Addiction Talk

In Part 1 of this Addiction Talk: Expert Insights conversation, Linda Oxendine, a Lumbee Tribal Member and member of CORE North Carolina, shares how her organization discovered a growing opioid and overdose crisis in Robeson County during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Linda discusses why Native American communities were being disproportionately affected and explores the complex factors behind the crisis, including historical and generational trauma, loss of cultural identity, economic hardship, fentanyl, stigma, and barriers to addiction treatment.

She also explains why many community leaders initially did not understand the scale of the problem—and how CORE realized that education, community involvement and a new approach to addiction would be essential to saving lives.

 Addiction Talk is brought to you by  American Addiction Centers, a leading provider of addiction and mental health services.

Addiction Talk is brought to you by American Addiction Centers. If you or someone you know needs help, call 866-407-4130, or visit our website at AmericanAddictionCenters.org

Can a family truly heal after addiction?

In the final chapter of this three-part conversation, Hollywood director Mark Rosman (Keep Coming Back, A Cinderella Story, Lizzie McGuire, Even Stevens) reflects on what recovery looked like—not just for his daughter, but for his entire family.

After facing denial, fear, and one of the most difficult experiences a parent can endure, Mark shares the lessons that helped his family move forward. He discusses the importance of setting healthy boundaries, letting go of guilt, embracing family recovery, and finding hope even after addiction has changed everything.

In this episode, you'll hear:

• Why recovery is a journey for the entire family
• The importance of healthy boundaries and self-care
• How Mark's perspective as a father changed through the recovery process
• The role of hope, healing, and resilience
• Encouragement for families navigating addiction today

Whether you're supporting a loved one, working through your own recovery journey, or searching for hope after addiction has impacted your family, this conversation offers honest insight and practical encouragement.

This episode concludes our three-part conversation with Mark Rosman. If you're just joining us, be sure to listen to Part 1: How Do You Know If Your Child Has an Addiction? and Part 2: How Do You Accept That Your Child Is an Addict?to hear the complete story from beginning to end.

Thank you for listening to Addiction Talk, where real stories and expert insights inspire hope, healing, and recovery. Be sure to follow the podcast so you never miss future conversations with clinicians, people in recovery, family members, and experts working to change lives every day.

 Addiction Talk is brought to you by  American Addiction Centers, a leading provider of addiction and mental health services.

Addiction Talk is brought to you by American Addiction Centers. Looking for more addiction-related content? Follow us on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok @americanaddictioncenters! 

Addiction Talk is brought to you by American Addiction Centers. If you or someone you know needs help, call 866-407-4130, or visit our website at AmericanAddictionCenters.org

How do you come to terms with the fact that your child is struggling with addiction?

In Part 2 of this three-part conversation, Hollywood director Mark Rosman (Keep Coming Back, A Cinderella Story, Lizzie McGuire, Even Stevens) shares the heartbreaking moment his family could no longer deny the reality of his daughter's addiction.

Mark opens up about hearing the devastating truth from an addiction specialist, the fear of losing his daughter, and the emotional toll addiction takes on parents and the entire family. He also discusses how support groups like Al-Anon helped him begin to understand that recovery isn't just for the person struggling with addiction—it's for the family, too.

In this episode, you'll hear:

• The conversation that changed Mark's family forever
• Why accepting addiction is one of the hardest steps for parents
• How denial can delay getting help
• The emotional impact addiction has on loved ones
• Why family recovery is just as important as individual recovery

If you're a parent, spouse, sibling, or someone who loves a person struggling with addiction, this conversation offers honest insight, compassion, and hope from someone who has lived through it.

🎙 In Part 3, Mark shares what healing looked like for his family, the importance of setting healthy boundaries, and the lessons every family affected by addiction should hear.

If this conversation has been meaningful to you, be sure to follow the podcast and listen to Part 3: Can Families Recover from Addiction Together?

 Addiction Talk is brought to you by  American Addiction Centers, a leading provider of addiction and mental health services.

Addiction Talk is brought to you by American Addiction Centers. If you or someone you know needs help, call 866-407-4130, or visit our website at AmericanAddictionCenters.org

How do you know when typical teenage behavior has become something much more serious?

