March 19, 2015

Fighting the Addict Label: There is a person and a family behind every addiction story

Today’s conversation features Jennifer Miller – a mom with two perspectives to her addiction story. As a professional therapist, she works with young adults and their families dealing with the issue of addiction on a daily basis. As a mom, she witnessed the devastating effects of addiction through her 27 year old son’s opioid addiction battle.

As more and more stories of children dying from addiction overdoses have been shared, Jennifer made a commitment to be more involved, engaged, and active. Her passion for this cause clearly resonates in our conversation. 

Listeners to this podcast will learn from her story about her son. How he went from a wildly popular, accomplished, scholarly student to a young man struggling with his addiction.

Plus, we discuss the impact that labeling people “addicts” has on their recovery, the perceptions it reinforces, and how we can change the addiction discussion simply by changing how we talk about it.

As Jennifer declares there is a battle out there; but, it is not the battle we think we have been fighting.  “It’s not a war on Drugs, It’s a war on People.” To fight this battle we must all be engaged, educated, and supporting each other. 

Reference Links:

Redemption House (Facebook Page)

Christian Counseling and Education Foundation (Website)

Chasing the Scream (Book)

Beyond Addiction (Book)

Check out this episode!

Addiction Conversation Podcast
About Dave Cooke

Dave Cooke is a dad on a mission. His mission is to help parents get control of their lives over the powerful, destructive influences of a child's addiction. As the father of a son in a ten year heroin battle, Dave knows all to well the challenges parents and families face. He also knows there is a way to find peace in the chaos. It is his mission to help parents discover their path to a healthier, balanced life even if a child's active addiction is still part of their daily journey.

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