Hopestream: Parenting Kids Through Addiction & Mental Health

ABOUT THE EPISODE:If you’ve ever felt uncertain about what your teen or young adult might be using—and how easily accessible today’s substances have become—this episode is a must-listen. I sat down with Sebastian Martin, Executive Director at New Life House, a long-standing sober living program for young men, to unpack the alarming rise of so-called “gas station garbage”—substances like Kratom, kava, 7-0H, and “Feel Free” tonics that are marketed as harmless but can create dependency and serious mental health fallout. With his deep professional experience and 15 years in recovery himself, Sebastian offers an inside look at what’s showing up in schools, treatment centers, and homes—and what parents need to know right now.You’ll hear a candid, compassionate conversation where we explore how experimentation today can escalate much faster than it did even a decade ago, why isolation in a bedroom can be as concerning as chaotic, risky behavior, and how crucial community and connection are in early recovery—for both parents and their kids. We also discuss the life-changing potential of treatments like TMS (Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation) and what true collaboration between mental health and substance use professionals looks like when it’s done right.What You’ll Learn:What “gas station garbage” really is and why it’s showing up in homes, schools, and even jails (but not on standard drug screens)Why today’s cannabis and other “legal” substances are nothing like what you may have experimented with as a teenHow to recognize when isolation can be just as dangerous as acting outThe essential role of healthy community for teens and young adults—and how parents can encourage itA powerful mindset shift for parents: how to love your child to life, not to death.This conversation offers clarity and calm in a world of misinformation, helping you understand what’s happening beneath your child’s behavior—and reminding you that not all hope is lost.EPISODE RESOURCES:New Life House websiteHopestream podcast episode 241 with Dr. Martha Koo (TMS)DEA Fact Sheet on KratomInformation on the “Feel Free” tonic by Eleanor HealthThis podcast is part of a nonprofit called Hopestream CommunityGet our free, 4-video course, Hope Starts Here, and access to our Limited Membership hereLearn about The Stream, our private online community for momsFind us on Instagram hereWatch the podcast on YouTube hereDownload a free e-book, Worried Sick: A Compassionate Guide For Parents When Your Teen or Young Adult Child Misuses Drugs and AlcoholHopestream 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:When Jennifer Ollis Blomqvist discovered Motivational Interviewing (MI) in a Swedish women's prison 25 years ago, she found more than a therapeutic technique—she discovered the antidote to professional burnout and the foundation for every meaningful conversation in her life. Now an MI expert and trainer who works with everyone from incarcerated individuals to parents navigating their children's substance use, Jennifer brings a refreshing perspective on how this evidence-based approach transforms not just our difficult conversations, but our entire energetic contract with change itself.In this conversation, Jennifer and I explore the delicate dance of supporting autonomy while maintaining boundaries, why school refusal might actually be a sophisticated form of communication, and how motivational interviewing becomes the connective tissue between love and limits. Her renowned book, "Lighthouse Conversations: Being a Beacon for Teens," will give you a practical framework for illuminating pathways without forcing direction - a critical distinction when your child's choices feel increasingly difficult to understand.When you listen, you'll discover:• Why sharing responsibility for change prevents parental burnout and creates more durable outcomes than attempting to architect your child's recovery alone• How to navigate the cognitive friction between supporting autonomy and maintaining safety boundaries—including the counterintuitive power of "doing nothing" as an active intervention• The critical difference between rolling with resistance versus reinforcing it, and why your nervous system's response matters more than your words• How motivational interviewing grows with you through different life stages—from negotiating with toddlers to supporting aging parents—making it the most versatile tool in your communication repertoire• Why school refusal might be your child's way of telling you they don't fit the institutional mold, and how MI can help you excavate the real issues beneath the  resistance you see at surface levelEPISODE RESOURCES:Lighthouse Conversations: Being a Beacon for TeensJennifer’s websiteEmail: [email protected]: +46 736 - 19 54 46This podcast is part of a nonprofit called Hopestream CommunityGet our free, 4-video course, Hope Starts Here, and access to our Limited Membership hereLearn about The Stream, our private online community for momsFind us on Instagram hereWatch the podcast on YouTube hereDownload a free e-book, Worried Sick: A Compassionate Guide For Parents When Your Teen or Young Adult Child Misuses Drugs and AlcoholHopestream 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.

