The Alcohol & Addiction Podcast

In this powerful conversation, Lee Davy is joined by Lisa Katona Smith, founder of Parallel Recovery and author of Parallel Recovery: A Guide for Those Who Love Someone Struggling with Substance Use Disorder. This episode is for anyone who loves someone who is struggling — partners, parents, sons, daughters — and feels exhausted, confused, or stuck in cycles of fixing, fear, and reactivity. Lisa brings clarity without blame, compassion without collapse, and a framework that finally gives families permission to stop fixing and start healing. Together, Lee and Lisa explore how real change doesn’t come from control, lectures, or shame — but from working on yourself, regulating your nervous system, and learning how to love better. What We Cover in This Episode What Parallel Recovery actually is — and why families need their own recovery process, not just the person who’s struggling Why waiting for someone else to change keeps the entire family system stuck How control, fixing, and over-functioning are fear