Addiction and loving someone in AddictionAddiction and loving someone in Addiction
The Recovery Pastor Podcast
Shannon, the Recovery Pastor, shares a faith-centred message for those loving someone in addiction, broadening the definition of addiction and introducing seven stages of that experience. The episode stresses prayer, language, and the importance of support for families and friends who often suffer in silence.
12:48•29 May 2026
Addiction and Loving Someone in Addiction: Faith, Prayer and the Seven Stages
Episode Overview
- Addiction covers far more than drugs and alcohol, including behaviours like gambling, overspending, toxic relationships and spiritual obsession.
- People who love someone in addiction also need recovery and support, and their pain often goes unseen and unheard.
- Language matters: Shannon challenges labels such as "I’m just an addict" and instead stresses that people are in recovery from addiction, not defined by it.
- Faith and prayer are highlighted as key supports, especially when loved ones do not know where the person in addiction is or if they are safe.
- A seven-part series on the seven stages of loving someone in addiction is introduced to give structure and encouragement to those walking this path.
“The hardest thing about loving someone in addiction is trusting God to protect them and to provide for them when we do not know where they're at or even if they're alive.”
How do people find strength in their journey to sobriety? This episode focuses on those who often feel invisible in the recovery story: the ones loving someone in addiction. Shannon, known as the Recovery Pastor, speaks directly to families, partners and friends who are exhausted, scared and still hanging on.
She shares how overwhelmed and humbled she feels by the flood of messages and “mini testimonies” she’s received, and explains that this episode launches a seven-part series on what she calls the "seven stages of loving someone in addiction". Right from the start, Shannon widens the lens on addiction. It isn’t just drugs and alcohol. She talks about gambling, overspending, overeating, toxic relationships, stealing, overworking, internet use, abuse, exercising, porn, cutting and even spiritual obsession.
For anyone who thinks, “I don’t use, so I don’t need recovery,” she gently counters with the idea that “we are all wounded from something” and many of us need recovery in ways we may not have recognised. A central theme here is the role of faith and prayer for those watching someone they love self-destruct.
One message she reads says, “It is a true test of faith because the only weapon I had left to fight against this addiction was prayer.” Another parent describes literally praying their child home, understanding the story of the prodigal son in a painfully real way. Shannon is careful about language, pushing back on labels like “I’m just an addict” and emphasising that people are in recovery from addiction, not defined by it.
She reminds anyone loving someone in addiction that “it is absolutely never too late to ask for help” – whether for the person using or for themselves. If you’ve ever felt alone, silent, or forgotten while loving someone in addiction, this faith-based series might give you words, structure and community for the battle you’re already fighting. What stage might you be in right now?
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