EPISODE DESCRIPTION:"When elephants fight, it's the grass that suffers." This African proverb stopped me mid-scroll during a walk, and I saw my family's addiction story with some pretty painful clarity. While my ex-husband, husband and I stomped around trying to wage war on our son's substance use and high-risk lifestyle, we completely missed who was getting trampled beneath our giant, well-meaning feet.This week's raw and honest solo episode unpacks the heavyweight champion of family conflicts: parents locked in battle over how to handle their child's substance use. I reflect about missing my younger son Marco's quiet suffering (spoiler: he mastered invisibility to survive our chaos), and you'll hear how our struggling kids internalize parental discord as proof they're destroying the family. You'll hear why treating addiction like toothpaste you can force back in the tube only creates more destruction, and how shifting from head-on combat to clay-shaping might just save your entire family ecosystem. (lots of metaphors in this week's show!)Fortunately, the Invitation to Change Approach offers a roadmap for stepping more carefully through crisis - because your other children, parents, friends, and even your struggling child deserve better than getting flattened while you fight about tough love versus cushioning falls.What you'll learn:Why siblings of struggling kids often perfect the art of being "not as bad" - and the long-term cost of that survival strategyHow late-night battles between parents may send dangerous "I'm the problem" messages to your struggling childThe critical shift from manager to consultant when your child hits adulthood (and why this transition can spark explosive co-parenting conflicts)Why approaching addiction like malleable clay instead of a winnable war creates healing space for everyoneSpecific ways to acknowledge and tend to the "trampled grass" in your family this weekEPISODE RESOURCES:Hopestream podcast episode with Marco Narcsio, (#70)This podcast is part of a nonprofit called Hopestream CommunityGet our free, 4-video course, Hope Starts Here, and access to our Limited Membership hereLearn about The Stream, our private online community for momsFind us on Instagram hereWatch the podcast on YouTube hereDownload a free e-book, Worried Sick: A Compassionate Guide For Parents When Your Teen or Young Adult Child Misuses Drugs and AlcoholHopestream 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:When your journey with a child's substance use stretches into its second decade, you enter what we loving call "warrior mom" (or parent) territory – a place where endurance meets wisdom, and self-preservation becomes an art form. Today's conversation with Hopestream co-founder, Cathy, honors these battle-tested parents who've been navigating their adult children's challenges for ten, fifteen, even twenty years or more.This isn't an advice-filled episode - because more advice isn't what you need. It's a raw, honest dialogue between two mothers who know the unique terrain of loving a child through active use, high-risk lifestyles, homelessness, incarceration, and the revolving door of recovery and relapse. Cathy shares her own marathon story, including driving hundreds of miles to share picnics with her daughter – a simple act of presence that seemed insignificant (and ineffective) at the time but later proved transformative. You'll hear:Why "handing over a shift" to a higher power becomes essential for sustainable parenting through decades of struggleHow warrior parents navigate the delicate dance of support versus enabling when adult children face eviction, homelessness, or legal troublesThe unexpected and seemingly counterintuitive renewal that comes from serving othersWhy those seemingly fruitless gestures of connection (like Cathy's picnics) create an energetic contract that transcends the immediate momentThe liberating truth about our children's remarkable resourcefulness when stability disappears and traditional safety nets failThis podcast is part of a nonprofit called Hopestream CommunityGet our free, 4-video course, Hope Starts Here, and access to our Limited Membership hereLearn about The Stream, our private online community for momsFind us on Instagram hereWatch the podcast on YouTube hereDownload a free e-book, Worried Sick: A Compassionate Guide For Parents When Your Teen or Young Adult Child Misuses Drugs and AlcoholHopestream 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:When Jan Winhall landed her first job running a group for incest survivors in a psychiatric ward, she discovered something revolutionary: the young women's self-harming behaviors weren't signs of pathology – they were brilliant survival strategies orchestrated by dysregulated nervous systems. This revelation launched a 45-year journey that would transform how we understand trauma and addiction.Today, Jan brings her Felt Sense Polyvagal Model to parents navigating the bewildering landscape of their child's substance use. Her approach flips traditional treatment on its head: rather than analyzing thoughts and willpower, she teaches us to decode the body's wisdom.Your child's behaviors – the ones that terrify you most – might actually be their nervous system's desperate attempt to regulate between hyper-vigilance and shutdown. Jan's work reveals why true healing happens not through confrontation or consequences, but through co-regulation, physical connection, and understanding the body's protective mechanisms.You'll learn:• Why your child's "crazy" behaviors (cutting, bingeing, substance use) are actually sophisticated nervous system regulation strategies that shift them between states of survival• How to become a co-regulating presence for your dysregulated child through physical touch, synchronized breathing, and embodied connection – even when they're pushing you away• The critical difference between "bottom-up" body-based healing and traditional "top-down" cognitive approaches – and why talk therapy alone often fails with trauma and addiction• Simple daily practices (like extending your exhale or humming) that activate your ventral vagus nerve, creating the safety your child's nervous system desperately seeksEPISODE RESOURCES:Janwinhall.com - Jan’s website (find a practitioner)Jan Winhall's YouTube channelFriendly Circle BerlinUnplugged CanadaArial Schwartz - Resilience Informed TherapyThis podcast is part of a nonprofit called Hopestream CommunityGet our free, 4-video course, Hope Starts Here, and access to our Limited Membership hereLearn about The Stream, our private online community for momsFind us on Instagram hereWatch the podcast on YouTube hereDownload a free e-book, Worried Sick: A Compassionate Guide For Parents When Your Teen or Young Adult Child Misuses Drugs and AlcoholHopestream 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.