How Healing My Codependency Changed Everything- A Real Conversation With My HusbandHow Healing My Codependency Changed Everything- A Real Conversation With My Husband
Recover Your Soul: A Spiritual Path to a Happy and Healthy Life
Rev. Rachel Harrison and her husband Rich talk openly about how her recovery from alcoholism and codependency reshaped their marriage and family. They share personal stories, spiritual tools and practical ideas for handling anger, conflict and long-standing patterns in relationships touched by addiction.
33:55•20 Apr 2026
How Healing Codependency Transformed a 34‑Year Marriage
Episode Overview
- One person’s inner healing can trigger meaningful change in a relationship, even without trying to fix the other person.
- Shifting from anger and the need to be right towards awareness and presence reduces conflict and brings more peace.
- Letting go of fixing and controlling allows partners to feel heard and supported rather than judged or dismissed.
- Addressing small hurts early, instead of stacking them up like Jenga blocks, prevents major blow‑ups.
- Simple practices such as sincere apologies, validation, and space for each other’s feelings help rebuild trust over time.
“Somehow I’m doing so much less and having so much more impact.”
Get ready to be moved by real-life accounts of how two people rebuild a marriage after addiction, codependency and years of family chaos. Rev. Rachel Harrison sits down with her husband of nearly 34 years, Rich, for a raw, funny and honest chat about how her healing shifted everything between them. The heart of their conversation is Rachel’s new memoir, *Recover Your Soul: A Spiritual Journey of Healing from Addiction, Codependency, and People Pleasing*.
Rich talks about reading the book and seeing their life on the page: “I’m liking it from both sides. I think it’s a really good portrayal of what we went through.” He shares how her spiritual work and sobriety quietly changed him too, describing himself as a “beneficiary” of her steady inner growth.
You’ll hear them unpack tough patterns many couples will recognise: his anger and intensity, her fixing and people‑pleasing, endless fights about their sons’ addictions, and that awful feeling of being on opposite sides of the pitch instead of on the same team. Rich explains how spiritual tools, especially teachings like Eckhart Tolle’s *The Power of Now*, helped him step back from the need to be right and choose peace instead.
One of the most helpful parts for anyone dealing with relationship tension is their “relationship Jenga” metaphor — how small hurts stack up when they’re ignored, and how learning to say “ouch” sooner keeps the tower from collapsing.
They show what healthier support looks like: Rachel learning to hear Rich’s frustration without rushing in to fix it, and Rich coming back to say, “I’m sorry, I could have said that nicer.” This conversation is ideal if you’re dealing with alcohol recovery, codependency, or a shaky relationship and want real talk about what mutual growth can look like. Could one person’s inner work be the first block that steadies the whole tower?
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