Addiction and the Family

Casey Arrillaga and Kira Arrillaga

Addiction and the Family is a podcast by and for family members of anyone with an addiction. We are working to bring experience, strength, and realistic hope so that you and your family can find recovery together. We do this through interviews with family members, people in recovery, and professionals who work with addiction every day. We also bring you research-backed information and practical ideas born of real-life experience. We are currently publishing on a monthly basis, with new episodes released near the end of each month. We are excited to present Casey's book "Realistic Hope: The Family Survial Guide for Facing Alcoholism and Other Addictions" (https://www.amazon.com/Realistic-Hope-P-Casey-Arrillaga/dp/1737981505/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=realistic+hope&qid=1637811980&sr=8-1) Help us carry the message by supporting Addiction and the Family on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/bePatron?u=31010526 Thank you for listening!

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Episode 31: Philosophy, Spirituality, and Recovery with Peg O'Connor

Episode 31: Philosophy, Spirituality, and Recovery with Peg O'Connor

A wide-ranging conversation about philosophy, spirituality, and recovery with author Peg O'Connor, We talk about what these ideas mean for both people with addiction and those who love them. Peg talks about her new book "Higher and Friendly Powers" and how it comes out of her work and her own recovery. Special Guest: Peg O'Connor.

Episode 31: Philosophy, Spirituality, and Recovery with Peg O'Connor

Episode 31: Philosophy, Spirituality, and Recovery with Peg O'Connor

A wide-ranging conversation about philosophy, spirituality, and recovery with author Peg O'Connor, We talk about what these ideas mean for both people with addiction and those who love them. Peg talks about her new book "Higher and Friendly Powers" and how it comes out of her work and her own recovery. Special Guest: Peg O'Connor.

Episode 30: What is SMART Recovery, with Lisa Davidson

Episode 30: What is SMART Recovery, with Lisa Davidson

Lisa Davidson, Clinical Director at Windmill Wellness Ranch, talks about her personal and professional journey of recovery using SMART Recovery, one of the major alternatives or adjuncts to 12 Step recovery. She gives examples of the tools of SMART and how they work on a practical level to help people with addiciton and those they love recover. Special Guest: Lisa Davidson.

Episode 29: Innovations in Addiction Treatment

Episode 29: Innovations in Addiction Treatment

We interview two innovators in addiction treatment: Dr. Heather Ingram and Shannon Malish, LCSW. Each talks about how she works directly with people's brains to help them recover. Special Guests: Heather Ingram, PsyD and Shannon Malish, LCSW-S.

Episode 28: Interview with the Interventionist

Episode 28: Interview with the Interventionist

We interview Dustin Williams, who owns an intervention and personal recovery service. He shares some of his story of recovery and how he helps families get a loved on into and through treatment, then supports them afterward.

Episode 27: Dianne: Living the Al-Anon Principles in Marriage

Episode 27: Dianne: Living the Al-Anon Principles in Marriage

We hear from Dianne, who learned how to live the principles of Al-Anon in her marriage, and how this helped her to have a long relationship full of recovery for both her and her husband. She talks about learning to set boundaries and what this did for her recovery as well as her husband's. She discusses how she practices detachment with love.

Episode 26: Conversations With Counselors #2 - Paige Majko

Episode 26: Conversations With Counselors #2 - Paige Majko

In this interview, counselor Paige Majko talks about her personal and professional relationship with addiction and recovery, including her work with families affected by addiction, and what recovery has done for her family.

Episode 25: Enabling vs. Helping

Episode 25: Enabling vs. Helping

In this episode, we explore underlying assumptions that lead to unhealthy enabling and how to challenge these, how Shakespeare can help you move from enabling to helping, and provide some questions you can ask yourself in order to see if you are about to enable someone or help them.

Episode 24: Brian and Tamara: Relationships in Long-Term Recovery

Episode 24: Brian and Tamara: Relationships in Long-Term Recovery

In this wide-ranging conversation with Brian and Tamara, Kira and Casey explore the ins and outs of being in recovery while being in long-term relationships. Both couples share their stories, what has worked best for them, and how they have grown together.

