueling Your Personal Resilience." In this session, I talk about why families often stay focused on trying to change the person with addiction first, even when that person's brain and behavior may be deeply affected by addiction. Instead, I introduce the ...

In this episode of the Families Navigating Addiction & Recovery podcast, I'm sharing an overview from Session 2 of my Brain Health Masterclass for Families, called Finding Calm in the Storm of Addiction. When addiction is active in the family, it can feel like being pulled into raging rapids, where your attention narrows, your nervous system reacts, and you find yourself repeating the same arguments or patterns aga...

When addiction is present in a family, it can be hard to know what to believe, what to do, or which direction to take. There are so many competing messages coming from culture, community, treatment models, and even our own family history.

In this episode of the Families Navigating Addiction & Recovery podcast, I talk about how these mixed messages can create confusion, rigid thinking, and conflict betw...

In this first episode of the new season of the Families Navigating Addiction & Recovery podcast, I'm reintroducing the heart of this work and what you can expect moving forward. After a six-year hiatus, I'm coming back with weekly episodes focused on empowering fam...

"So much of what we do perpetuates problems, not by intent, but by a lack of understanding." -Dr. Mike Barnes

The main focus of the recovery process is often given to the addict in the family and there's nothing wrong with that. It is out of genuine love that they go to great lengths to make sure the needs of their loved o...

"We need to communalize rather than individualize. And we need to normalize rather than pathologize."  - Ed Tick

The society we're living in today has forced veterans to carry the moral and social burdens of warfare alone. As a result, their unspoken pain and sorrows evolved into trauma and addiction problems which al...

"The idea behind sex addiction is not to stop having sex entirely and remove sex from your life. The idea is to develop a healthy sexuality." - Joshua Shea

The desire for love and pleasure is innate to all humans. However, as the world evolved, activities that were traditionally regarded as private and conservative are gra...

"There's no ruler until that addict bottoms out and wakes up into their conscious self, their authentic self, and starts the path of recovery." 

Codependency is a confusing topic under addiction. Numerous ideas branch out that often lead to misunderstanding and eventually, increased harm. Today, Rene Eram joins the stage to enlighten some of the misinforma...

"The real key to success is what happens after they leave treatment." -Stan McKnight 

Technological advancement has really brought the world to a new era. Communication, education, travel and even relationships are not how they used to be decades ago. If you're contemplating on finding an intervention that's compatibl...

"All you need to do is take action every day to support your body and your body is going to take care of you." -Nancy Miggins 

To take care of yourself is to take care of others. The last thing we want is to fall ill when everybody has already recovered. It's something everyone must do and gain mastery over. When we a...

"The first step is really just seeing what the pieces are at play and accepting the pieces at play as they are." -Vincent Peronne

Sometimes what makes our fight harder is not the fight itself, but the things that we can't control. In that event, what are we to do? Vincent Peronne sheds light on this topic and expounds on t...

"The gut is the gateway to health." -Stephanie Small 

Want an intervention that's effective and natural? We often resort to medicines to get a dose of relief without really understanding what we are treating. Healing comes from addressing th...

"Your kid's addiction or your family members' addiction is not your responsibility. How you react to it is your responsibility." - Kevin Petersen

Addiction is a worldwide trend. It comes in many forms and in varying degrees. Thus, families need to be on guard at all times. However,