What if everything you’ve been taught about recovery is wrong?

What if the thing your family fears —medication—might actually be the one thing that could help save your loved one’s life?

You might recognize names like methadone, suboxone, sublocade, buprenorphine, and others.

In this episode, we strip away the sugarcoating and talk honestly about how these work, and what exactly medically assisted treatment (MAT) is: what it does, why it works, and why so many families still judge it. We dig into the hard truths—how detox alone sets people up to fail, how shame keeps loved ones stuck, and how MAT creates the chemical stability that recovery literally cannot happen without.

We confront the biggest stigma head-on: “Isn’t this just swapping one drug for another?” And we break down, in real language, why that belief is not only outdated—but dangerous.

If you’re a sibling or family member watching someone you love fight addiction, this episode gives you the clarity you’ve been craving and the honesty you deserve.

You’ll walk away with:

• The real science behind MAT and why it stabilizes the brain when nothing else does
• A blunt breakdown of the biggest stigmas, including why the “one drug for another” myth does more harm than good
• What recovery actually requires beyond detox, tough love, or willpower
• Clear ways to support your loved one without shame, judgment, or outdated beliefs

📘Download our FREE, sibling e-book: 6 actions to help navigate a sibling’s substance use journey

🤝Join our FREE and PRIVATE sibling-focused community: Siblings For Love of Recovery

📲Connect with FLOR: Instagram and TikTok

🎙Guest speaker: Dr. Sarah Nasir, DO

Related content:

• Watch her break down “Opioid Addiction & 3 Phases of Treatment”
• Download the Opioid Recovery Guide
  

“How’s your brother? How are your parents?”

Sound familiar?

If you’ve ever felt like people are quick to ask about the loved one struggling with substance use—but rarely ask how you’re doing—you’re not alone. Or maybe they jump straight into offering advice.

I know that feeling well. In this episode, I’m answering the questions I get asked most about my brother’s addiction—and the ones I wish people asked instead.

The ones I hear all the time sound like:

• “Do you think he’s ready for treatment this time?”

• “What caused him to use?”

• “Is your family doing better now?”

But those aren’t the questions I wish people asked.

Because it’s not about blame—it’s about being seen.

This episode is for every sibling who’s tired of being the messenger, the fixer, or the spokesperson. It’s for the ones who want to talk about their relationship with their sibling as they see it—not through the lens of addiction, but through love, boundaries, and truth.

📘Download our FREE, sibling e-book: 6 actions to help navigate a sibling’s substance use journey

🤝Join our FREE and PRIVATE sibling-focused community: Siblings For Love of Recovery

📲Connect with FLOR: Instagram and TikTok

What does it really mean to love someone through addiction — and how do we move beyond the idea that rehab is the only way forward?

The answer is rarely simple. We want to show up, to help, to protect — but sometimes our love feels heavy, confusing, or not enough.

Joanna and I talk about the complicated love of siblings — the guilt, the hope, the heartbreak — and how stories like hers and mine can remind us that none of us are alone in this.

In The Opioid Trilogy, Joanna brings these stories to life with unflinching honesty: Brother captures her intimate phone calls with her brother as he navigates the fragile cycle of recovery; Do No Harm follows Raina McMahan’s 17-year struggle with heroin and the healing power of connection over punishment; and Coming Home traces Tahira Malik’s journey of rebuilding after addiction and incarceration, and her creation of a safe space for women reentering society.

Together we dig into:

• The complicated love of siblings — the guilt, the hope, the heartbreak

• Paths to recovery beyond rehab

• The failures of the rehab industry

• How to help and support a loved one in early recovery, or sober curious

• And what it means to love someone through addiction, even when you don’t have the answers

If you’ve ever wrestled with the idea of tough love, or questioned, “Am I loving them the right way?” this conversation is for you.

📘Download our FREE, sibling e-book: 6 actions to help navigate a sibling’s substance use journey

🤝Join our FREE and PRIVATE sibling-focused community: Siblings For Love of Recovery

📲Connect with FLOR: Instagram and TikTok

🎙Guest speaker: Joanna Rudnick

Watch The Opioid Trilogy’s short films:

• Ep 1: Brother

• Ep 2: Do No Harm

• Ep 3: Coming Home

“Rat Park,” explained:

• TED Talk: “Everything you know about addiction is wrong” by Johann Hari