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In this deeply personal episode of the Get Unhooked Podcast, Jason Coombs sits down with Donna Pope, Executive Director of Heart to Heart Adoptions and an adoption advocate with more than 25 years of experience.
Together, they explore the rarely discussed intersection of adoption, addiction, and purpose through both professional insight and lived experience. Jason shares his perspective as a birth father in long-term recovery, opens up about his son Nathan, and reflects on the meaning that can grow from a story still being written.
This conversation is honest, emotional, and full of hope for birth parents, adoptive families, and anyone navigating recovery.
In this episode:
Key themes from this episode:
Jason also reflects on what it has meant to remain present in Nathan’s life, and how adoption became part of the deeper story God used in his own recovery journey.
Connect with Donna Pope:
Jason’s book Unhooked is available on Audible and Amazon.
Learn more about Brick House Recovery at www.brickhouserecovery.com.
Support the show
Join Jason Coombs LIVE each week for tips and tricks and LIVE Q&A’s. Go to https://www.liveunhooked.com/live-unhooked.
For information about treatment services visit https://www.brickhouserecovery.com/
For more information about Warrior Heart Bootcamp for men visit www.awarriorheart.com
https://awarriorheart.com/
$100 DISCOUNT CODE for Warrior Heart = 2026Brick100
To learn more about the women’s retreat, Heart of a Woman:
https://theheartofawoman.net/
$100 DISCOUNT CODE for Heart of a Woman = 2026Brick100
Send us Fan Mail
When a family is living through addiction, most of the focus falls on parents and spouses. But siblings carry their own kind of heartbreak, confusion, and hope.
In this episode of the Get Unhooked Podcast, Jason Coombs is joined by his brother Cory, his sister Melissa, and co-host Jennifer Chase for an honest conversation about the sibling experience in family recovery. They talk about loving someone from a distance, learning the difference between helping and fixing, and discovering that recovery can change the whole family, not just the person struggling.
You’ll hear how distance sometimes became a healthy boundary, why education helped replace judgment with compassion, how trust was rebuilt slowly over time, and what actually helped their parents during the hardest seasons. This episode is a reminder that showing up with love, honesty, and presence can matter more than having the perfect words.
If you have ever wondered what siblings feel, what they carry quietly, or how family healing really happens, this conversation will stay with you.
Show Notes
In Episode 47, Jason sits down with his brother Cory and sister Melissa to explore a side of family recovery that often goes unspoken: the sibling perspective. Together with Jennifer Chase, they unpack what it was like to love someone through addiction, support their parents from different distances, and watch recovery reshape the entire family system.
In this episode, we discuss:
Episode Highlights:
[01:26] Jason reframes family recovery as a process separate from sobriety
[03:29] How distance became a protective boundary for sibling relationships
[09:22] Jennifer shares what she hopes to learn from a sibling perspective
[10:08] Cory reflects on a brotherly bond that never broke
[13:50] Cory shares the impact of attending Jason’s treatment graduation
[17:34] Melissa opens up about once believing Jason could “just stop”
[18:46] How reading recovery literature and attending family group changed Melissa’s understanding
[22:11] Why trust-building happens slowly and rarely in a straight line
[24:32] Cory explains how Jason’s recovery work became a mirror for his own growth
[30:22] What helped and what did not when supporting their parents
[38:41] Why listening matters more than asking more questions
[43:01] Jason closes with a reflection on showing up with love and not shame
Key Takeaway
Siblings may not always be at the center of the crisis, but they are deeply impacted by it. Their perspective offers a powerful reminder that recovery is not just about one person changing. It is about a family learning a new way to love, support, and heal.
Support the show
Join Jason Coombs LIVE each week for tips and tricks and LIVE Q&A’s. Go to https://www.liveunhooked.com/live-unhooked.
