125: Empowering Growth with Rachel West125: Empowering Growth with Rachel West
You're Sober! Now What?
Host Tamar Medford chats with coach Rachel West about living alongside addicted loved ones, the impact of labels, and how mindset work can change life after addiction. The episode focuses on family emotions, boundaries, and opening up new possibilities beyond old stories.
39:11•16 Aug 2021
Rachel West on Family Addiction, Labels and New Possibilities
Episode Overview
- Recovery cannot be forced; the person struggling has to want change more than anyone around them.
- Family members benefit from processing their own anger, guilt and fear instead of trying to rescue loved ones.
- Identifying the deeper root cause behind addiction is crucial, rather than focusing only on the first drink or drug.
- Labels and old stories, such as "learning disability" or "alcoholic", can severely limit self-belief and future choices.
- Shifting mindset and patterns after addiction opens up new possibilities for purpose, work and healthier relationships.
“They have to want it themselves more than I want it for them.”
How do people find strength in their journey to sobriety? This conversation between host Tamar Medford and coach Rachel West looks at addiction from the vantage point many quietly occupy: the family member watching someone they love unravel. Rachel, a personal growth coach and Master NLP and Time Line Therapy Practitioner, grew up surrounded by addiction – alcohol, drugs, gambling and self-harm were all present in her family.
She explains what it’s like to be "that family member kind of sitting back and watching these people around me deconstruct," and how seeing their potential beneath the chaos shaped her purpose. You’ll hear Rachel talk about staying with her sister when everyone else had "given up on him and her," and how her brother‑in‑law’s overdose became a key reason she now focuses on mindset, mental health and addiction.
She also shares the hard realisation that changed a four‑year relationship with an alcoholic partner: "They have to want it themselves more than I want it for them." The episode digs into enabling, tough love, and the emotional toll of wanting to rescue someone who isn’t ready to change. Rachel introduces her work with Family Addiction Mastery, where she supports relatives to process anger, guilt and fear, understand what the addict is facing, and accept that they can’t force recovery.
There’s also a powerful chat on trading self‑judgement for possibilities. Rachel describes carrying a "learning disability" label for 27 years, only to learn through NLP that it wasn’t true – a shift that led her to daily reading and co‑authoring a book. Her story pairs neatly with Tamar’s experience of turning limiting beliefs about being "a recovering alcoholic" into fuel for a meaningful life.
If you’re affected by addiction – whether it’s your own or someone else’s – could letting go of old labels and stories be the next step in your growth?
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