ABOUT THE EPISODE:
You might hear the term "boundaries" thrown around as you work to parent your child who's misusing drugs and alcohol - but what exactly are they, and why do you need them?

Hopestream Community co-founder Cathy Cioth and I deep dive into this topic today because we see parents in our communities struggle with it constantly. 

We share:

• What boundaries are and are not
• We divulge some of our own struggles with setting and holding boundaries
• What can happen if you don't have boundaries 
• Why Cathy called herself the "marshmallow" when it came to holding boundaries with her kids
• Examples of boundaries we set with our families during our experience with our kids

It's practical, a little humorous, and revealing in a way that may help you gain some confidence and control in what can feel like a very out-of-control situation.

Please click here if you'd like to join the Hopestream Community two-hour boundaries workshop and come away with an actionable plan to make a change in your life and family.

This podcast is part of a nonprofit called Hopestream Community
Learn about The Stream, our private online community for moms
Find us on Instagram here
Find us on YouTube here
Download a free e-book, Worried Sick: A Compassionate Guide For Parents When Your Teen or Young Adult Child Misuses Drugs and Alcohol

Hopestream Community is a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit organization and an Amazon Associate. We may make a small commission if you purchase from our links.

ABOUT THE EPISODE:
In this episode, Stream advisor Dina Cannizzaro is back with me to discuss the profound lessons in the story of the Chinese farmer.  The parable applies to everyone’s lives, but it is especially relevant for those going through difficult times, as many parents in the Hopestream Community are.  Take it from two moms who have survived their child’s extreme substance misuse: you never know what good may come from tragedy and misfortune.

Yes, we are acutely aware of how crazy that sounds to parents currently going through it. It certainly would have sounded crazy to us amid our children’s struggles. But take a few minutes to hear us out. In this episode, we discuss:

• what the radical skepticism of the Chinese farmer has to teach us about withholding judgment and letting go of what we cannot control
• the one thing we can (and should!) control in situations that often leave us feeling powerless
• how Dina’s son taught her that she had her own recovery to do
• the power of a parent's “tagline”
• being a shining light in the dark experiences of children dealing with substance use

This podcast is part of a nonprofit called Hopestream Community
Learn about The Stream, our private online community for moms
Find us on Instagram here
Find us on YouTube here
Download a free e-book, Worried Sick: A Compassionate Guide For Parents When Your Teen or Young Adult Child Misuses Drugs and Alcohol

Hopestream Community is a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit organization and an Amazon Associate. We may make a small commission if you purchase from our links.

ABOUT THE EPISODE:
By the time Cindy learned to establish boundaries with her son Colin, he had already endured brain injuries and intubations as a result of his alcohol abuse. When Colin finally called her from jail one night, she knew that she shouldn’t bail him out despite her instincts. She expressed sympathy but didn't offer to rescue him - again.

As Colin stewed in a holding cell that night, he realized his parents would no longer buffer him from the natural consequences of his actions. And he knew if he continued down his current path, his life would culminate into nothing.

Since that day, Cindy and Colin have both experienced profound personal growth. Colin is now a fitness enthusiast serving as director of personal training at a gym. Cindy is an advisor in The Stream Community and personal coach to several moms. Their story gives hope that change can and does happen – and that’s what Hopestream is all about.

In this episode, I talk to Cindy and Colin together about how they each experienced Colin’s addiction and the work they both had to do to move beyond it. We discuss:

• Cindy's go-to strategy for getting through their family's crisis
• what they each wish they had known during Colin’s addiction and recovery
• why parents must confront their own issues to have whole-family healing
• the practical application of boundaries
• a Netflix show that helped Colin move forward and thrive in long-term recovery

EPISODE RESOURCES:

• Tara Branch
• Kristin Neff
• Partnership to End Addiction
• Psalm 80
• Stutz

This podcast is part of a nonprofit called Hopestream Community
Learn about The Stream, our private online community for moms
Find us on Instagram here
Find us on YouTube here
Download a free e-book, Worried Sick: A Compassionate Guide For Parents When Your Teen or Young Adult Child Misuses Drugs and Alcohol

Hopestream Community is a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit organization and an Amazon Associate. We may make a small commission if you purchase from our links.

ABOUT THE EPISODE:
On this episode of Hopestream, the show comes full circle to its roots. My guest, Jess Kupferman, is the CEO of She Podcasts, a membership-based group of all-women podcasters that played an important role in the creation of this show. 