In Part 1 of this three-part conversation, Hollywood director Mark Rosman (Keep Coming Back, A Cinderella Story, Lizzie McGuire, Even Stevens) shares the deeply personal story of discovering his daughter's addiction—and the warning signs he and his family almost missed.

Mark opens up about the denial, fear, and uncertainty that so many parents experience when addiction enters the family. He also explains how years of successful filmmaking ultimately led him to create Keep Coming Back, a feature film inspired by his family's recovery journey.

In this episode, you'll hear:

• The early warning signs of addiction that many parents overlook
• Why denial is such a common response
• How Mark's Hollywood career led him to tell his most personal story
• Why he believes families need recovery too
• The events that set his family on an entirely new path

Whether you're a parent, family member, or simply want to better understand addiction, this conversation offers honest insight, practical perspective, and hope.

🎙 In Part 2, Mark shares the heartbreaking moment an addiction specialist told him the truth about his daughter—and how that conversation changed everything for his family.

If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to follow the podcast so you don't miss Part 2.

 Addiction Talk is brought to you by  American Addiction Centers, a leading provider of addiction and mental health services.

Addiction Talk is brought to you by American Addiction Centers. If you or someone you know needs help, call 866-407-4130, or visit our website at AmericanAddictionCenters.org

Hollywood director Mark Rosman has helped create some of the most beloved family films and television shows, including A Cinderella Story, Lizzie McGuire, and Even Stevens. But behind the cameras, he and his family were facing a battle they never expected—his teenage daughter's addiction.

In this powerful episode of Addiction Talk, Mark shares the deeply personal journey that inspired his upcoming film, Keep Coming Back. He opens up about the denial, fear, heartbreak, and ultimately the hope that came from learning one of recovery's most important lessons: families heal too.

 Addiction Talk is brought to you by  American Addiction Centers, a leading provider of addiction and mental health services.

Addiction Talk is brought to you by American Addiction Centers. Looking for more addiction-related content? Follow us on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok @americanaddictioncenters! 

Addiction Talk is brought to you by American Addiction Centers. If you or someone you know needs help, call 866-407-4130, or visit our website at AmericanAddictionCenters.org

For years, April believed she could eventually drink like a "normal person." After surviving childhood trauma, family alcoholism, and decades of emotional pain, she spent 20 years abstinent from alcohol—but without addressing the deeper issues underneath.

When she returned to drinking, everything spiraled. What followed was a journey through addiction, toxic relationships, relapse, and ultimately a life-changing decision to seek help.

 Addiction Talk is brought to you by  American Addiction Centers, a leading provider of addiction and mental health services.

Addiction Talk is brought to you by American Addiction Centers. Looking for more addiction-related content? Follow us on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok @americanaddictioncenters! 

Addiction Talk is brought to you by American Addiction Centers. If you or someone you know needs help, call 866-407-4130, or visit our website at AmericanAddictionCenters.org

Actress, entrepreneur, and survivor Luann Lee shares her powerful recovery story, revealing the childhood trauma, emotional pain, and addiction that nearly took everything from her.

For years, Luann used alcohol to cope with wounds she didn't fully understand. What appeared to be a successful life on the outside was masking a deeper struggle within. In this candid conversation, she opens up about hitting a breaking point, seeking help, and discovering the root causes of her addiction.

Everything changed when she entered treatment at Oxford Treatment Center. Through trauma-focused therapy and a life-changing women's trauma program, Luann was able to confront her past, begin healing, and build a new life in recovery.

"Nothing unpacked it the way Oxford Treatment Center did."

In this episode, you'll hear:
✔️ The trauma behind her addiction
✔️ The moment she knew she needed help
✔️ How Oxford Treatment Center helped change her life
✔️ Why addressing underlying trauma is essential for recovery
✔️ A message of hope for anyone struggling with addiction

 Addiction Talk is brought to you by  American Addiction Centers, a leading provider of addiction and mental health services.

Addiction Talk is brought to you by American Addiction Centers. Looking for more addiction-related content? Follow us on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok @americanaddictioncenters! 

Addiction Talk is brought to you by American Addiction Centers. If you or someone you know needs help, call 866-407-4130, or visit our website at AmericanAddictionCenters.org

Kassandra’s story is one of resilience, faith, and the power of never giving up.

