What goes around, comes around. Kenny, Bridget, and Elizabeth share some of their all-time favorite Coming Up for Air episodes and explain what was so impactful about them.

Our Families Speak cohosts came to Allies in Recovery as family members looking for help with shifting the dynamic with an addicted Loved One. Like you, they discovered the Coming Up for Air podcast and started exploring the rich collection of episodes.

These family members have gotten so fluent with the CRAFT method and the Allies site that they are guiding other families toward lasting change and deep relief. Tune in for your weekly dose of wisdom, skills-building and humility with the Fabulous Families Speak team.

One Families Speak family member recently referred to Allies in Recovery as “the Bible of Healing Ourselves.” Visit alliesinrecovery.net today and see why.

Here are the episodes referred to by our co-hosts:

Handling Hard Feelings  https://open.spotify.com/episode/5sUrw5b4ReLk8j7lgpJXPg?si=84d77ae13eaf4c11

Don't Let Perfectionism Get In the Way https://open.spotify.com/episode/2RaM8yPjcWJhRUN5UiULrP?si=42e6810e734842a2

Progress, Not Perfection  https://open.spotify.com/episode/5DbHC1inU6O5dXNQTJL4ut?si=b5d7ecd992d8421a

Rupture & Repair  https://open.spotify.com/episode/6LmzWhLiF46OJZFzWMSsWG?si=d8d7edbacb0a4640

Intention vs. Perception  https://open.spotify.com/episode/4al0mCiFDyw2k68iBrDS1P?si=fa5de8a0455b42c0 

How Do You Deal with Unknowns and Unlimited Contact? https://open.spotify.com/episode/0tgCK4Cu8CT7UNZkd2oOoa?si=TkJdXBRVSpukZ83S7QPlnA

Interview with Linda Aber 1  https://open.spotify.com/episode/164BpA0SPqF597rfuizhEW?si=4e2e544aaafa4544

Interview with Linda Aber 2 https://open.spotify.com/episode/5si6fjXEgzrmsRYqHnL13H?si=b38bb8f78e8445af

How Do You Negotiate When your LO is coming home? https://open.spotify.com/episode/5IS4fCeIZ5wG6rN2uFtneC?si=7f33c3f2a7d241ff

Reflective Listening, intentional dialogue & improving communication  https://open.spotify.com/episode/7jTH2LO6979oJiSRpIFArv?si=6096406118334f29

What are the challenges of Reflective Listening? https://open.spotify.com/episode/7sDxje6rj4XrWT0ruQTe7M?si=36d4d243d3f14227

How do you get past accumulated trauma? https://open.spotify.com/episode/7Jg9KlUbLmTwgEzybkfe8m?si=c3b91741191a49ec

Kayla checks in with Annie Highwater, a regular contributor to our blog, about ways that CRAFT and Allies in Recovery's member site have changed her as a person.

Is your Loved One struggling with addiction? 

Allies in Recovery’s online program can help. You’ll learn a powerful, evidence-based approach to improve your wellbeing and that of other family members. Allies in Recovery provides the strategy, words, and actions a family needs to successfully move their Loved One with addiction toward stopping substance misuse/addiction.   Allies in Recovery also teaches families to navigate the world of addiction and recovery, including working towards engaging a Loved One into care and treatment. The program trains families to be effective participants in the journey to wellness for a Loved One with addiction. Let's get you on the road to becoming an ally! Visit alliesinrecovery.net

To learn more about Annie Highwater, you can check her out on FB, listen to her podcast "The Unhooked Podcast", or check out her books, Unhooked and Unbroken.

Money is already such a huge issue for almost everyone, before you even add Substance Use Disorder (SUD) into the mix! Things get exponentially more complex when it's your loved one with addiction issues asking for money. Whether it's "just 20 dollars" or rent for an apartment, families often experience the feeling of being hostage to their fear for their loved one. Giving your loved one money can play into that dynamic. Our hosts share their stance re: money before finding CRAFT, and what changed (for the better!) once they were using the CRAFT toolkit that we teach at Allies in Recovery. A fascinating conversation that brings helpful perspectives for the sticky issue of money.