What I didn’t know when I launched the podcast was that Jess lost her daughter to a heroin overdose at the same time I was going through our family struggles with my son.

One of the most fascinating things about Jess is the way she has learned to process this trauma with a sharp sense of humor rarely seen in addiction and recovery spaces. Don’t feel bad if you laugh a few times while listening to her story, but take her advice on telling your own story seriously.

On this episode Jess and I discuss:

• why she sometimes views her family’s struggles as great sitcom material
• how she “kinda kidnapped” her daughter from a rehab facility
• the frustrating state of recovery centers for those who suffer from other mental health issues
• the incredible benefits of an all-female podcasting community
• baby steps toward telling your own story

EPISODE RESOURCES:

• ShePodcasts
• ShePodcasts Podcast

This podcast is part of a nonprofit called Hopestream Community
Learn about The Stream, our private online community for moms
Find us on Instagram here
Find us on YouTube here
Download a free e-book, Worried Sick: A Compassionate Guide For Parents When Your Teen or Young Adult Child Misuses Drugs and Alcohol

Hopestream Community is a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit organization and an Amazon Associate. We may make a small commission if you purchase from our links.

ABOUT THE EPISODE:
It's a very special Hopestream episode today in memory of a dear friend and host of The Woods Community, Bill Guy.

Bill passed away June 2nd and he leaves a big gap in the world - we were fortunate to have had him as a generous and brave leader for our community in it's infancy. 

Bill was on the podcast late last year and to honor his legacy of helping parents of kids with substance misuse challenges I decided to share a compilation of beautiful thoughts and insights from our previous conversation.

If you want to hear the voice of someone who led by example and epitomized the approach of love, education, empathy, boundaries and self-care when your child is misusing substances, you won't find anyone more pure than Bill.

This podcast is part of a nonprofit called Hopestream Community
Learn about The Stream, our private online community for moms
Find us on Instagram here
Find us on YouTube here
Download a free e-book, Worried Sick: A Compassionate Guide For Parents When Your Teen or Young Adult Child Misuses Drugs and Alcohol

Hopestream Community is a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit organization and an Amazon Associate. We may make a small commission if you purchase from our links.

ABOUT THE EPISODE:
It's a shorty episode today, tackling the question of whether a calm approach can work when you have a child misusing substances.

I share my perspective on why I believe parents often think they need to use aggressive, confrontational tactics to get their children to change and invite you into an experiment to test the theory.

I then provide a four-step way to move into a CALM approach when things get heated with your child. It's a simple but effective way to have less drama and more control.

This podcast is part of a nonprofit called Hopestream Community
Learn about The Stream, our private online community for moms
Find us on Instagram here
Find us on YouTube here
Download a free e-book, Worried Sick: A Compassionate Guide For Parents When Your Teen or Young Adult Child Misuses Drugs and Alcohol

Hopestream Community is a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit organization and an Amazon Associate. We may make a small commission if you purchase from our links.

ABOUT THE EPISODE:
Figuring out how to parent a teen or young adult experimenting with substances is hard enough on its own.  But if you’re like me, there’s an additional layer of confusion about how this all happened:  Didn’t we provide a stable home life for our kids?  Didn’t they have access to everything they needed?  What did I miss to prevent this?

My guest today is Dr. Crystal Collier, an award-winning therapist working with adolescents and adults suffering from mental illness, behavioral problems, and substance use disorders.  But her experience is not entirely academic.  What made her so interested in recovery was her own misuse of alcohol beginning at age 12, and the difficult times that followed.

After finding recovery at a young age, Crystal had the same question about herself that Hopestream Community parents often have about their own children:  How did an otherwise smart kid with a great family end up making terrible decisions about substance use?

That question led to a 30-year journey of study and service, and I’m happy to share some of Crystal’s insights with you in this episode, including:

• How our own childhood experiences created “Family Of Origin (FOO) buttons,” and how they connect to present-day responses to our kids
• The FOO buttons we are programming into our own kids, and why they could lead to escapism, drug use, and antisocial behavior
• The pervasive myth that when parents allow drinking at home, it prevents excess “forbidden fruit” binging later on
• How helicopter parenting destroys a sense of self-efficacy in young people

EPISODE RESOURCES:

• Dr. Collier’s website
• Dr. Collier's Books

This podcast is part of a nonprofit called Hopestream Community
Learn about The Stream, our private online community for moms
Find us on Instagram here
Find us on YouTube here
Download a free e-book, Worried Sick: A Compassionate Guide For Parents When Your Teen or Young Adult Child Misuses Drugs and Alcohol

Hopestream Community is a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit organization and an Amazon Associate. We may make a small commission if you purchase from our links.