For information about treatment services visit https://www.brickhouserecovery.com/
For more information about Warrior Heart Bootcamp for men visit www.awarriorheart.com
https://awarriorheart.com/
$100 DISCOUNT CODE for Warrior Heart = 2026Brick100
To learn more about the women’s retreat, Heart of a Woman:
https://theheartofawoman.net/
$100 DISCOUNT CODE for Heart of a Woman = 2026Brick100
Send us Fan Mail
Episode 46: How Do I Navigate Relapse? - Understanding the Cycle of Change
Relapse is one of the most feared words in a family’s recovery vocabulary. It shatters trust, reignites fear, and leaves everyone asking the same desperate question: Why would they go back after everything they’ve been through? In this raw and revealing episode of the Get Unhooked Podcast, Jason Coombs pulls back the curtain on his own relapse story and reframes how families can respond when their loved one stumbles. The answer is not panic. It’s not control. It’s surrender, and it looks nothing like giving up.
Episode Highlights
The Day External Motivation Disappeared
Jason opens this episode with a story that most families will recognize in some form. He had done the hard thing. He completed drug court. His felonies were reduced to misdemeanors. His parents took him to lunch, gave him gifts, told him they were proud. By every external measure, he had made it.
Then a coworker invited him to celebrate in Wendover, Nevada. One Long Island iced tea seemed harmless. He never really got in trouble for alcohol, after all. But the drink triggered what he describes as an allergic reaction, both physiological and mental. That single drink ignited a craving that ended the night with a thousand dollars gone, a club ejection for disorderly conduct, and a cocaine binge. By the next morning, shame had already begun feeding the cycle again.
What Jason wants families to understand is this: the promises were real. The commitment was genuine. But when external motivation lifted and internal ambivalence remained, the disease found its opening. Families often smack their foreheads and ask, What were you thinking? The honest answer is that thinking had very little to do with it.
Why Relapse Happens and What It Actually Means
Jason leans on Dr. Prochaska’s stages of change to explain that relapse is not a return to square one. It is most often one step backward in order to take two steps forward. The spiral model of change shows that contemplation, preparation, and action typically follow a relapse rather than disappearing because of it.
This is where families can breathe. A relapse does not erase progress. It reveals where ambivalence still lives.
Jason shares the story of a client named Grace, a 37-year-old mother who walked into his office before the holidays and asked to pause treatment so she could drink guilt-free through Christmas. Instead of lecturing her, Jason used motivational interviewing. He reflected her words back to her. He asked open-ended questions. He gave her space to sit with her own reasoning. Grace left that session committed to sobriety, but the next morning she drove to the liquor store and drank her
Support the show
Join Jason Coombs LIVE each week for tips and tricks and LIVE Q&A’s. Go to https://www.liveunhooked.com/live-unhooked.
For information about treatment services visit https://www.brickhouserecovery.com/
For more information about Warrior Heart Bootcamp for men visit www.awarriorheart.com
https://awarriorheart.com/
$100 DISCOUNT CODE for Warrior Heart = 2026Brick100
To learn more about the women’s retreat, Heart of a Woman:
https://theheartofawoman.net/
$100 DISCOUNT CODE for Heart of a Woman = 2026Brick100
Send us Fan Mail
Episode 45: Jason Coombs on That Sober Guy Podcast with Shane Ramer
A wide-ranging conversation on recovery, faith, fatherhood, identity, and the daily work of staying sober.
In this episode, you’ll hear:
Timestamps
Quotes worth revisiting
Resources mentioned
For families who feel stuck
If you love someone who’s struggling, you’re not powerless and you’re not the cause. You may not be able to control their choices, but you can change how you show up, create healthier conditions, and get support for your own nervous system, boundaries, and peace.
Gentle note
This episode includes discussion of addiction, homelessness, and suicidal moments. If you or someone you love is in immediate danger, call local emergency services right now. In the U.S., you can also dial or text 988 for the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.
If this episode helped, please follow, rate, and leave a review. It helps more people find hope and practical tools
Support the show
Join Jason Coombs LIVE each week for tips and tricks and LIVE Q&A’s. Go to https://www.liveunhooked.com/live-unhooked.
For information about treatment services visit https://www.brickhouserecovery.com/
For more information about Warrior Heart Bootcamp for men visit www.awarriorheart.com
https://awarriorheart.com/
$100 DISCOUNT CODE for Warrior Heart = 2026Brick100
To learn more about the women’s retreat, Heart of a Woman:
https://theheartofawoman.net/
$100 DISCOUNT CODE for Heart of a Woman = 2026Brick100
Send us Fan Mail
Why You Say You Want Peace… But Refuse to Do the One Thing That Brings It
Most families say they want peace.
