When you’re parenting a child who’s struggling with substance use or mental health, it changes you in ways most people will never understand.

Your nervous system rewires itself around fear. Your world shrinks to monitoring, anticipating, and trying to prevent disaster. And before you even realize it, your sense of self - your identity - becomes injured by the constant crisis.

In today’s episode, we’re talking about the kind of identity injury moms go through and the healing that has to happen for you to feel like yourself again.

You’ll hear me explain:

• what identity really is

• how chronic fear reshapes your brain and sense of self

• why your identity becomes wrapped up in saving your child

• why healing your identity is different from “changing” it

• how repetition, regulation, and community help repair identity

You’ll also hear about the moment I understood that my life, my identity, and even who I thought my daughter was had been completely reshaped by crisis. And how healing began only when I accepted that I couldn’t go back… I had to integrate and rebuild.

This episode isn’t just about understanding identity injury, it’s about showing you what’s possible when you begin healing it. This is the path to becoming a Peaceful Mom. Not a perfect mom. Not a detached mom. A grounded, regulated, connected mom who leads her family from clarity instead of fear.

And if you want to experience what that feels like in real time, I’m offering 2 free Peaceful Mom group coaching calls before Christmas. Something I’ve never done before!

You can sign up at https://heatherrosscoaching.com/peaceful-mom-group-free-coaching/

If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to get coached, to be in a room where you can just show up no matter how you feel, or to be surrounded by moms who are healing right alongside you this is your chance.

Come join us!

Resources From Heather Ross Coaching

If you want answers and support to help you and your child Sign up for a 45-minute $17 Road to Recovery call with Heather using the link below.

https://heatherrosscoachingcalendar.as.me/RoadtoRecovery⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The truth about enabling - If you've ever worried about enabling, this guide is for you!

https://heatherrosscoaching.com/perspective-about-enabling/

How to leave a podcast review

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/5xkPZM8mj-E

When traditional treatment hasn’t created the changes you hoped for, it’s easy to feel like there’s nowhere left to turn. In this episode, Jeremy French -founder of Making Whole -offers a completely different way of seeing substance use and what people actually need for recovery and a meaningful life.

In this episode, we explore:

• How substance use becomes a powerful solution because it temporarily solves real problems - and how that solution eventually shrinks a person’s world and limits their ability to live, grow, and function.
• The missing piece in the treatment world: very few places help people build the everyday skills, confidence, and problem-solving needed for real life. Making Whole fills that gap with an apprenticeship model where change happens through real work, real responsibility, and a supportive environment.
• Why real-life experience, individualized support, and authentic human connection create more lasting change than rigid, one-size-fits-all treatment models.

If you’ve been searching for a clearer, more human understanding of recovery and a program that sees the whole person, not just the substance use, you’ll find this conversation eye-opening and hopeful.

Listen to Jeremy’s first episode:

https://spotifycreators-web.app.link/e/nmXFafnEFYb

Contact Jeremy French at Making Whole

https://makingwhole.com/

Resources From Heather Ross Coaching

If you want answers and support to help you and your child Sign up for a 45-minute $17 Road to Recovery call with Heather using the link below.

https://heatherrosscoachingcalendar.as.me/RoadtoRecovery⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The truth about enabling - If you've ever worried about enabling, this guide is for you!

https://heatherrosscoaching.com/perspective-about-enabling/

How to leave a podcast review

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/5xkPZM8mj-E

We all start out with dreams for our kids — who they’ll be, what their lives will look like, and how it will feel to be their parent. But when it doesn't turn out anything like we expected, fear kicks in.

Maybe your child is struggling with substances, their mental health, or their identity.

Maybe they’ve made choices that scare you, or revealed parts of themselves that challenge everything you thought you knew.

When that happens, it can feel like the ground beneath you gives way. The future you imagined disappears, and you’re left wondering how to love your child — and yourself — in a world that suddenly looks unrecognizable.

In this deeply moving conversation, Heather talks with Meagan Skidmore, author of TransparentSEE: How I Learned to See Through My Journey as a Parent of a Transgender Kiddo.

When Meagan’s child came out as transgender, it shook her beliefs about love, faith, and family — and became the catalyst for profound personal growth.

