ABOUT THE EPISODE:

Kristina Kuzmič had harbored some denial about her oldest son's depression, anxiety and substance use. "Lots of kids have problems. Maybe everything will work itself out," she thought. That denial ended abruptly the night she had to call the police.

Neighbors she hadn't even met yet stared from their driveways as her son was pushed into a police car, swearing loudly at her. Her three-word response to the shame and guilt she felt that night may just help change the way you view the world.

Kristina went on to write the book "I Can Fix This: And Other Lies I've Told Myself While Parenting My Struggling Child". Her son, now in recovery, encouraged her to write every gritty detail of the family's struggles -- and wrote the final chapter himself.

In this interview, Kristina brings the charm and humor that won Oprah's reality TV show to crucial issues facing parents with kids who are struggling. We discuss the power of shared experience in support groups, why she danced the night away as her son was in the psych ward, why the "good kids" in families often suffer in silence, and how parents can connect to them despite their sibling's struggles. And so much more!

EPISODE RESOURCES:

• Kristina’s YouTube Channel
• Kristina’s website
• Kristina’s Facebook
• Kristina’s Instagram

This podcast is part of a nonprofit called Hopestream Community
Learn about The Stream, our private online community for moms
Learn about The Woods, our private online community for dads
Find us on Instagram: @hopestreamcommunity
Download a free e-book, Worried Sick: A Compassionate Guide For Parents When Your Teen or Young Adult Child Misuses Drugs and Alcohol

Hopestream 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:

The chaos of Jared Murray's substance use got him expelled from the University of Alabama and banned from campus. How then, did he go on to eventually running the university's collegiate recovery program? You’ll have to listen to find out.

Jared now spends every day talking with young adults and their parents about addiction, mental health and sober life at Momentum Recovery in North Carolina. Many of those parents are in a position that you might be familiar with - desperately trying to convince their young adult child to pursue treatment and recovery.

In this episode, Jared brings his personal and professional experiences to bear on considerations around when it’s time to seek help, whether youth have to be open to treatment to realize benefits, whether relapse is inevitable, and why interventions don't have to look like anything you've seen on TV.

EPISODE RESOURCES:

Momentum Recovery website

This podcast is part of a nonprofit called Hopestream Community
Learn about The Stream, our private online community for moms
Learn about The Woods, our private online community for dads
Find us on Instagram: @hopestreamcommunity
Download a free e-book, Worried Sick: A Compassionate Guide For Parents When Your Teen or Young Adult Child Misuses Drugs and Alcohol

Hopestream 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.

In an unplanned and heartfelt episode, I decided to share some thoughts on the importance of acceptance in the face of life's challenges. I discuss how resisting difficult experiences can hinder personal growth and highlight the beauty of transformation that comes with accepting reality.

You'll also hear a story of a life saved recently by one of our members, made possible by the support of Hopestream's scholarship fund. This episode takes place during our Seeds of Hope Giving Campaign for 2024, which you can learn more about at hopestreamcommunity.org/donate. If the Hopestream podcast has been helpful for you and your family, please consider a donation to our 501(c)3 nonprofit organization to keep it on air and, importantly, ad-free.

EPISODE RESOURCES:

• Hopestream’s Seeds of Hope Giving Campaign

This podcast is part of a nonprofit called Hopestream Community
Learn about The Stream, our private online community for moms
Learn about The Woods, our private online community for dads
Find us on Instagram: @hopestreamcommunity
Download a free e-book, Worried Sick: A Compassionate Guide For Parents When Your Teen or Young Adult Child Misuses Drugs and Alcohol

Hopestream 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:

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a highly effective but obscure treatment in psychiatry. It received its first FDA clearance for the treatment of depression in 2008 but has since proven itself to be effective for a host of other issues – depression, OCD, smoking cessation, bipolar, PTSD, cognitive impairment, and even autism. And a huge bonus? Side effects are practically non-existent.

If that doesn’t get your attention, consider this: The FDA recently cleared TMS for depression in adolescents aged 15 and up, with studies currently being conducted on efficacy for substance use disorders.

In this episode, I speak with Dr. Martha Koo, president of the TMS society's board of directors. Martha received her degrees from Princeton and UCLA and is double-board-certified in psychiatry and addiction. She has also participated in the evolution of TMS for decades. She’ll explain who TMS is for, how it works, what it’s capable of, and why there may be an explosion of its use in the coming years.

EPISODE RESOURCES:

• Neuro Wellness Spa
• Your Behavioral Health
• Clear Behavioral Health (Mental Health & Addiction Services)
• TMS Society (find a provider)

This podcast is part of a nonprofit called Hopestream Community
Learn about The Stream, our private online community for moms
Learn about The Woods, our private online community for dads
Find us on Instagram: @hopestreamcommunity
Download a free e-book, Worried Sick: A Compassionate Guide For Parents When Your Teen or Young Adult Child Misuses Drugs and Alcohol

Hopestream 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:

As a mom of four boys, I confess to knowing very little about raising girls. But my guests today have an intimate understanding of the specific emotional needs and experiences of adolescent girls, young women, and gender diverse individuals grounded in decades of therapeutic work.

