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 While families are often in a position to encourage a loved one to get treatment, they are generally sidelined with inadequate inaccurate information, support and resources.  Though many persons with addiction do not have healthy families to lean upon, the minimal support available is largely devoted to parents of young people with addiction. Close friends, partners, and chosen families can also serve as valuable recovery capital that can give people motivation to sustain the ongoing effort required to get better; or to simply stay safe. Meet Alex Colyer and her Albertus Project, who learned the hard way about the many paths to recovery. Alex has used the deep grief from the loss of her bff to fuel her mission; to help families and persons access treatment and get resources needed to reduce the risk of harm. 

Guest Interviewer extraordinaire Amanda guides the conversation as son and father describe the pursuit of addiction recovery as a family.  We hear many stories from persons recovering, and a few stories of families recovering from the impact of addiction. For the first time the two join together to describe their mutual struggles; showing the power of compassion, kindness, and mutual support. Michael's recovery journey has been anything but orthodox; which fits his personality, and gives hope and meaning to the concept of multiple pathways. Many persons with addiction don't benefit from traditional industry dogma, and need to find their own individualized way. Patients don't fail treatment; treatment fails patients. 

Today’s guest is the remarkable Ms. Casie Fariello, the Co-Founder and CEO of an exciting online parent support organization called Other Parents Like Me; or OPLM.   We’ll be talking about the impact of parenting a child with addiction; and how Casie found her path to recovery from that impact. She credits Community Reinforcement and Family Training (CRAFT) for her decision to welcome her son home, to recover as a family.  This compelling story about peer family support provides hope that family addiction recovery is possible.  You can find Casie and her virtual community of ‘parents who get it’ at OPLM.com.  

The third of my Pro Tips series gives you sixteen little-known practical steps you can take TODAY to Find Help For Addiction.  Did you know that many states have a 24hr hotline at 211 that will give you soon intake appointments for treatment? That having a medical professional calling an ER in advance will get you better care? That patients usually do best when they are allowed to decide on treatment they wish to pursue; or not? That you can get a same-day appointment with your primary care physician to start treatment? That your health insurance will provide Telehealth medical evaluations to start treatment? That the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)'s Navigator search engine finds treatment with no commercial sponsors?  That sometimes residential rehabs don't help; or even cause harm?  That going in to a Safe Stations firehouse in some cities will get you a Recovery Coach with resources? Try to remain hopeful, recovery is always possible; don't give up on yourself!

 People can accomplish amazing things when they feel loved. I address a listener question, "Episode 15 had great tips on recognizing addiction, but once you recognize it, how do you talk to a loved one about your concerns?" CRAFT: Community Reinforcement and Family Training, has a 70% success rate for encouraging a loved one with addiction into treatment. What’s unique about my family coaching is that the family learns more effective approaches towards addiction.  With a little help, family can influence their loved one to move forward in a positive direction. Here are 7 tips to better communication, along with an easy acronym (PIUS) to help you remember. If you're concerned about a loved one who uses substances, and if the advice you're getting just isn't working, feel free to contact me.  I'll help you learn a more compassionate approach proven to be most effective, and together we can start to save your family from addiction. 

Far and away the most asked question I get is, "How do I know if my loved one has a substance use problem?" Through listening to this episode you will become an expert in identifying addiction.  You will also start to learn how you can positively influence a person to become interested in health and recovery, and maybe even treatment. My last episode of Pro Tips for navigating the treatment industry drew a lot of positive feedback. Here you will get nuts and bolts advice so you'll know what you're dealing with.  Future Pro Tips episodes will address how to talk with your loved one about your concerns, and how to establish and maintain a loving relationship regardless of whether they choose to enter treatment or not. Message me with questions I'll address in future episodes at familiyaddictioncoaching.com  