After years of addiction, trauma, and being told recovery might not be possible, she made a life-changing decision—to fight for her sobriety and build a life worth living. Through unwavering determination, deep faith, and a commitment to healing, Kassandra not only got sober, but transformed her pain into purpose.

In this powerful recovery story, she opens up about:
• Overcoming addiction and refusing to relapse despite every obstacle
• Living with bipolar disorder and healing from PTSD through EMDR therapy
• The role faith played in carrying her through her darkest moments
• Rebuilding her life, relationships, and finding true happiness in sobriety

Today, Kassandra is thriving—married, working full-time, surrounded by love, and using her voice to help others break free from addiction. Her message is simple but powerful: If she can do it, so can you.

This is more than a recovery story—it’s proof that no one is beyond hope.

If you or someone you love is struggling with addiction, help is available. Recovery is possible.

 Addiction Talk is brought to you by  American Addiction Centers, a leading provider of addiction and mental health services.

Addiction Talk is brought to you by American Addiction Centers. Looking for more addiction-related content? Follow us on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok @americanaddictioncenters! 

Addiction Talk is brought to you by American Addiction Centers. If you or someone you know needs help, call 866-407-4130, or visit our website at AmericanAddictionCenters.org

What does it really mean to earn your way back to yourself? For Madeline Smith, sober influencer and founder of Swole Sober, earned isn’t a hashtag. It’s hard work, dedication, and choosing again and again to make the next right decision. As a military wife surrounded by a “tough it out” culture and someone who prided herself on independence, she believed she should be figure out sobriety on her own. But recovery required something different: the humility to admit she couldn’t.

After years of battling addiction and finding herself in the same pattern she vowed never to repeat, Maddie finally raised her hand and said, “I need help.” That moment launched a journey grounded in vulnerability, transparency, and community. Today, through Swole Sober and competitions like Miss Health & Fitness—where she’s pledged to donate any winnings to the Shields and Stripes Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting Veterans and first responders—she’s redefining strength: not as white-knuckled independence, but as honesty, connection, and the courage to ask for help.

In this episode, we talk about:

• Why framing addiction as a willpower problem keeps people stuck in shame.
• How isolation fuels relapse.
• What it means to build the toolset you were never taught.
• And how the past does not define you, but what you do next absolutely does.

 Addiction Talk is brought to you by  American Addiction Centers, a leading provider of addiction and mental health services.

Addiction Talk is brought to you by American Addiction Centers. Looking for more addiction-related content? Follow us on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok @americanaddictioncenters! 

Addiction Talk is brought to you by American Addiction Centers. If you or someone you know needs help, call 866-407-4130, or visit our website at AmericanAddictionCenters.org

Jamison’s recovery story is a raw, honest, and deeply inspiring look at what real healing can look like after addiction.

After more than a decade of substance use, Jamison reached a breaking point that forced him to confront not just drugs—but the trauma beneath them. In this episode of Recovery Stories, Jamison shares how addiction treatment at Desert Hope Treatment Center became the turning point that helped him rebuild his foundation, reconnect with his faith, and redefine what recovery means to him 

Jamison opens up about:

Leaving active addiction behind after a life-altering moment

Traveling across the country to seek treatment at Desert Hope

Why trauma—not drugs—was the real root of his addiction

How treatment helped him develop emotional intelligence and self-awareness

Staying sober in Las Vegas—one of the most challenging environments imaginable

Building a new life as a professional boxer, husband, father, and mentor

Today, Jamison is living proof that recovery is possible—even when it feels impossible. His story offers hope to anyone struggling with addiction, questioning whether treatment works, or wondering if change is still possible for them or someone they love 
If you or a loved one are struggling with substance use, stories like Jamison’s remind us that healing starts with taking the first step—and that you don’t have to do it alone.

Call 866-244-1070

Watch, listen, and share this story of redemption, resilience, and recovery.

 Addiction Talk is brought to you by  American Addiction Centers, a leading provider of addiction and mental health services.

Addiction Talk is brought to you by American Addiction Centers. Looking for more addiction-related content? Follow us on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok @americanaddictioncenters! 

Addiction Talk is brought to you by American Addiction Centers. If you or someone you know needs help, call 866-407-4130, or visit our website at AmericanAddictionCenters.org