Summary: <br> How is it possible for our pain to become our gain? Andrea’s story illuminates this transformation.<br> <br> <br> <br> Andrea from <a href="https://www.adultchildpodcast.com/">Adult Child Podcast</a> joins us to talk about how her greatest pain became her greatest gain. <br> <br> <br> <br> When Andrea was several years sober, she realized that recovery had not magically fixed all her problems. She tells us about “<a href="https://www.adultchildpodcast.com/episodes/episode-01" class="broken_link">the two Brians</a>” — “Two guys that I dated named Brian that were the catalyst to my adult child healing journey. I dated Brian number one at seven years sober. And it was through that relationship that I realized that my dating issues were related to my childhood.” <br> <br> <br> <br> Only a few weeks later, a woman at a 12-step meeting shared a similar experience and mentioned the <a href="https://therecoveryshow.com//book-aca">Adult Children of Alcoholics and Dysfunctional Families</a> book. Andrea went home, downloaded it, and devoured it. She says, “I related to it even more than I did in any other recovery literature that I'd ever read. It was like, I was finally reading, all of my thoughts and feelings … written down on paper.” The next time she saw the woman, she went up to her, “and I say that how her share head impacted me and how I had downloaded that book that she had mentioned that I had read it. And I told her a little bit about Brian number one, and these a hot moments that I had had, and she looks at me and she goes, that's wonderful, but I want to let you know that this is going to take years for you to work through. … And I remember looking at her and thinking, years? Years!?” <br> <br> <br> <br> So she starts working in ACA, and then “Brian number two comes along … what I will tell you is that I hadn't changed a damn bit and the next six months of my life were the most painful times of my life. … I realized that, what I was dealing with was a lot more powerful than what I had assumed and that that lady had been right. That I did have to treat this just as seriously as my alcoholism. That's what I did.”<br> <br> <br> <br> What is the rest of the story? How did all this pain become her greatest gain? And why did she decide to make a podcast about the Adult Child experience? Listen for all the details.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> Readings and Links<br> <br> <br> <br> There were several books and other resources that were mentioned and read from in this episode. I captured a few of them, below.<br> <br> <br> <br> First, I have to link to Andrea's podcast <a href="https://www.adultchildpodcast.com/">Adult Child</a>, where you can hear the full story of the 2 Brians in Episode 1.<br> <br> <br> <br> The opening reading is from <a href="https://amzn.to/3hEaMdU">Your Divine Lens: The Secret to Finding Purpose, Healing Grief and Living in Alignment with your Soul</a> (pp. 119-120). Sue Frederick.<br> <br> <br> <br> Andrea also read from <a href="https://amzn.to/3AkRKk2">Emotional Sobriety: from relationship trauma to resilience and Balance</a> by Tian Dayton (and enthusiastically recommended anything by this author.)<br> <br> <br> <br> She suggests that anyone who might possibly think they qualify for ACA read <a href="https://therecoveryshow.com/aca-the-laundry-list">The Laundry List</a>.<br> <br> <br> <br> Upcoming topics<br> <br> <br> <br> An upcoming topic is about recovery through writing. Do you use writing as a recovery tool? How does it enhance your program? Please call us at 734-707-8795 or email <a href="mailto:feedback@therecoveryshow.com">feedback@therecovery.show</a> with your questions or experience, strength and hope. Or just leave a comment right here.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br>