If your loved one has a substance use disorder and is not interested in reducing use, maintaining abstinence, or in pursuing treatment, this episode will help. Today’s guest has used my coaching support for several years to help her family help her son manage his addiction.  Though he had no interest in abstinence or in treatment, she was unwilling to withdraw her love and support, and refused to let him hit a rock hard bottom.  Harm Reduction encourages us to take all steps possible to promote a person's health safety and welfare.  It's about families getting useful support and guidance on how they can help their loved one who doesn’t want help.   After four years of hard work and family coaching support, for the first time ever, her son recently asked for her help.  It saved his life, and he’s now employed and in a sober living program.  If you are concerned about a loved one’s substance use, call 211, go to Al-Anon or SmartRecovery Friends and Family, message me at www.familyaddictioncoach.com.    

If your loved one is struggling with addiction and you're struggling with the process, this episode will help.  Patrick Doyle chats with a friend in recovery and shares his pro tips on evaluating treatment centers, navigating rehab barriers, the do's and dont's of being a supportive family member, and the importance of self-care. Research shows that truly involving families improves outcomes; yet most families are blocked out. Programs hide behind "privacy" and won't talk with families; unless you know these industry secrets. Also, what does it mean when a treatment center claims to to use evidence based practices; and how do you know if they're being properly implemented? How reliable are the "reported outcomes" and success rates treatment centers advertise on their website? What do you do when your loved one is discharged from treatment? Patrick gives his professional advice on all this and more. 

This episode describes how families with addiction can benefit from the services of Family Recovery Coach Laurie MacDougall.  Through her weekly online support groups, you can learn:1.     Steps you can take TODAY, to reduce your loved one’s substance use 2.     How you can engage a person into treatment 3.     How to improve your quality of emotional, physical, and relationship lifeUnlike much of the traditional help for families, these are not just empty promises.  Laurie uses CRAFT, a cognitive behavioral therapy shown in medical studies to be far and away the most effective approach for reaching these goals.  You can start to make your life better today, by listening to this conversation and then contacting Laurie.  Like every aspect of Family Addiction Coaching, this is all about lifting up, encouraging, and celebrating the millions of families who refuse to give up on persons with addiction.  Laurie MacDougall can be reached at www.resthelps.org

This episode courtesy of Talk2MeDoc Podcast's creator Dr. Andrew Tisser, who discusses how career stress on medical providers can lead to mental health and substance use issues. The value of peers in these professions reaching out to each other cannot be overestimated.   Helping families and chosen families through the Community Reinforcement And Family Training method shows a 70% success rate bringing a loved one with addiction into treatment.  When possible, family involvement in addiction treatment has been shown to be the gold standard for best outcomes.  Valuable information for any medical provider either treating addiction, or encountering it in their personal lives. www.andrewtisserdo.com 

Lynette, mother of Amanda featured in Episode 3, describes how she and her husband supported their daughter who had developed an opioid use disorder. Upon first learning of Amanda's arrest and heroin addiction, Lynette gave her the perfect response: "Nobody's perfect." Amanda's parents intuitively practiced Harm Reduction to help keep her as safe as possible; her father installed deadbolt locks and steel window security bars for her safety. They never gave up on her. And it worked. When Amanda asked for their help in a jail cell, they were ready; and helped her start on her beautiful recovery journey. 

A married couple, Joe and Lynn, describes how they decided to use my coaching; and exactly how their 3 generational family was helped to enter their own recovery.  Family recovery was then able to support Joe's fifty year old sister Jennifer who ultimately starting making decisions promoting her health and recovery from severe life-threatening alcohol use.  "We have our Patrick Doyle-isms; you were like a lifeline! It's such a relief."

We need to give Black persons with addiction tools for coping with the daily traumatic impact of racism; which if it existed, would be known as trauma-informed dual diagnosis care specific to racism. However it does not exist; no treatment programs are offering this. Like all other institutions in America, the Addiction Treatment Industry reflects the built-in racism of society; and to most Whites it remains hidden. If Black persons with addiction even trust the  programs with overwhelmingly White staff enough to ask for help, they are provided no different care than White patients.  At most programs it's one size fits all regardless of race, drug, or gender identification. Even with the significant impact of Covid19 recovery is still possible; and my Family Coaching improves outcomes.

