Coming Up for Air — A Toolkit to Help with Your Loved One's Recovery from Addiction & Mental Illness

How do you work with anxiety so it's of service to you? Sometimes, anxiety is information akin to intuition, a sign that maybe you need to set up a boundary. At the same time, the only completely accurate fact in moments of anxiety is that you don't know. Part of the work we need to do is getting comfortable with and coping with not-knowing.Allies in Recovery provides training and ongoing support for families ready to move forward and create real change in their loved one's addiction. We offer practical tools, expert guidance, and a compassionate community to support you every step of the way. Visit Allies in Recovery to learn about our membership options, read our blog posts, meet our team, and much more! 

Approach the question of capability with awareness and connection. Look at your own awareness of what they're capable of or struggling with. You may be doing too much, leaving you unaware of what they can truly do. Do mini-experiments when they want to do things, and collect data. Help them have an opportunity to succeed or fail. Foster connection by not being critical or having huge expectations. We look at simple ways you can help your Loved One increase their own awareness.A membership at Allies in Recovery provides:  ✔ A structured online platform to learn CRAFT skills step by step  ✔ Support groups and a community that truly understands  ✔ A Q&A blog with expert advice  ✔ And much more! Start today—visit Allies in Recovery to begin creating change in your family.  

Our hosts speak with Dr. Julie McCarthy, Associate Psychologist at McLean Hospital and Assistant Professor of Psychology at Harvard Medical School. Dr. McCarthy has received funding from the National Institute of Mental Health, National Institute on Drug Abuse, Harvard Medical School, and philanthropic support. Her research aims to identify biopsychosocial treatment targets and develop and evaluate interventions for individuals and families, such as Community Reinforcement and Family Training for Early Psychosis and substance use. She is a CRAFT-certified therapist, supervisor, and trainer. Dr. McCarthy uses a multimodal telehealth approach to better understand and address barriers to care and promote recovery initiatives informed by people with lived experience through community-engaged research. At Allies in Recovery, we train, guide, and support families using the CRAFT method—an evidence-based approach that helps families shift the dynamic with a loved one struggling with addiction. Self-care is a cornerstone of this process, but for many, it’s something we have to learn from scratch. A membership at Allies in Recovery gives you unlimited access to:  ✔ Step-by-step CRAFT training through our online learning platform  ✔ Support groups and a community that understands what you're going through  ✔ A Q&A blog with expert guidance  ✔ And much more! Visit Allies in Recovery to start your new path towards healing addiction in your family.  

Celebrate the small victories, so they become bigger and multiply. Take yourself out of the story so your Loved One can write their own. Trust that they can function on some level. They have the skills they use to navigate the difficult world of substance use, and those skills just need to be translated to a different lifestyle.At Allies in Recovery, we train, guide, and support families using the CRAFT method—an evidence-based approach that helps families shift the dynamic with a loved one struggling with addiction. Self-care is a cornerstone of this process, but for many, it’s something we have to learn from scratch. A membership at Allies in Recovery gives you unlimited access to:  ✔ Step-by-step CRAFT training through our online learning platform  ✔ Support groups and a community that understands what you're going through  ✔ A Q&A blog with expert guidance  ✔ And much more! Visit Allies in Recovery to start your new path towards healing addiction in your family.  

Taking a deliberate break to do nothing is about clearing a space, removing internal clutter and distraction. You can often gain new insight and power to make choices in that space. It's about taking care of yourself, replenishing and healing, and coming up with better ideas than your more anxious or panicked self can. Allies in Recovery provides training and ongoing support for families ready to move forward and create real change in their loved one's addiction. We offer practical tools, expert guidance, and a compassionate community to support you every step of the way. Visit Allies in Recovery to learn about our membership options, read our blog posts, meet our team, and much more! 

What does it mean to CRAFT? Why do slowing things down and positive reinforcement help your Loved One with substance use and/or mental health struggles to move forward? How does CRAFT guide us to bring compassion, not judgment to the situation? When we think we see laziness or avoidance, is it possible we may be looking at depression, anxiety, or low self-esteem?Allies in Recovery provides training and ongoing support for families ready to move forward and create real change in their loved one's addiction. We offer practical tools, expert guidance, and a compassionate community to support you every step of the way. Visit Allies in Recovery to learn about our membership options, read our blog posts, meet our team, and much more! 

When the stakes are low, CRAFT seems easier to use. What do you do when the stakes are high, when danger feels present? Assessing safety -- yours and theirs -- is first. But CRAFT, even in those moments, can help you communicate more effectively while still holding to the boundaries you need. It's tougher in high-stakes situations, so go easy on yourself. It may not be perfect, but just give it a try, one step at a time. A membership at Allies in Recovery gives you unlimited access to:  ✔ Step-by-step training in CRAFT through our online platform  ✔ Support groups and a community that understands what you're going through  ✔ A Q&A blog with expert guidance  ✔ And much more! Join Allies in Recovery today to access expert guidance, support, and resources that help families create real change. 

Our hosts address a post from someone whose boyfriend just went to detox. So how does CRAFT come into play now? The reasons someone drank or used drugs before haven't gone away, and they will come bubbling to the surface. CRAFT—and the CRAFT community—help you with the process that's begun with this first step of going to treatment. A membership at Allies in Recovery gives you unlimited access to:  ✔ Step-by-step training in CRAFT through our online platform  ✔ Support groups and a community that understands what you're going through  ✔ A Q&A blog with expert guidance  ✔ And much more! Visit Allies in Recovery to learn about our membership options, read our blog posts, meet our team, and much more! 

People around you may want to be helpful, but not know quite how to truly help. They may offer pat answers or tell you to calm down because things aren't so bad. The temptation is to play the short game, to get caught up in the moment and solve the immediate crisis. Instead, learn how to calm your system CRAFT-style, so that you can process and not be as reactive. Think longer-term — if you do the CRAFT work over time, join groups, find community, and learn new ways of thinking, it changes the process. Use the Allies in Recovery site to ask questions and connect to others in the community you, as an Allies podcast listener, are part of.Visit Allies in Recovery to learn about our membership options, read our blog posts, meet our team, and much more! 

Your situation is uniquely your own. But as with any illness, it’s not entirely unique—others are also dealing with the illness. Trying strategies to manage your condition is the same thing as using CRAFT for coping with addiction. An important part of CRAFT is the C, which stands for “community.” Don’t be hopeless. Step out and bring the things you’re struggling with to the site, possibly to a group. Meet the people dealing with similar issues, and break the isolation to find out what the experts—other families—are doing.A membership at Allies in Recovery gives you unlimited access to:  ✔ Step-by-step training in CRAFT through our online platform  ✔ Support groups and a community that understands what you're going through  ✔ A Q&A blog with expert guidance  ✔ And much more! Visit Allies in Recovery today and start creating change in your family.