But when it comes time to grieve the loss of the relationship they hoped for…
they tighten their grip instead.
In this deeply honest episode, Jason reveals:
This episode is both confronting and freeing.
If you’ve been strong for far too long…
this one will hit home.
⏱ Episode Highlights
[01:01] Why families show up strong, not weak — and how control hides behind love
[03:12] Step 1: The Hula Hoop Principle — what’s yours and what’s not
[05:23] Step 2: Facing your worst fear without catastrophizing
[07:12] Step 3: Letting go of attachment to specific outcomes
[09:04] Step 4: The grief stage most families avoid (and why it keeps you stuck)
[11:30] Why families say they want peace but refuse to grieve
[14:59] The five stages of grief explained through Jason’s personal loss
[20:57] Step 5: Trusting something bigger than your fear
[21:37] Step 6: Holding onto hope while releasing control
[22:37] Step 7: The daily practice of surrender
What You’ll Learn
✔ The difference between surrender and enabling
✔ Why fear creates the very outcomes you’re trying to prevent
✔ How grief breaks the control cycle
✔ How to be okay — even if they don’t change
✔ A 14-day surrender blueprint to begin reclaiming your peace
A Personal Note from Jason
You don’t have to wait for your loved one to recover before you recover your life.
That’s not selfish.
That’s sane.
Surrender is not giving up on them.
It’s finally picking yourself back up.
Resources & Support
📖 Unhooked: How to Help an Addicted Loved One Recover — Available on Amazon & Audible
🌐 Learn more about family recovery support at:
https://www.brickhouserecovery.com
Support the show
Join Jason Coombs LIVE each week for tips and tricks and LIVE Q&A’s. Go to https://www.liveunhooked.com/live-unhooked.
For information about treatment services visit https://www.brickhouserecovery.com/
For more information about Warrior Heart Bootcamp for men visit www.awarriorheart.com
https://awarriorheart.com/
$100 DISCOUNT CODE for Warrior Heart = 2026Brick100
To learn more about the women’s retreat, Heart of a Woman:
https://theheartofawoman.net/
$100 DISCOUNT CODE for Heart of a Woman = 2026Brick100
Send us Fan Mail
You set the boundary. They break it. Again. And somehow, you end up feeling like the bad guy.
If you’ve ever tried to hold the line with an addicted loved one—only to second-guess yourself, give in, or get gaslit—this episode is for you.
In Episode 43 of the Get Unhooked Podcast, Jason unpacks the BOUNDARY Framework—a practical, compassionate tool for setting and holding boundaries that actually work. Through a powerful real-life story about a woman named Grace, you’ll see how relapse and resistance aren’t always failures—they might just be the painful catalysts for lasting change.
Whether you’re deep in the cycle of enabling, drowning in guilt, or exhausted from carrying the weight of someone else’s choices, this episode offers clarity, direction, and hope. Learn how to protect your peace, reclaim your power, and stop rescuing someone who isn’t ready to change.
You’ll discover:
And most importantly: how to put yourself first… without giving up on them.
🎯 This is one of the most requested topics from families—and it could be the mindset shift you’ve been praying for.
📌 Show Notes:
In this episode:
Links & Resources:
👉 Free resources for families: brickhouserecovery.com/unhooked
👉 Read the book Unhooked: https://a.co/d/08ZF46B4
👉 Need support? Learn more about our Family Recovery Program
https://www.liveunhooked.com/live-unhooked-order-form
Support the show
Join Jason Coombs LIVE each week for tips and tricks and LIVE Q&A’s. Go to https://www.liveunhooked.com/live-unhooked.
For information about treatment services visit https://www.brickhouserecovery.com/
For more information about Warrior Heart Bootcamp for men visit www.awarriorheart.com
https://awarriorheart.com/
$100 DISCOUNT CODE for Warrior Heart = 2026Brick100
To learn more about the women’s retreat, Heart of a Woman:
https://theheartofawoman.net/
$100 DISCOUNT CODE for Heart of a Woman = 2026Brick100
Send us Fan Mail
🎙️ “When Numb Isn’t Working Anymore – The Battle to Live Fully Alive” with Doug Nielson
In this soul-stirring Part 3 of the Warrior Heart series, Jason Coombs sits down with licensed psychotherapist and Warrior Heart co-founder Doug Nielsen to uncover what really keeps men stuck in cycles of addiction, burnout, and emotional disconnection—and what it takes to break free.