In part 2 of 2, Isabel, Kayla, and their co-hosts -- family members with direct experience -- discuss their favorite tools and tips they've picked up from working with the CRAFT method through Allies in Recovery.

Our Families Speak series features a wonderful team of people navigating life with an addicted loved one. They are all members of Allies in Recovery, an online platform providing training, guidance, support and resources to families ready to shift the dynamic with their loved one struggling with substance use.

With grace, compassion, humility and deep generosity, the Families Speak team shares openly with Coming Up for Air listeners. We can thus benefit from their experience, their process, and the work they do with group facilitator and psychotherapist, Kayla Solomon.

Visit alliesinrecovery.net to learn about our membership options, read our blog posts, meet our team, and much more!

Isabel, Kayla, and co-hosts with direct experience discuss their favorite tools and tips they've picked up from working with the CRAFT method through Allies in Recovery. Part 1 of 2.

Our Families Speak series features a wonderful team of people navigating life with an addicted loved one. They are all members of Allies in Recovery, an online platform providing training, guidance, support and resources to families ready to shift the dynamic with their loved one struggling with substance use.

With grace, compassion, humility and deep generosity, the Families Speak team shares openly with Coming Up for Air listeners. We can thus benefit from their experience, their process, and the work they do with group facilitator and psychotherapist, Kayla Solomon.

Visit alliesinrecovery.net to learn about our membership options, read our blog posts, meet our team, and much more!

If you have an addicted loved one, chances are you're all too familiar with "hyper-arousal" or "survival mode." As Emily explains with brio, this state is meant to serve us when there's danger, then pass. What does it look like when we're chronically in this mode?

Physical and mental/emotional signs are there and can serve as signposts, Emily explains, indicating we're heading down a certain path. Awareness is KEY in being able to begin the process of observing, naming what's happening, then (once the actual crisis has subsided) gathering tools and rehearsing a response for the next time.

At AlliesinRecovery.net we train, guide and support families using the CRAFT method. Self-care is a cornerstone, for so many reasons, but many of us need to learn it from scratch. Visit alliesinrecovery.net to learn more about membership.

To learn more about Emily Cooney, and her coaching offerings, visit emilycooney.com or @goldfinch_wellness

Sometimes, our Loved Ones' situations call for incredibly difficult decisions. Co-host Hazel shares a recent high-stakes moment that felt like a necessary betrayal.

Our Families Speak series features a wonderful team of people navigating life with an addicted loved one. They are all members of Allies in Recovery, an online platform providing training, guidance, support and resources for families ready to shift the dynamic with their loved one struggling with substance use.

With grace, compassion, humility and deep generosity, the Families Speak team shares openly with Coming Up for Air listeners. We can thus benefit from their experience, their process, and the work they do with group facilitator and psychotherapist, Kayla Solomon.

Visit alliesinrecovery.net to learn about our membership options, read our blog posts, meet our team, and much more!

When there's substance use disorder and mental health diagnoses, what do you do? Can you use CRAFT? Yes, most of the time you can, unless the mental health issues make you or them unsafe. Co-host Bridget offers a central point: with this difficult combo, think of what is, not "what if."

How do you deal with having hard feelings around your loved one's substance use? Kayla, Carolyn, Bridget, Elizabeth, and Kenny discuss their experiences and feelings of anxiety, frustration, and fear and their tools for handling the situation.

The Allies in Recovery program (alliesinrecovery.net) and the CRAFT Method for families seeking to help a loved one with addiction, teach concrete skills to shift the dynamics between you and your loved one. Paying closer attention to your own feelings, and taking a bit of distance from them in order to not add unnecessary weight to them, is part of our eLearning program.

It's easy to feel like you have to be perfect with CRAFT, perfect with your loved one to be successful. But perfectionism gets in the way of connection. It can blind us, keep us from seeing our loved one fully. Acknowledging things not going the way you wanted, taking responsibility for behavior that doesn’t work--that’s part of the connection, and the healing part of the process. If your loved one feels connection and love, that’s the beginning of treatment.