National Recovery Month Week 4 | with Carolyn CastroNational Recovery Month Week 4 | with Carolyn Castro
Airing Addiction
Hosts Lisa Blanchard and Jesse Chaison speak with consultant and former nurse Carolyn Castro about multiple pathways to recovery and meeting people where they are. The conversation touches on stigma around medications, harm reduction, gaps in youth services and the need for more holistic, evidence-based support.
50:51•24 Sept 2026
Meeting People Where They Are: Multiple Paths to Recovery with Carolyn Castro
Episode Overview
- Recovery can follow many pathways, including treatment, medications, harm reduction, peer support and faith or cultural practices.
- Fear and misinformation about medications for substance use disorder often prevent people from accessing effective, evidence-based care.
- Meeting people where they are means prioritising stabilisation, safety and wellness rather than punishment or rigid abstinence demands.
- Youth and young adults need flexible, wellness-focused supports and family involvement, not simply being left to "age into" adult systems.
- Cross-system collaboration among treatment providers, child welfare, justice services and communities is vital to reduce stigma and improve access.
“If you're in this space doing this work, you have to put your own biases aside and just help people where they're at.”
What drives someone to seek a life without alcohol and drugs that truly fits them? This Recovery Month conversation brings together hosts Lisa Blanchard and Jesse Chaison with consultant and former nurse Carolyn Castro to talk about why "recovery is not one-size-fits-all" and what it would mean to genuinely meet people where they are. Across four decades in nursing, state work and national consulting, Carolyn has watched addiction treatment move from rigid, disciplin ary models to slowly more flexible ones.
She shares how fear and misinformation still block people from care, especially around medications for substance use disorder. As she puts it, "If you're in this space doing this work, you have to put your own biases aside and just help people where they're at." The trio compare addiction care to diabetes and cancer treatment, highlighting how people with substance use issues rarely get the same calm, evidence-based options others receive.
You’ll hear frank talk about stigma in recovery communities, probation systems and child protection services, and how that shapes decisions for pregnant and parenting women. Jesse brings in his lived experience and frontline work in an opioid treatment programme, describing the pushback he hears in 12-step spaces and from families who fear that medication is a "life sentence" rather than a stabilising tool. A big focus is the huge gap in services for youth and young adults.
Carolyn argues for framing support as "wellness" rather than lifelong recovery language, so families and young people can actually start the conversation. The episode leans into harm reduction, needle exchange, peer supports and cross-system collaboration as equally valid routes that can lead someone towards change. If you’re curious about multiple pathways, worried about medication, or working with young people and families, this chat might help you rethink what real, person-centred recovery support could look like.
How could your approach shift if the goal was simply to do no harm and keep people as safe and well as possible right now?
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