Drawing from decades of clinical experience, personal recovery, and transformative men’s retreats, Doug shares a raw, powerful framework for reclaiming agency, healing the heart, and living fully alive. This isn’t about behavior change—it’s about identity, faith, and the courageous journey back to who you were created to be.
Whether you’re in recovery, love someone who is, or simply feel like you’ve lost touch with your purpose—this conversation will wake something up inside you.
🔥 Episode Highlights:
💡 Key Themes:
🙏 Final Takeaway:
Recovery isn’t just about getting clean. It’s about remembering who you are, whose you are, and what you were made for. Doug’s message is clear: You are not broken. You are noble. And it’s time to come home.
📚 Resources Mentioned:
For more information about Warrior Heart Bootcamp for men visit www.awarriorheart.com
https://awarriorheart.com/
$100 DISCOUNT CODE for Warrior Heart = 2026Brick100
To learn more about the women’s retreat, Heart of a Woman:
https://theheartofawoman.net/
$100 DISCOUNT CODE for Heart of a Woman = 2026Brick100
Need support? Explore resources at brickhouserecovery.com or get your copy of Unhooked (Amazon + Audible).
Support the show
Join Jason Coombs LIVE each week for tips and tricks and LIVE Q&A’s. Go to https://www.liveunhooked.com/live-unhooked.
For information about treatment services visit https://www.brickhouserecovery.com/
For more information about Warrior Heart Bootcamp for men visit www.awarriorheart.com
https://awarriorheart.com/
$100 DISCOUNT CODE for Warrior Heart = 2026Brick100
To learn more about the women’s retreat, Heart of a Woman:
https://theheartofawoman.net/
$100 DISCOUNT CODE for Heart of a Woman = 2026Brick100
Send us Fan Mail
Dropping the Pose Is Where Healing Starts.
I used to think most men were struggling with behavior.
But a lot of the time, they’re struggling with hiding.
In Part 2 of the Warrior Heart series, I sit down with Duane Crabtree, Executive Director of Warrior Heart, to talk about the mask men wear and why most of us don’t even see it.
What looks like confidence is often fear.
What looks like strength is often self-protection.
We talk about porn, people-pleasing, compulsive behaviors, and the quiet search for validation that drives so many men.
We also get practical about what it means to fight for your beauty.
Not with grand gestures.
With presence, safety, and emotional intimacy.
This episode is for men who are tired of performing.
And for women who want to understand what’s really happening behind the silence.
In this episode, you’ll hear:
This is Part 2 of 3.
If Part 1 opened the door to identity, this one shows what happens when a man finally stops faking it.
For more information about Warrior Heart Bootcamp for men visit www.awarriorheart.com
https://awarriorheart.com/
$100 DISCOUNT CODE for Warrior Heart = 2026Brick100
To learn more about the women’s retreat, Heart of a Woman:
https://theheartofawoman.net/
$100 DISCOUNT CODE for Heart of a Woman = 2026Brick100
Support the show
Join Jason Coombs LIVE each week for tips and tricks and LIVE Q&A’s. Go to https://www.liveunhooked.com/live-unhooked.
For information about treatment services visit https://www.brickhouserecovery.com/
For more information about Warrior Heart Bootcamp for men visit www.awarriorheart.com
https://awarriorheart.com/
$100 DISCOUNT CODE for Warrior Heart = 2026Brick100
To learn more about the women’s retreat, Heart of a Woman:
https://theheartofawoman.net/
$100 DISCOUNT CODE for Heart of a Woman = 2026Brick100
Send us Fan Mail
Recovery doesn’t end when you get sober.
For many men, the real work starts after the crisis passes.
In Episode 40 of Get Unhooked, Jason Coombs shares why long-term sobriety still isn’t the same as emotional and spiritual freedom. After years in recovery, he found a new layer of healing through Warrior Heart Bootcamp, a three-day, phone-free men’s retreat designed to help men reconnect with God, brotherhood, and their true identity.
This conversation is a window into the male heart.
And it’s not just for men.