Together, Heather and Meagan explore what happens when your heart breaks open — and how love, curiosity, and acceptance can rebuild what fear once tried to destroy.

They talk about:

• The moment you realize your child’s life won’t follow the script you wrote
• How to confront the fear and grief that come with shattered expectations
• Why “whole love” — not perfect love — is what heals relationships
• The difference between fixing your child and truly seeing them
• How letting go of the need for certainty can lead to deeper peace and connection

Whether your child’s struggle is with substances, identity, or something else entirely, this conversation will remind you:

You’re not alone. And even when life doesn’t go as planned, you can still find peace — by loving the child you have for who they are, not who you imagined they'd be.

Contact Meagan or purchase her book:

https://meaganskidmorecoaching.com/media-page/

Resources From Heather Ross Coaching

If you want answers and support to help you and your child Sign up for a 45-minute $17 Road to Recovery call with Heather using the link below.

https://heatherrosscoachingcalendar.as.me/RoadtoRecovery⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The truth about enabling - If you've ever worried about enabling, this guide is for you!

https://heatherrosscoaching.com/perspective-about-enabling/

Boundaries That Create Connection Masterclass

https://heatherrosscoaching.com/boundaries-that-create-connection-masterclass/

How to leave a podcast review

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/5xkPZM8mj-E

When we say “justice,” do we mean punishment - or safety, dignity, and repair?

In this episode, advocate Susan Ousterman joins Heather to rethink what justice looks like in the overdose crisis. Drawing from lived experience and years of policy work, Susan explains how criminalization fuels stigma, why harsher penalties (including drug-induced homicide laws) backfire, and how they even undercut Good Samaritan protections. Together, we trace the real barriers families face including insurance denials, short detox stays, patchwork care, and outline what actually saves lives: non-discriminatory, evidence-based treatment, harm reduction, and policies rooted in compassion rather than fear. If you’ve ever been told that “tougher laws” are the answer, this conversation offers a different perspective.

Connect with Susan:

https://www.vilomahfoundation.com/

Resources From Heather Ross Coaching

If you want answers and support to help you and your child Sign up for a 45-minute $17 Road to Recovery call with Heather using the link below.

https://heatherrosscoachingcalendar.as.me/RoadtoRecovery⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The truth about enabling - If you've ever worried about enabling, this guide is for you!

https://heatherrosscoaching.com/perspective-about-enabling/

How to leave a podcast review

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/5xkPZM8mj-E

What happens when compassion, science, and family come together to reshape the way we understand addiction?

In this powerful episode, I talk with Dr. Carrie Wilkens co-founder of the Center for Motivation and Change (CMC) and co-author of Beyond Addiction: How Science and Kindness Help People Change.

We talk about the origins of CMC and how that created a blueprint that challenged the “tough love” approach so many families have been told is their only option. Together, we explore what has changed in addiction science over the past decade, what remains misunderstood, and how kindness continues to transform lives.

You’ll hear us dig into:

• What’s new in the 10th Anniversary Edition of Beyond Addiction—and how the science has evolved in the last decade.

• Why relapse doesn’t erase progress and how parents can reframe it in ways that bring more peace of mind.

• The harmful oversimplification of “choice” in addiction and how to think about it in a more accurate and compassionate way.

• How parents can move beyond the paralyzing fear of “enabling” and make decisions that truly serve their family.

This is a conversation filled with wisdom, validation, and forward-looking hope for families who want a different path. One based on connection, science, and love.

CMC Resources and Links:

Beyond Addiction: How Science and Kindness Help People Change (10th Anniversary Edition) https://cmcffc.org/resources/books-and-workbooks

Support the Center for Motivation and Change: https://motivationandchange.com https://cmcffc.org/ways-to-give

Resources From Heather Ross Coaching

If you want answers and support to help you and your child Sign up for a 45-minute $17 Road to Recovery call with Heather using the link below.

https://heatherrosscoachingcalendar.as.me/RoadtoRecovery⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The truth about enabling - If you've ever worried about enabling, this guide is for you!

https://heatherrosscoaching.com/perspective-about-enabling/

Boundaries That Create Connection Masterclass

https://heatherrosscoaching.com/boundaries-that-create-connection-masterclass/

How to leave a podcast review

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/5xkPZM8mj-E

Heather talks with author Jackie Jackson about her new book, Holistic Trauma Healing: Strategies to Integrate the Body, Mind, and Spirit. Jackie shares her personal journey and what she’s learned about healing beyond traditional approaches and integrating different healing modalities.

