229 - Married with Addiction: Brennan and Alex share their experience with addiction and their recovery229 - Married with Addiction: Brennan and Alex share their experience with addiction and their recovery
Real Recovery Talk
Alex and Brennan share how addiction, Suboxone use, and relapse affected their marriage, and how both chose their own paths into recovery. The conversation highlights community, shared sobriety, and refusing to lose hope as key parts of their ongoing journey.
45:28•30 Oct 2022
Married with Addiction: Alex and Brennan’s Journey to Shared Sobriety
Episode Overview
- Addiction affects the whole household, and partners often need their own recovery through therapy or Al-Anon.
- Medication like Suboxone can become a hidden burden and should ideally be used with a clear plan and time limit.
- Community and honest connection are presented as the real antidote to the loneliness of addiction.
- Family members can model commitment by doing their own meetings and, if they choose, joining their loved one in sobriety.
- Maintaining hope and taking small daily steps, rather than giving up after relapse, can keep the door to recovery open.
“Sobriety isn’t the opposite of addiction, community is.”
Brennan explains how he met Alex while secretly struggling with pills and taking Suboxone, admitting he was “very vague” and “kind of manipulative” about his past so she wouldn’t “run for the hills.” Alex shares the moment she found his Suboxone wrappers in a bag and felt instant fear and confusion, later calling the medication “a weight, a burden… it’s not freedom.” The episode looks at how Suboxone can quietly become the centre of a couple’s life, and how that reinforces addiction as a “family disease.” Alex describes the panic of thinking Brennan had overdosed, saying that was when she realised, “I needed treatment.
How do people find strength in their journey to sobriety? This conversation on Real Recovery Talk follows married couple Alex and Brennan as they talk openly about addiction, relapse, and rebuilding a life together without substances. Hosted by Tom Conrad with co-host Ben, the chat stays relaxed and funny at times, even while covering some heavy ground. I needed recovery,” and started therapy and Al‑Anon for herself. A big theme is community.
Brennan talks about coming off Suboxone, going through treatment again, then going home and forcing himself to raise his hand in meetings and introduce himself. Alex repeats a line she picked up in Al‑Anon: “sobriety isn’t the opposite of addiction, community is,” and backs it up with a rat study showing how connection changes behaviour.
Perhaps the most striking moment is Alex’s quiet decision to stop drinking too: she wants to “go on this journey with him” and show she’s willing to do the same hard thing she’s asking of Brennan. Their story won’t feel neat or easy, but it shows how honesty, persistence and shared effort can shift a marriage from fear to real partnership in recovery. What small step could you take today to feel a bit less alone with it all?
Do you want to link to this podcast?
Get the buttons here!
More From This Show
The latest episodes from the same podcast.
Related Episodes
Similar episodes from other shows in the catalogue.