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Home > 1000 Days Sober Podcast > Parallel Recovery: You Don’t Have to Fix Them to Heal Yourself
Podcast: 1000 Days Sober Podcast
Episode:

Parallel Recovery: You Don’t Have to Fix Them to Heal Yourself
Category: Health
Duration: 01:00:33
Publish Date: 2025-12-17 06:00:00
Description:

In this powerful conversation, Lee Davy is joined by Lisa Katona Smith, founder of Parallel Recovery and author of Parallel Recovery: A Guide for Those Who Love Someone Struggling with Substance Use Disorder.

This episode is for anyone who loves someone who is struggling — partners, parents, sons, daughters — and feels exhausted, confused, or stuck in cycles of fixing, fear, and reactivity.

Lisa brings clarity without blame, compassion without collapse, and a framework that finally gives families permission to stop fixing and start healing.

Together, Lee and Lisa explore how real change doesn’t come from control, lectures, or shame — but from working on yourself, regulating your nervous system, and learning how to love better.

What We Cover in This Episode

  • What Parallel Recovery actually is — and why families need their own recovery process, not just the person who’s struggling

  • Why waiting for someone else to change keeps the entire family system stuck

  • How control, fixing, and over-functioning are fear-driven responses, not acts of love

  • The shift from reactivity to responsiveness — and why this changes everything

  • How Internal Family Systems (IFS) helps families understand PARTS, SELF, shame, and protection

  • What “loving better” really means — and why doing less can sometimes help more

  • How generational patterns, legacy burdens, and family beliefs shape alcohol use and coping

  • Why slowing down is often the fastest way to create real, sustainable change

About Lisa Katona Smith

Lisa Katona Smith is the founder of Parallel Recovery and a leading voice in helping families navigate substance use and mental health challenges without blame or burnout. Her work empowers families to focus on sustainability, connection, and self-leadership — rather than control and collapse.

Her book, Parallel Recovery, offers practical tools for families who want to heal themselves while staying connected to the people they love.

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