Dr. Marcy Russo and Sara Osborne advocate for a whole-person approach to residential treatment for many of the most common mental and behavioral health issues -- anxiety, depression, trauma, eating disorders -- and the substance use disorders that sometimes result.

In this episode we'll discuss the perfect storm of issues, from Covid to social media, that has left so many young women feeling they cannot navigate social expectations or develop healthy, supportive relationships. We also talk about the use of relational and somatic therapeutic tools to help girls find authenticity and self-understanding for long term wellness and recovery.

EPISODE RESOURCES:

• Wellspring website
• Angelus House website

This podcast is part of a nonprofit called Hopestream Community
Learn about The Stream, our private online community for moms
Learn about The Woods, our private online community for dads
Find us on Instagram: @hopestreamcommunity
Download a free e-book, Worried Sick: A Compassionate Guide For Parents When Your Teen or Young Adult Child Misuses Drugs and Alcohol

Hopestream 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.

Community Reinforcement and Family Training (aka CRAFT) is a system for helping friends and family members change the way that they interact with someone they love who has an unhealthy and/or dangerous relationship with substances.

CRAFT teaches family members how to stay connected, increase communication, and effectively encourage their loved one toward treatment, while taking care of themselves in the process.

This episode centers around what parents need to know about CRAFT to have the best possible chance at having their child accept help for their substance misuse. It's one where you may want a notebook to capture the steps and actions involved in this very important process.

This podcast is part of a nonprofit called Hopestream Community
Learn about The Stream, our private online community for moms
Learn about The Woods, our private online community for dads
Find us on Instagram: @hopestreamcommunity
Download a free e-book, Worried Sick: A Compassionate Guide For Parents When Your Teen or Young Adult Child Misuses Drugs and Alcohol

Hopestream 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:

Even before he became a teenager, it seemed to Dr. Steedy Kontos that he was good at anything he tried to do - especially sports. He shined in football, baseball, basketball, wrestling and track, and recruiters were starting to take notice. It seemed he was well on his way to becoming a professional athlete.

But Steedy had also begun experimenting with marijuana and alcohol at the age of 12. When he was caught skipping class in high school, his coach informed him that he would be required to attend extra summer conditioning on top of the school's disciplinary program. He refused, giving up his promising career, and redirected his energies to drugs, alcohol and partying.

In the years since he began his own recovery, Steedy has obtained a doctorate in clinical psychology, served as a collegiate recovery program coordinator, and a staff therapist at Division 1 school Georgia Tech. For the first time on the Hopestream podcast, Steedy walks us through the specific challenges and needs of student athletes in recovery.

We'll discuss the role that parents sometimes play in the intense and unhealthy pressure on D1 athletes, imposter syndrome at elite schools, and the academic benefits of collegiate recovery programs.

EPISODE RESOURCES:

• InTown Psychology, Atlanta, GA
• Assoc. Of Recovery In Higher Education (Collegiate Recovery)
• Georgia Tech Collegiate Recovery Program

This podcast is part of a nonprofit called Hopestream Community
Learn about The Stream, our private online community for moms
Learn about The Woods, our private online community for dads
Find us on Instagram: @hopestreamcommunity
Download a free e-book, Worried Sick: A Compassionate Guide For Parents When Your Teen or Young Adult Child Misuses Drugs and Alcohol

Hopestream 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:

Listeners of Hopestream get to hear from lots of amazing doctors, therapists, specialists, and academics. We can't underestimate how valuable their insights are, but we also need to listen to the voices of young people who have misused substances and come out the other side.

That's why our recent guest speakers session for members of Hopestream Community featured an AMA (ask me anything) with three young people who are living healthy lives after facing extreme forms of substance misuse. Each found their path in the 12-step program, which may be the most common treatment program in the country, but can also be totally unfamiliar to parents suddenly thrown into the world of addiction and recovery.

In this conversation, they answer questions posed by the parents of the Hopestream community, including the controversial concept of "rock bottom", the power of peer support and parents' united front, and whether recovery can (or should) include nicotine use.

EPISODE RESOURCES:

Find an AA meeting here
Find a recovery high school here
Connect with Young People in Recovery here
Search locally for an "Alternative Peer Group" in your city

This podcast is part of a nonprofit called Hopestream Community
Learn about The Stream, our private online community for moms
Learn about The Woods, our private online community for dads
Find us on Instagram: @hopestreamcommunity
Download a free e-book, Worried Sick: A Compassionate Guide For Parents When Your Teen or Young Adult Child Misuses Drugs and Alcohol

Hopestream 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.