 Family Addiction Recovery innovators Dr. Dominique Simon-Levine, Patrick Doyle, and Amanda S. share expert observations on the public health emergency’s impact on families and persons with addiction. Dominique is waiving the subscription fee and offering free access to her first-of-its-kind family communication skill-building online program www.alliesinrecovery.net. Patrick describes how a client used his coaching services to find a quality residential treatment program and convinced her spouse to accept admission: all within 24 hours. Even today there continue to be opportunities and hope for recovery. As spoken by Mary in Episode 6: “We would NEVER give up on someone we love!” 

Family Addiction Coaching client Mary describes how Patrick Doyle's coaching services helped her help her adult daughter gain health and recovery.  While Anya now has eight years of sustained recovery, it was a challenging journey.  Even being a highly trained medical professional, it was difficult for Mary to find accurate information about addiction and effective treatment options.  Due to judgement and the stigma placed on families with addiction, it was even more difficult for her to ask for help.  The positive feedback from patients she had referred to Patrick was the encouragement Mary needed to finally reach out during her family's time of crisis.  She saw the true value of family coaching when Anya finally asked for help, and Mary found quality programs.  "I could never give up on someone I love."  

 Much appreciation to HPIR Podcast's Sean Fogler and Bill Kinkle sharing their series' 'Episode 8: The Untapped Resource: Family with Patrick Doyle'. From HPIR site: 'Join our hosts as we chat with our good friend Patrick Doyle from Family Addiction Coaching as we discuss the role of the family in a person's recovery. Often the family is excluded from treatment and viewed either as "co-dependent" or "enabling"; therefore, seen as a liability. However, many health professionals who struggle with substance use have deep seeded relationships with their families, spouses and children. How do we begin to change the culture and see the family as a critical element to long term recovery? Listen as we discuss about the most ignored, but valuable resource a person brings.' Please subscribe, rate and review:   https://www.healthprosinrecovery.com/home/podcasts/

Hear exactly how our professional Coaching for families with addiction can help the recovery process for both families and their loved ones with addiction.  Patrick Doyle's teenage depression and wish that his family could have gotten professional help, gave him the mission to help families recover.  Our hosts share their lived experience and describe how this type of help for their families would have been so useful to their own recovery journeys.  Decide whether this service may be of use through a free consultation on the types of family needs coaching can meet.  Special thanks to Sean Fogler and Bill Kinkle of https://www.healthprosinrecovery.com/home/podcasts/; and please subscribe rate and review both the HPIR and Family Addiction Coaching podcasts.

We take a different approach as Episode 3 looks at Family Recovery through the eyes of a daughter with both addiction and chronic pain illnesses. Through her advocacy work on Twitter as @RebelEclectic, Amanda S is widely respected as a person bringing both patient communities together by identifying common ground.  Now you can hear an inspirational story of how she gained health and recovery largely through the loving family that never gave up on her.

 A client describes how she used our coaching services to help her family recover from the impact of a loved one's addiction. Cross-country phone-based family meetings, and live immediate guidance when needed; because addiction crises don't follow a schedule. Families too need health and recovery, and our unique on-demand availability can make a difference. 

An inspirational story of true love and personal courage triumphing over heroin addiction and an unscrupulous treatment industry. Trish Kinkle describes the impact of addiction, and the family's recovery from husband Bill Kinkle's life-threatening opioid use disorder. While Bill received treatment from over thirty residential programs, he and the Kinkle family found recovery despite the overwhelmingly harmful treatment received from  professionals. Hear Trish report how she was  shut completely out of his treatment, and professional staff tried to manipulate her husband by falsely claiming she would divorce him. More than a compelling indictment of the industry, this can give every family hope that recovery is always possible.