Have you ever been told, "You just need to get to an al-anon meeting"? If you know me, you know that I'm a fan of ANY way to get recovery so let me be clear, I'm not knocking Al-Anon. 

With that being said, one of the biggest frustrations that I hear from families when they're trying to get help for their addicted loved one is someone telling them to go to the AL-ANON meetings. I know people think they're being helpful, but honestly, it feels insulting.

If you're wanting to give someone advice, let me give you some tips and strategies for someone that is going through this. 

1. Ask more questions either for yourself to fully understand the situation or to help the other person clarify what's going on.

2. Validate their feelings, if you were in their situation you would probably feel similar to how they feel. 

3. Relate to their situation. Help them feel like you've been there before which makes them feel not alone and connected. 

4. Tell them the reason you like al-anon or some...

This live video with Campbell Manning will have you shocked at the depth of denial some of these families had.

We always think about denial being an issue that happens to people with drug or alcohol addiction, but denial happens to family members too.

We, as family members we see the signs and symptoms, but it's easy to rationalize it away. When you look at the big picture, you'll easily be able to see that you're dealing with a bigger problem. Most families don't want the problem to be addiction and that's what will keep a lot of families in denial. This denial will allow the addiction to continue on. Watch the video to find out how to spot denial and what to do about it. 

Amber Hollingsworth

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Do you confront your loved one? Do you throw it away? Do you just leave it where it is? What do you do when you find your addicted loved ones hidden stash. 

In this video, I give you practical ways to deal with this without starting a power struggle between you and your loved one. I think what I'm going to tell you is going to surprise you.

Learn how to talk with your loved ones about their addiction without arguing. https://www.familyrecoveryacademy.online/motivational-interviewing-session

Amber Hollingsworth

If addiction is not a moral issue, why do people have to work on their character defects as part of their recovery in the 12-steps? Do character defects cause addiction, or does addiction cause character defects? Why do addicts and alcoholics behave so selfishly? 

These questions open up a complex discussion. Personality, character, and behavior are interwoven in the stereotype of addicts.

Loved ones of addicted people say, "She/he never used to be like this before his addiction”. So what's behind our current character and its expression through behaviors? Let's take a closer look at this video to find out the answer to these questions and more!

Amber Hollingsworth

Dig deeper into your strengths and weakness in our DiscoverU Minicourse.  💲Use code: LEARNMORE to get a 20% discount💲

Get Access To FREE Addiction Recovery Resources! 

We're going to be looking behind the scenes of addiction recovery. Family recovery coach Scott Nunnery will be sharing about his personal journey having two sons struggle with addiction, and also what he's learned since beginning to work in the field, trying to help others struggling with an addicted loved one.

Amber Hollingsworth

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

📆To make an appointment with Scott (or any of our recovery specialists): https://www.familyrecoveryacademy.online/consultations

🆓Download Scotts Do's and Dont's Checklist For Rebuilding Trust in Family Recovery: https://www.familyrecoveryacademy.online/scott-s-do-s-and-don-ts

It's easy to dismiss aggressive behaviors when dealing with someone who is intoxicated or addicted. You tell yourself that your addicted loved one didn't mean what they said or convince yourself that they only behaved that way because they were intoxicated. But, there are some behaviors you should never ignore. Here are the top 7 warning signs of violent or abusive behavior.

1. Any kind of physical behavior(pushing, throwing, shoving)

2. Intimidating behavior (Yelling, hurtful words)

3. Blocking/Restraining (Making it hard for you to leave or walk away)

4. Threats made to you or to harm themselves(Always take these threats seriously)

5. Raging (You can see/feel their rage coming out) Use reflective listening in this case.

6. Any time someone has an angry episode while they're under the influence.

7. When someone is going through withdrawal.

If any of these situations arise please do not ignore these types of behavior. These indicate trouble and are major warning signs that th...

When we attempt to deceive ourselves and/or others, we are ignoring the reality of the situation and are holding ourselves back from overcoming our obstacles. There are many self-deception thoughts when you're in the process of recovering.  Let's give them a name:

"One last time"-- How many "one last time" thoughts have you had? These are things we tell ourselves to make a bad decision

"Just a little"-- I'm only going to take this to keep me through the day or I'm going to drink to help me sleep.

"Don't let them control you"-- this is the one that talks to you about how you are independent and you can make decisions for yourself.

"You're useless" --Don't listen to this one! This one kicks you when you're down and that no one cares. This will cause you to live recklessly. 

"It's the responsible thing" 

"It's not that big of a deal" --This is used especially if it's a culturally accepted drug.

"You can't be an addict"

"You finished your program!" He's kind of a version of "you ...

Does your loved one's addiction make you feel angry, sad, anxious, resentful, hopeless, desperate, and exhausted? Does it make you act impulsively and irrationally? Do you say and do things you later regret?

You realize on some level that you're not the same person you used to be, right?
It's all of those emotions from your loved one's addiction that leads to making impulsive and desperate decisions and that leads to GUILT! You're living in the survival part of your brain which causes you to make irrational decisions.

In this video, I go through the three-step process of how you got here and give you the three-step process to dig yourself out and reclaim yourself, your emotions, and your identity!

Amber Hollingsworth

📢Get Free Access To My Persuasion Masterclass

These are the three fundamental laws of human behavior that you should never ignore if you or your loved one is trying to get sober. What motivates us? What makes some float in negative bubbles and make others grow tall in positivity and how does that relate to someone struggling with addiction?

From the book, "THE LAWS OF HUMAN NATURE". 

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*Purchasing this book using the affiliate link will help support our YouTube channel.

Attitude determines reality- We react to what people put out toward us. If you believe that people never get better from addiction that's going to be the reality of your situation. When you have this attitude it's going to impact how you feel which is how you react to the world. You have to have the attitude or belief that your addicted love one can get better. 

To look deeper into the other two laws, watch the full video!

Amber Hollingsworth

🧑FOR ANYONE WORKING TOWARD RECOVERY: 30 Day Jump Start: https://www.familyrecoveryacademy.online/30-d...

Problem Drinker vs Alcoholic

What's the difference between a problem drinker and an alcoholic? Just this week, I saw 4 new clients struggling with this exact question. Most people don't understand the difference between someone who drinks a lot and someone who has a diagnosable alcohol use disorder.

Can I be honest with you? The difference between a problem drinker and an alcoholic is that they're only one stage away from becoming a full-blown alcoholic. 

People who are problematic drinkers usually move over into alcohol use disorder eventually, but they do so in stages. 

Here are the 4 stages of alcoholism:

1. Experimentation- This doesn't indicate a problem. Usually just socially drinking
2. They start to drink more frequently, harder alcohol, or heavier drinking.
3. Consequences start to happen. This is when someone starts drinking and can't stop. Problems begin to trickle in because of alcohol use. 
4. The problematic drinking continues and bridges begin to burn. Meaning the job th...