Steve talks to us about his journey through early recovery and also his family upbringing. Addiction is a family disease and growing up with it, it's easy to see where addiction would just be a normal way of life. But that didn't stop him from turning things around for himself. He decided he wanted a better life and he made it happen. It wasn't easy, and it certainly wasn't a straight path, but in this episode, listen to how Steve has turns his life around, endures the challenges that early recovery brings, and becomes the success he is today. And listen to what it is like for him experiencing others he cares about going through the struggles as well. 

Early recovery is challenging. It can be hard to know what to expect. Families often don't understand what a person goes through during the early stages. The questions we are asking ourselves, the challenges we face, learning how to live a normal life again. Tara knows all to well the challenges she faced during her early recovery. She experienced early recovery more than once and each time was a little different. She also had her husband have to sit back and watch her go downhill and was powerless to do anything about it. Listen to her journey.

Early recovery is challenging. We go through a lot but we don't always know how to articulate our experience around it. It's emotional, it's challenging, we have a hard time coping with what we have done. Families struggle with knowing what to do and how to help their loved ones. I am doing a early recovery series in hopes that it will help families understand what we go through when we first get into recovery. 

When you have a loved one with substance abuse issues, manipulation is something you are going to come across frequently. It's hard to understand substance abuse and why they do some of the things they do, but there are things you can do about manipulation. If you can understand the why's and the how's of manipulation, then you can be aware of it and it can stop working. They also work on 4 main emotions. Find out what they are in this podcast. 

Two episodes ago, we heard from a mother, Bilinda. She gave us some great insights to what she was experiencing as she was dealing with both her son and her daughter through addiction. The last episode, her daughter, Marilyn, had a very open conversation with me about her experiences through addiction and coming out the other side. It was eye opening for both the mother and the daughter to hear from each other. So I wanted to do something special, and that was to invite both of them to come onto my podcast and have us hear what their insights were together. 

Last week, we had Bilinda Blume on, a mother of two kids that dealt with addiction. I had the privilege of following things up with her daughter this week, Marilyn. Marilyn dives deep into her own story of her side of things and what were some helpful things her family did, but also shares with us what were some of the things that were not so helpful. Her story is going to help and impact so many people. 

Caution: This is a real conversation between two people in a very raw way. It can be hard to listen to.

An incredible interview with a woman who has experience with having loved ones dealing with substance abuse. Bilinda is a mother of three; two of her children have struggled with substance abuse, beginning in their teens and into young adulthood. ​

She has been supportive and loving to her children in a healthy way, despite how painful and uncertain addiction can be. Helping others rise above their life's challenges is her passion, life's work, and addiction is one of the driving forces. 

We talk about what it was like for her, finding herself through having 2 children dealing with addiction. A powerful interview every parent needs to listen to. 

During this time, I have seen many people bending, or breaking their own boundaries because of the extenuating circumstances. However, it is important to continue to apply the principles of boundary setting even in today's world because there are no extenuating circumstances under which the principles of boundary settings do not apply. 

This episode was originally under the End the Stigma Podcast, it was an interview with my mom, Lynn Carnes. It was a great interview about boundaries and some of the things she did for me while in my addiction that helped me. 

It was a hard decision, but I had to go with my heart. I am scrapping end the stigma podcast but replacing it with something even better. The Unbreakable Boundaries Podcast. You will learn the reason why in this latest episode. Enjoy the new format!