“The opioid epidemic in the United States kills 1 person every 11 minutes” (HRSA.GOV, 2023)

In 2023, almost 112k people died from overdose yet addiction treatment is more assessable than ever before. The treatment industry continues to utilize outdated methods such as abstinence-based models as their primary treatment while our overdose rates continue to rise year after year. The gold standard treatment for opioid use disorder is a partial opioid agonist such as suboxone or a full opioid agonist such as methadone yet many treatment centers will not even offer the very treatment that has been proven to have the highest success rate for recovery in regard to opioid use disorder (OUD). How does that make sense?

In 2020, I started sharing my story of what it was like to have an adult child that struggles with substance use disorder (SUD) on social media as an outlet and ultimately found an amazing community of other loved ones impacted by addiction and people in recovery. It has been a painful and heartbreaking journey at times, but also a beautiful disaster. I now consider myself an advocate for harm reduction, ethical treatment and just humanity. To learn more about me and our story you can click here

Let’s start with what this page is NOT…

1. I do not hold the cure to addiction. Every family dynamic is different.

2. I will never recommend specific treatment facilities.

Now, what you will find…

1. Red flags to look for when seeking inpatient treatment

2. Support for ALL paths to recovery with resource links

3. Education and links on evidenced-based treatment, and some currently being studied.

4. Education on the many different options of medicated assisted treatment.

5. Blog and podcast links which many times will reflect my frustrations and opinions on things.

6. Harm reduction resources and education

7. Eventually a weekly meeting for loved ones, those in active drug use and those in recovery. Addiction impacts the entire family, and all sides needs to hear the stories of others.