ABOUT THE EPISODE:
If you currently have a teen or young adult, you likely grew up in an era of marijuana liberalization and legalization. At that time, many of us learned that marijuana was not nearly as dangerous as we were led to believe by films like Reefer Madness and claims that showed our "brain on drugs.”

But those studies were based on the potency of leaf material available before marijuana became a legal, multi-billion dollar industry – and the industry has radically changed.

New, high-potency forms of marijuana (like shatter, wax, edibles and vape oils) are delivering regular doses of THC that are hundreds of times more powerful than the original recommendations for medical treatment. To make matters worse, they're increasingly available to middle and high school kids.

My guest today is Laura Stack, founder of Johnny’s Ambassadors and a mother who lives in Colorado – ground zero for the nation’s marijuana legalization. Laura watched her son go from a straight-A student with no mental illness to marijuana-induced psychosis after obtaining his medical marijuana card. He eventually, tragically, took his own life. Laura now travels the country speaking frankly with high school students about what the frightening new science says about young people and high-potency THC extracts.

In this interview, we discuss:

• Why parents are sometimes less concerned when their children try marijuana 
• Why old studies showing the medicinal benefits of marijuana are often irrelevant in the world of concentrates
• New science surrounding the use of concentrates and their connection to marijuana-induced psychosis
• How parents can help spread the word through Johnny's Ambassadors

EPISODE RESOURCES:

• Johnny’s Ambassadors Parents of Children with Cannabis-Induced Psychosis (POCCIP) support group 
• Video library of THC research and presentations
• Partnership to End Addiction Marijuana Talk Kit - how to talk to your child about marijuana
• The Link Between Youth Marijuana Use and Suicidality - research
• Frequently Asked Questions about today’s marijuana

This podcast is part of a nonprofit called Hopestream Community
Learn about The Stream, our private online community for moms
Find us on Instagram here
Find us on YouTube here
Download a free e-book, Worried Sick: A Compassionate Guide For Parents When Your Teen or Young Adult Child Misuses Drugs and Alcohol

Hopestream Community is a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit organization and an Amazon Associate. We may make a small commission if you purchase from our links.

ABOUT THE EPISODE:
It's Mother's Day and for those with kids who struggle, or who lost their struggle, it can be hard. It can also be joyous and amazing, kind of a mixed bag. So this is your Mother's Day card from me.
Sending so much love your way.

This podcast is part of a nonprofit called Hopestream Community
Learn about The Stream, our private online community for moms
Find us on Instagram here
Find us on YouTube here
Download a free e-book, Worried Sick: A Compassionate Guide For Parents When Your Teen or Young Adult Child Misuses Drugs and Alcohol

Hopestream Community is a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit organization and an Amazon Associate. We may make a small commission if you purchase from our links.

ABOUT THE EPISODE:
Parents often don’t realize they’re deeply and unhealthfully embedded in their child’s life- especially when that child struggles with their relationship to substances. The official term for this dysfunction is called enmeshment, but since Cathy and I aren’t therapists, we liken it to back-pocket parenting.

If you find yourself intertwined in your child’s life to the degree that they’re not doing age-appropriate things for themselves, or you don’t know where they end and you begin, this is your episode.

We talk about what enmeshment looks like, examples of our own relationships, the impact it has on a teen or young adult, and ideas for how to start to disentangle from your child using boundaries and natural consequences (and a good therapist!)

EPISODE RESOURCES:

• AutoCamp (The Stream Spring retreat venue)

This podcast is part of a nonprofit called Hopestream Community
Learn about The Stream, our private online community for moms
Find us on Instagram here
Find us on YouTube here
Download a free e-book, Worried Sick: A Compassionate Guide For Parents When Your Teen or Young Adult Child Misuses Drugs and Alcohol

Hopestream Community is a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit organization and an Amazon Associate. We may make a small commission if you purchase from our links.