In this episode of Talking Addiction & Recovery, we sit down with Caroline Beidler, author of When You Love Someone in Recovery: A Hopeful Guide to Understanding Addiction.

Caroline shares her deeply personal recovery journey, beginning in her teenage years, and how her lived experience shaped her work supporting families impacted by substance use disorder. Together, we explore what recovery really looks like beyond sobriety, and why families often feel lost in outdated narratives about addiction.

This conversation challenges long-held ideas like “enabling” and reframes how we understand support, boundaries, and connection. Caroline emphasizes that recovery is not an individual process—it is relational, communal, and ongoing.

We also dive into:

• Why families need education and accurate recovery information
• The emotional impact of grief and loss in addiction
• How neuroscience and lived experience reshape recovery understanding
• Practical ways families can show up without shame or judgment
• Why hope is not passive—it’s an active recovery strategy

This episode is for anyone supporting a loved one, working in behavioral health, or seeking a more compassionate and informed understanding of addiction and recovery.

About the Guest:

Caroline Beidler, MSW, is an author, speaker, and managing editor of Recovery.com, where she combines research and expert insight on addiction and mental health. Drawing from her own recovery journey, she is the founder of the Women’s Recovery Leadership Foundation and helps others find healing through her newsletter and podcast, Circle of Chairs, which reaches thousands weekly. Carline’s next book, When You Love Someone in Recovery, is a compassionate and practical guide to understanding addiction and supporting loved ones through recovery.

Links:

• https://www.carolinebeidler.com/
• https://www.amazon.com/When-Love-Someone-Recovery-Understanding/dp/1400253977

Support the show

Thank you for listening to this episode of Talking Addiction & Recovery Podcast.

To learn more about the podcast visit www.andrewjschreier.com

To inquire being a guest on the podcast or sponsorship opportunities you can e-mail talkingaddictionandrecovery@gmail.com

Talking Addiction & Recovery Podcast is the follow-up to the book "Addiction & Recovery" by author and clinician Andrew J. Schreier. This podcast explores discussions regarding important issues related to addiction and recovery. Information you learn here is not typical of what you will find in academic textbooks and resources; and comes from the experiences of a clinical supervisor, clinical substance abuse counselor, and licensed professional counselor and the work with individuals and others involved in this field. Listen as guests join the show and cover a wide range of topics looking to educate individuals, families, communities, organizations, institutions, mental health professionals, educators, and anyone else impacted by addiction and recovery. Content is not intended to be treatment and is not affiliated with any specific group.