On this week’s episode of Melody and Friends, Melody is joined by Certified Professional Life Coach and Contributor for The Huffington Post, Catherine Etherington to discuss healing from betrayal while also battling and treating addiction. Catherine shares her story of being a heroin addict for over 10 years and how she was able to walk through the trauma of betrayal after discovering pornography on her husband’s phone a few years into their marriage. After doing a lot of research, and finding support and resources for him and his addiction with pornography, Catherine realized that she had hit a brick wall in finding support for herself, her pain and her own addictions. This caused Catherine to become a life and recovery coach. Catherine now works with The Naked Truth Project as Head of Recovery with their Free Lives Ministry. Our listeners can learn more about her work and NTP as a charity by visiting www.nakedtruthrecovery.com

Catherine and Melody then discuss how finding community, support and looking for someone to help process the pain are the best first steps for women to take after facing betrayal. Self care is an extremely important part of the healing process due to the amount of emotional energy women are putting out. Catherine walks us through the process she walks women through to find true healing and comfort after betrayal. 

Who is Catherine Etherington?

Catherine Etherington is the creator of both the Whole Hearted Partner Programme and Whole Life Recovery Programme for The Naked Truth Project and oversees all the work at Naked Truth Recovery. She has previously worked as a group facilitator, trainer and coach, specializing in behavioral and cultural change through emotional intelligence. 

Catherine is a recovered substance addict with over a decade of recovery as well as a betrayed wife healing from trauma. Catherine has years of experience working with addiction recovery in both peer and professional roles and is equipped to work with people seeking recovery from problematic behaviors, their partners, as well as with the couple together. 

Things We Discuss in this Episode

• How Catherine dealt not only with the discovery of her husband’s betrayal and pornography addiction, but also how she began to find help for her own addiction to heroin as a young mother of 2.

 

• Where the best starting point is for women and couples looking to heal after experiencing betrayal and trauma.

 

• Why self care is one of the most important things for women as they begin their healing from betrayal and addiction.

 

• How to get men in the relationship to understand that their spouse getting “triggered” isn’t just a feeling, but instead is a whole body reaction to feeling unsafe.

 

• What slips and relapses can look like in a relationship and what women can do when their spouse slips back into that old behavior or even experiences a relapse into that addiction.

 

• How to navigate the difficulty of betrayal and addiction with your children, whether they are adolescents or adults. What are the steps that you can take to still be a supportive parent to your children while in the midst of all the chaos of walking through betrayal.