You’ll hear:

• How trauma shows up in everyday ways like anxiety, people-pleasing, and exhaustion.

• Why healing the body is just as important as healing the mind.

• What post-traumatic growth and emotional resilience can look like.

This conversation is both heartfelt and practical, offering encouragement, wisdom, and gentle guidance for anyone navigating their own path of healing.

Resources From Heather Ross Coaching

If you want answers and support to help you and your child Sign up for a 45-minute $17 Road to Recovery call with Heather using the link below.

https://heatherrosscoachingcalendar.as.me/RoadtoRecovery⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The truth about enabling - If you've ever worried about enabling, this guide is for you!

https://heatherrosscoaching.com/perspective-about-enabling/

How to leave a podcast review

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/5xkPZM8mj-E

Connect with Jackie

Website: jacquelinejackson.net

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0738779555

Download her free parent guide

https://www.jacquelinejackson.net/podcast-landing-page

When you’re parenting a child who struggles with substances, it can feel like you don’t have a choice. The options in front of you often feel terrible, and the weight of helplessness colors everything.

I know this firsthand—during the years of my daughter Helanna’s substance use, I felt like my life was completely at the effect of hers. Without a sense of agency, everything felt horrific, like there was no “in-between”—just unbearable.

But the truth is even when you don’t like your options, you are still choosing. And recognizing that changes everything. It shifts you from powerless to empowered. It brings back agency, softens the edges of the pain, and helps you move forward instead of feeling consumed by chaos.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Why it feels like you don’t have a choice (and the real difference between “I don’t like my choices” and “I don’t have choices”).

• How every decision has both a cost and a benefit—and how naming those trade-offs can ease resentment and regret.

• The concept of choice stacking.

• Why waiting for certainty keeps you stuck, and how clarity actually comes after you decide.

If you’ve been feeling stuck, powerless, or waiting for your child to change before you can breathe again, this episode will help you take your power back in a compassionate, grounded way.

Resources From Heather Ross Coaching

If you want answers and support to help you and your child Sign up for a 45-minute $17 Road to Recovery call with Heather using the link below.

https://heatherrosscoachingcalendar.as.me/RoadtoRecovery⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The truth about enabling - If you've ever worried about enabling, this guide is for you!

https://heatherrosscoaching.com/perspective-about-enabling/

How to leave a podcast review

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/5xkPZM8mj-E

Guest Colleen Freeland opens up about her 20-year struggle with daily drinking, even while maintaining what looked like a “perfect” high-achieving life. She shares the pivotal moment when she realized alcohol wasn’t the real problem—it was what she believed about herself—and that what she truly needed was to do less, not more.

That insight led her to create a whole new approach to change. In this episode, Colleen explains why emotional sobriety matters more than willpower, why drinking less doesn’t mean giving up joy, and how she helps women cut back by up to 80% with tools that calm the nervous system and rebuild self-trust.

This is not another story about “just quitting.” Colleen shows why emotional sobriety is the missing piece for so many women, how cutting back can feel empowering, and what it really means to get happy, not sober.

If you’ve ever felt stuck in shame, perfectionism, or the belief that alcohol is the only problem—you’ll walk away from this conversation with hope, clarity, and a whole new way to think about change.

Resources From Heather Ross Coaching

If you want answers and support to help you and your child Sign up for a 45-minute $17 Road to Recovery call with Heather using the link below.

https://heatherrosscoachingcalendar.as.me/RoadtoRecovery⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The truth about enabling - If you've ever worried about enabling, this guide is for you!

https://heatherrosscoaching.com/perspective-about-enabling/

Boundaries That Create Connection Masterclass

https://heatherrosscoaching.com/boundaries-that-create-connection-masterclass/

How to leave a podcast review

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/5xkPZM8mj-E

Connect with Colleen Freeland

https://emotionalsobrietycoaching.com/

https://www.tiktok.com/@hangoverwhisperer

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/its-not-about-the-alcohol/id1654335817