Episode 23: Conversations With Counselors #1 - Merrit Hartblay

Episode 23: Conversations With Counselors #1 - Merrit Hartblay

We talk with Merrit Hartblay, social worker and addiction counselor in New York. Merrit and Casey talk about the things they've seen most help families deal with addiction, and their personal stories of how they found healing in their own families. Merrit hosts his own podcast "Recovery Road" and is the author of "Lost Innocence: My Journey From Addiction to Recovery".

Episode 22: Abigail: Addiction, the Family, and the Law

Episode 22: Abigail: Addiction, the Family, and the Law

We interview Abigail Seymour, who specializes in family law around addiction, especially the tricky waters of child custody. She offers insight for people in recovery, their co-parents, and other family members who find themselves suddenly thrust into these difficult issues. She also shares what drew her to this work and what inspires her to keep going.

Episode 21: Creating Happiness

Episode 21: Creating Happiness

In this episode, we look at various ways you can create happiness through the tools of positive recovery, including PERMA, a focus on strengths, resilience, and the power of gratitude. For each concept, we will present a practical exercise you can use to start seeing benefits.

Episode 20: Ashley: Letting Go of Codependent Patterns

Episode 20: Ashley: Letting Go of Codependent Patterns

We interview Ashley, who traces the roots of her codependent patterns back to childhood, who married someone with addiction, and who learned to let these patterns go. She looks at how she learned to moved into a healthier way of seeing and caring for herself. She talks about how she made these changes and how she now helps others do the same.

Episode 19: Effective Communication and Boundaries

Episode 19: Effective Communication and Boundaries

In this episode, we look at how to have more effective communication and boundaries. We learn about communication styles, how to tell which one is your default, and tips on how to communicate more effectively in any situation. We also discuss what makes an effective boundary and how to set some boundaries of your own.

Episode 18: Arnold: Reflections on a Lifetime in Recovery

Episode 18: Arnold: Reflections on a Lifetime in Recovery

Arnold shares what he has learned during his 50 years in AA, how his family was affected before and after his wife found her own recovery, and what family members can do when faced with addiction.

Episode 17: Amy G: Young, Gay, and Sober

Episode 17: Amy G: Young, Gay, and Sober

Episode 16: Emotional Sobriety

Episode 16: Emotional Sobriety

We look at the idea of emotional sobriety, how it applies for family members as well as those with addictions, why it's important for everyone, and how to enhance it in your life. We feature an interview with Teresa, who has over 30 years in recovery and was one of our first role models for emotional sobriety.

Episode 15: Al M: 60 Years of Recovery as a Family Member

Episode 15: Al M: 60 Years of Recovery as a Family Member

Dr. Al Mooney entered family recovery at age 10, when his parents got sober. Sixty years later, he reflects on how this experience shaped him and led to a lifetime of helping others to recover. For more on Dr. Mooney's work, check out of his books, both available on Amazon: The Recovery Book My Life in Recovery Special Guest: Dr. Al Mooney.

Episode 14: Anniversaries and Milestones

Episode 14: Anniversaries and Milestones

This episode mark the 1st anniversary of our podcast, so we discuss why anniversaries and milestones are such a big deal in recovery, and hear two great interviews with people in recovery around this topic. David is a man in recovery whose interview happened in a special day in his recovery. He talks about his journey so far, and how his recovery has impacted his relationships, including with his father who passed away last year. Brian and Tamara talk about the various anniversaries and milestones so far as a couple both in recovery, and what anniversaries and milestones they are looking forward to in the new year.

Episode 13: A. S.: A Story of Finding Freedom

Episode 13: A. S.: A Story of Finding Freedom

Having grown up in a household devastated by alcoholism, she never thought she would marry someone with an addiction. In this in-depth interview, author A. S. Edwards talks about her journey through all this, and how she is finding her own recovery. She explores how family patterns repeated themselves and what she has been doing to change this, including working on a memoir of her experiences.

Episode 12: Gratitude

Episode 12: Gratitude

All about gratitidue: We look at the benefits of gratitude, where it's hard around active addiction, how to have more of it, its place in recovery, and then Kira leads a gratitude meditation. Includes "person on the street" interviews about gratitude with both family members and people in recovery from addiction.