What Recovery Looks Like For Parents, with JaniceWhat Recovery Looks Like For Parents, with Janice
Hopestream for parenting kids through drug use and addiction
Brenda Zane talks with Janice, a mum of two adult children in recovery, about what recovery looks like for parents themselves. Janice shares how changing her own energy, priorities and support system reshaped her relationships with her kids and her daily life.
1:00:37•24 Sept 2026
What Parent Recovery Really Looks Like, with Janice
Episode Overview
- Parents may need their own recovery, which often means changing communication, energy and long-held patterns rather than simply consuming more information.
- Shifting from critical, fix-it responses to calm, neutral energy can dramatically change how a child in active use or early recovery responds.
- Self-care creates the emotional space to be present and non-judgemental; without it, a parent’s “overflowing cup” leaves little room for their child.
- Before stepping in to rescue, asking what lesson a child might miss out on and whose discomfort is really being eased can clarify when to hold back.
- Community with other parents facing similar crises helps reduce isolation, normalises difficult experiences, and offers practical ideas and support.
“The biggest thing is you're not going to get through this without changing yourself.”
How do people find strength in their journey to sobriety? This conversation turns that question toward parents, shining a light on what recovery can look like for mums and dads whose kids are struggling with substances. Janice, a mum of two adult children in recovery, shares how she went from being the “get it done” fixer to someone her kids experience as calm, present and genuinely supportive.
She laughs that people used to come to her for solutions, not comfort: “You did not come to me if you wanted support or enveloping, loving, a warm sense of acceptance. That was not me.” Now, she says she’s “totally changed” and asks herself before any interaction, “What do I want people to walk away thinking about me?
Do I want them to feel loved, accepted?” She talks through the early shock of finding crystal meth, the guilt of constant criticism, and the moment she chose to “get educated” rather than spiral into self-pity. With host Brenda Zane, Janice breaks down what “doing the work” actually meant for her: changing her communication style, dropping the urge to control, and shifting her mental energy away from obsessive worry and back onto her own growth.
You’ll hear how her son responded almost immediately when she changed her energy, how her daughter now says, “Mom, I can totally come to you now,” and why self-care stopped feeling selfish and started feeling essential. Janice also shares the uncomfortable bits—slowing down, facing her own family history, and learning to let consequences teach, rather than rushing in to rescue. Threaded through the conversation is the power of community.
Janice describes the Stream as a place where “normal mums with abnormal situations” can be honest, laugh about things like narcan, and swap stories that most friends simply couldn’t handle. If you’ve ever wondered whether parents need recovery too, this honest, human chat might have you asking yourself a new question: what would it look like if your healing became just as important as your child’s?
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