Adult Child When Sobriety Isn’t Enough: An ACA Recovery Story of Trauma, Dating & Grief w/ Francisco
What happens when you get sober… but the pain is still there?
In this raw and relatable episode, Andrea sits down with fellow ACA Francisco to explore what healing actually looks like after sobriety — that messy middle where emotional numbness, grief, trauma recovery, and real intimacy all start to surface.
Francisco got sober as a teenager, but it wasn’t until he found ACA that he began to confront the deeper wounds of his childhood. Together, they talk about what it means to un-thaw from functional freeze, grieve in real time, and build relationships rooted in wholeness rather than survival.
Key Takeaways:
- Why sobriety alone isn’t enough — and how ACA helped Francisco finally feel what he’d been avoiding
- How “doing okay” can be a mask for emotional shutdown
- The intersection of grief, trauma healing, and long-term recovery
- How dating becomes a mirror for unresolved wounds — and a catalyst for growth
- Why emotional sobriety isn’t about being happy, but being real
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