Prodigal Family and Recovery

Prodigal Family and Recovery

What are the common struggles and victories in addiction recovery? This episode of *Life Recovery Today* turns the spotlight on someone often forgotten in the story of the prodigal son: the older brother. Counsellor and recovery worker Corey Busk wraps up his three-part series by focusing on how addiction affects the whole "prodigal family"—parents, siblings, and friends, not just the person caught in addictive behaviour.

Through Luke 15, Corey reads the section about the older brother who refuses to join the party and unpacks the resentment, comparison, and deep loneliness that many family members quietly carry. As he puts it, the older sibling’s cry is really, "What about me?"—a longing to be seen, valued, and celebrated. Corey gently validates those who feel forgotten while all the attention goes to the person in crisis.

He describes siblings who become perfectionists, trying to "do everything right" so their parents won’t have any more burden, yet end up feeling unseen and unloved. He repeatedly stresses that *their* emotions are valid and says, "You are also worth celebrating." Using the father’s response to the older brother—"You’ve always stayed by me and everything I have is yours"—Corey paints a picture of a God who notices faithful, hurting family members just as much as the returning prodigal.

He leaves the question open: will the older brother walk into the party? In the same way, each family member gets to choose their own timing and process of entering recovery and grace. Host Becky Brown closes by sharing her own family’s experience with her brother’s heroin addiction and the hard-won healing that followed, emphasising that recovery really is for everyone.

If you’ve ever thought, "What about me?" while loving someone in addiction, this conversation might be exactly what your heart’s been waiting for. Are you ready to believe that you’re invited to the party too?