You're the pivot person
In most families, one person holds it all together — the one who notices, who researches, who makes the calls, who stays up. That's the Pivot Person. The work you do ripples out. We build the course around you.
The family recovery course · 15 sessions
When someone you love has a substance use disorder, the whole family needs recovery.
You didn't cause it. You can't control it. And you won't cure it. But there is work that's yours — and it's the work that changes the most. Fifteen short sessions. At your own pace.
Free course · No sign-up wall · Watch one session or all fifteen
Who this is for
This course is for you if —
- Someone you love is using, and you're not sure what you're supposed to do next.
- You've tried everything — ultimatums, rescues, silent treatment — and nothing is working.
- They're in early recovery, and you want to support them without losing yourself.
- You've been carrying this a long time, and you need skills, not another pamphlet.
It's free. Self-paced. No diagnosis, no group, no judgment. If you want to talk to a coach after, that option is here — but it's not required.
The approach
Recovery is a team sport. You're on the team.
The team-sport model
The person you love doesn't recover alone. They need treatment, peer support, a family that knows what to do, and a clear sense of who they want to become. When all four show up, outcomes improve. A lot.
Three stages of recovery
Acceptance. Stabilization. Optimization. Different stages need different things from you. This course meets you wherever you are — and helps you know what stage you're actually in.
What you'll learn
Fifteen sessions. Watch at your own pace.
Each session includes a short video, a one-page worksheet you can print or save, and a few reflection prompts for the week. Most families take one session per week. Some go faster. Some repeat session 1 three times before moving on. All of that is fine.
- 01 Self-Care About 15 minutes Why family recovery starts with you, not them — and how to answer the question “what do I want?” when every honest answer starts with their name. Start
- 02 The Circle of Control About 15 minutes What's yours to carry, and what isn't. The starting point for every skill that comes after. Open
- 03 Treatment Literacy About 15 minutes Before you can help your person get better, you need to understand what “better” actually looks like — and what real treatment is, and isn't. This session is the map most families don't get until it's too late. Open
- 04 Why It Feels So Personal About 15 minutes Addiction isn't a message about your worth. And yet it lands like one. Today we learn to separate the person from the disease — and stay close without agreeing to be hurt. Open
- 05 The Neurobiology of Addiction About 15 minutes Fifteen minutes of plain-English neuroscience. Not to excuse anyone — to explain the machinery. Once you see what the drug is doing to the brain, “why don't they just stop?” starts to sound like the wrong question. Open
- 06 Catching Them Doing It Right About 15 minutes The part everyone skips. Families of loved ones with SUD get very good at noticing what's wrong — that's the price of being hurt enough times. This session is about slowly, deliberately, re-learning how to notice what's right, and why that may be the single most powerful thing you can do. Open
- 07 Secrets, Shame, and the Family System About 15 minutes Why families keep secrets, what it costs, and how to start telling the truth — to one person, in one moment — without blowing up trust. Open
- 08 Expectations vs. Reality About 15 minutes Where the anger and grief live. Grieving the version you hoped for — so you can actually see the one in front of you. Open
- 09 Getting Them to Treatment About 26 minutes You cannot force someone into recovery, but you can make a clearer ask. Learn the personal ask, when to bring in an interventionist, and how to prepare before the window opens. Open
- 10 Keeping Them There About 17 minutes Once they enter treatment, the next fear arrives fast: what if they leave? Learn how to support retention without panic, arguing, or becoming the treatment police. Open
- 11 After They Leave About 21 minutes Leaving treatment is not graduation. Build the aftercare structure: recovery community, monitoring that does not turn family into detectives, relapse response, home changes, and ongoing support. Open
- 12 Responding vs. Reacting About 15 minutes The pause gives you a second. The question is what you do with it. Today is about short, clear, human responses — and the permission to not know yet. Open
- 13 Love vs. Enabling About 15 minutes The hardest question in this course: how do you love someone with an addiction without feeding the addiction? Today we look at the line honestly — and at what it costs to hold it. Open
- 14 Relapse — Before, During, and After About 15 minutes How relapses actually happen. How to move through one without burning the relationship to the ground — and without paying the price the disease is supposed to pay. Why your loved one needs a plan, and why you need one too. Open
- 15 Grief and Detachment with Love About 15 minutes The last session, and in some ways the first. What to do with the grief underneath all of this — and how to keep loving them without losing yourself in their story. Open
What each session gives you
Small tools. Used repeatedly. Over weeks.
01
A focused video
One coach, talking to you like a person. No slide decks. No whiteboard. Most sessions are short; a few treatment-planning lessons take the time they need.
02
A one-page worksheet
Printable. Not homework. The point is to slow your thinking down and put something honest on paper.
03
Three reflection prompts
One for this week, one for a hard conversation, one for yourself. Do one. Do all three. Skip them entirely. Your call.
04
A coach, if you want one
If a session brings up something bigger, you can book time with a CVR family coach. Private, one-on-one. No pressure.
Start here
Begin with session 1 — Put Your Own Mask On First.
It's the session most families want to skip — and the one they come back to once the rest of the course is underway. The full course is free. About 15 minutes. Take the worksheet with you.