One of the most disheartening and confusing aspects of a relationship with someone in active addiction is the loneliness and emotional disconnect.
In this episode, Host Gail Ferguson Jones speaks with Marriage and Family Therapist Travis Thompson about the challenges of loving a partner engaged in a "chemical affair" with drugs and alcohol.
Travis, author of "To Those Left Behind. Helping Partners and Families Understand and Heal from Addiction," describes alcohol and drug abuse as an emotional affair.
He says users tend to engage more with substances than with their partners, just as they might if having an adulterous affair.
"It's safer to drink alcohol than to talk to someone," Travis says. "It's emotionally safer to use heroin than to tell your wife if you're ok or not."
Learn more about Travis Thompson's counseling services or order his book at: https://www.travisthompsoncounseling.com/
Learn more about The Buttrfly Effect Peer Recovery Coaching at: https://linktr.ee/GailFergusonJones
Reach me with comments, concerns or to suggest topics of interest for the podcast at: info@buttrflyeffect.com.
Music for The Buttrfly Effect Podcast, "Inspire Me," is by Mixaund Bandcamp at: https://mixaundbandcamp.com.
Episode 18: Recovery is Spiritual Connection
Episode 17: Five Shades of Manipulation
Episode 16: Benefits of a Personal Inventory
Episode 15: Moving from Sobriety to Recovery
Episode 14: Counter-Dependence
Episode 13: Answering the Question: Who Am I?
Episode 12: Addiction, Covid and the Holidays
Episode 11: Love Addiction and Codependency
Episode 10: Sober Life, Happy Wife
Episode 9: Recovering Your Alcoholic Marriage
Episode 8: Therapeutic Approach to Recovery
Episode 7: Gaslighting
Episode 6: Secondhand Drinking
Episode 5: Recipe for Happiness
Episode 4: The Trauma of Co-Addiction
Episode 3: It's My Life
Episode 2: Barriers to Recovery
Welcome to the Buttrfly Effect Podcast!
Episode 1: What is Codependency?
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