Women will better understand the silent weight many men carry, the fears they rarely voice, and why safety and vulnerability matter so much in lasting recovery. You’ll also meet Chris Bennett, known as the “Hulk of Hope,” whose story of shame, fatherlessness, and transformation became a turning point not only for him, but for his marriage and family.
This is Part 1 of a 3-part series on identity, healing, and what happens when men stop performing and start getting honest.
In this episode, we cover:
To close this episode with Chris and Autumn Bennett, I want to give you a clear path forward. If something in their story stirred hope, conviction, or even discomfort, pay attention to that. Those are often the signals that real change is available, if you are willing to take the next right step.
Listen or share the episode here:
https://share.transistor.fm/s/35eda14e
If you want to connect with Chris Bennett and explore his coaching services:
https://chrisbennettcoaching.com/
To learn more about the men’s Warrior Heart Bootcamp:
https://awarriorheart.com/
$100 DISCOUNT CODE for Warrior Heart = 2026Brick100
To learn more about the women’s retreat, Heart of a Woman:
https://theheartofawoman.net/
$100 DISCOUNT CODE for Heart of a Woman = 2026Brick100
And if you want to explore additional resources and the Unashamed Unafraid community:
https://unashamedunafraid.com/
Thank you for listening to Get Unhooked. If this conversation helped you, share it with someone you care about, and remember: you do not need a perfect plan. You just need to take the next right step.
Support the show
Join Jason Coombs LIVE each week for tips and tricks and LIVE Q&A’s. Go to https://www.liveunhooked.com/live-unhooked.
For information about treatment services visit https://www.brickhouserecovery.com/
For more information about Warrior Heart Bootcamp for men visit www.awarriorheart.com
https://awarriorheart.com/
$100 DISCOUNT CODE for Warrior Heart = 2026Brick100
To learn more about the women’s retreat, Heart of a Woman:
https://theheartofawoman.net/
$100 DISCOUNT CODE for Heart of a Woman = 2026Brick100
Send us Fan Mail
On day 73 of sobriety, Jason Coombs was standing outside a hardware store in Salt Lake City wearing an apron and grilling bratwursts for minimum wage.
He was trying not to be seen.
The shame was loud.
Then one conversation flipped the script and launched a new life built on purpose, service, and usefulness.
In this episode, Jason shares the exact moment he stopped treating sobriety like the finish line and started living recovery as a daily decision. We talk about how relapse patterns usually begin with emotions long before substances, how one simple question can interrupt the spiral, and why purpose shows up in the process, not after everything is fixed.
This is for anyone rebuilding after relapse, walking through recovery, or loving someone who is.
Episode Highlights (timestamps)
Support the show
Join Jason Coombs LIVE each week for tips and tricks and LIVE Q&A’s. Go to https://www.liveunhooked.com/live-unhooked.
For information about treatment services visit https://www.brickhouserecovery.com/
For more information about Warrior Heart Bootcamp for men visit www.awarriorheart.com
https://awarriorheart.com/
$100 DISCOUNT CODE for Warrior Heart = 2026Brick100
To learn more about the women’s retreat, Heart of a Woman:
https://theheartofawoman.net/
$100 DISCOUNT CODE for Heart of a Woman = 2026Brick100
From the publisher's feed
WELCOME TO THE JOURNEY
Hey guys, welcome to the Get Unhooked Podcast. I am excited to be…
Let's roll!
WHAT TO EXPECT
Each episode delivers actionable strategies and transformative insights across multiple dimensions of life:
ABOUT YOUR HOST
Jason Coombs is a keynote speaker and corporate consultant on Mental Wealth and Emotional Prosperity. With a Masters of Professional Communications degree, he is the author of the Amazon bestseller, Unhooked: How to Help an Addicted Loved One Recover. Jason is the President and Founder of Brick House Recovery, a renowned treatment chain for substance abuse and co-occurring disorders. His company received the national Excellence in Treatment award and Idaho’s Best in Mental Wellness award three years in a row. Jason is the Southwest Regional Director for the Idaho Association for Addiction Professionals board. Beyond work, Jason enjoys skiing, competing in Ironman events, and traveling with his family.
JOIN THE COMMUNITY
New episodes are released weekly. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts to never miss an episode on your journey to becoming unhooked and unleashed.