Your Loved One Is Still Drinking: Al-Anon, Detachment & Family VacationsYour Loved One Is Still Drinking: Al-Anon, Detachment & Family Vacations
Recover Your Soul: A Spiritual Path to a Happy and Healthy Life
Rev. Rachel Harrison shares a candid story about a family holiday where her son’s drinking and old patterns resurfaced, and how she applied Al-Anon and spiritual tools to stay grounded. The episode focuses on detachment with love, family roles and choosing personal wellbeing even when loved ones are still in addiction.
43:21•28 Sept 2026
Family Holidays, Drinking Loved Ones and Detachment with Love
Episode Overview
- Detachment with love means allowing crises to unfold without trying to control or prevent every outcome, even when it feels deeply uncomfortable.
- Turning the focus inward – rather than on the drinker – is central to calming anxiety and creating a manageable life.
- Old family patterns and roles can resurface on holidays and birthdays, especially around alcohol, and recognising these patterns is a key step to changing them.
- Honest, non-controlling conversations after difficult events can open space for awareness and growth in both the drinker and their family.
- Each person has their own soul journey and “timeline”; choosing one’s own wellness and spiritual practice is the only part anyone can truly control.
“We're learning how to detach with love, how to turn the attention to ourselves, and how to, even on vacation, allow some upset to happen, not let it destroy everything, and learn more about ourselves and our own healing, awakening journey.”
How do people find strength in their journey to sobriety? This conversation with Rev. Rachel Harrison centres on what happens when you're doing your own healing work, yet someone you love is still drinking – and you're all crammed together on a family holiday. Fresh from a multigenerational trip to Hawaii, Rachel shares a very real 24 hours where old family patterns resurfaced: birthdays that "have" to be perfect, unspoken expectations, and the familiar chaos that alcohol can bring.
Drawing on Al-Anon, AA and her Recover Your Soul process, she keeps coming back to detachment with love, spiritual practice and personal responsibility: "We're learning how to detach with love, how to turn the attention to ourselves, and how to, even on vacation, allow some upset to happen, not let it destroy everything, and learn more about ourselves and our own healing, awakening journey." You’ll hear how she handled the aftermath: difficult conversations, genuine remorse, and small but important shifts in awareness for her son and the rest of the family.
She talks honestly about her son’s ongoing drinking, the shame he carries about “always being the one who messes it up”, and how quickly an idealised day can slide into drama when alcohol is involved. What keeps this episode grounded is Rachel’s focus on her own side of the street. Rather than pushing or fixing, she talks about holding space, trusting each person’s soul journey and choosing her own timeline of wellness.
This episode suits anyone living with a loved one who still drinks or uses, especially those in Al-Anon, adult children of alcoholics, and spiritual seekers trying to stay sane on holidays, birthdays and big family events. If your family looks “perfect” in photos but feels anything but, this honest story might be exactly what you need to hear. How might your own detachment with love change the next family gathering?
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