A Mom’s Perspective and the Hope Found With Treatment

A Mom’s Perspective and the Hope Found With Treatment

How do people find strength in their journey to sobriety? This conversation on *Horizon Heart to Heart* follows Jackie, a mum of two sons living with addiction, as she talks with host Christina Pearl about fear, guilt, hope, and what treatment has meant for her family. You’ll hear Jackie describe the early years of her younger son’s substance use, her “desperation for a cure”, and the moment Horizon’s residential services first felt “like a family”.

She’s honest about repeated relapses and the shock of realising those setbacks sometimes carried “invaluable lessons”, even if that only makes sense looking back. The chat is especially useful for parents and family members who feel stuck between loving someone and trying not to lose themselves in the chaos. Jackie explains how she moved from intense codependency and secrecy to getting support through family counselling, Naranon, and her own therapist.

Her message is clear: “You have to take the first step… It felt like I was admitting a failure as a parent. And that’s just not true.” Christina and Jackie also talk about why detox and residential care can be life‑saving for some, the impact of Covid and isolation on addiction, and the importance of teaching real‑life skills like budgeting, healthy routines, and relationships as part of recovery.

Jackie doesn’t shy away from the hardest bits – the fear of relapse, the stigma, the heartbreak of watching her son suffer – but she keeps coming back to hope and persistence. Her son is now sober, living in a recovery house and working towards becoming an addiction counsellor. As Jackie puts it, “Failure is the result of not trying. Failure is giving up.

Please don’t do that.” If you’re a parent, partner, or relative wondering whether to make that first call for help, this conversation might be the honest, encouraging push you need.