Al-Anon

My wife has a gambling addiction — and that night, it came to a head.

Can My Marriage Survive My Partner’s Gambling Addiction?

My wife told me that she lost the entire mortgage gambling. She has a gambling addiction — and that night, it came to a head.

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Artwork: Tess Emily Rodriguez

Ask Erin: Gambling Addiction Is Destroying My Family

He keeps promising to get better and then relapses — and continually lies to me about it.  Read...
Artwork: Tess Emily Rodriguez

Ask Erin: How Do I Handle My Husband's Addiction?

How do I handle this? Should I just stay out of his life for a while?  Read...
Photo by Rod Long on Unsplash

On Enabling: I Was Addicted To My Son's Addiction

There’s a big difference between helping your child and enabling their behaviors. When I discovered my son had an alcohol addiction, I was a single parent of two teenaged children.

The first time I saw my son Brian drunk, he was 14 years old. 

We had just moved from Missouri to New York State after my second divorce. I felt ill-equipped to deal with the painful reality that my son was repeating the cycle of his father, whom I had left due to his alcohol addiction.

When I ask myself how I became an enabler to his addiction, I reflect on my background. I grew up the oldest child in a family of four children. As the eldest, I was called on to be the caretaker of my younger siblings. The caretaking role felt comfortable and validating. When I left home at 18, I chose to pursue a career in nursing, further reinforcing my role as a caretaker.

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Photo by Dmitry Schemelev on Unsplash

A Q&A With Memoirist Kathleen Pooler 

Twenty years in the making, Just the Way He Walked, an alcohol recovery memoir chronicles the journeys of two addicts — her son and her own as an enabler. Read...
Artwork: Tess Emily Rodriguez

Ask Erin: My Husband Is In Recovery, But I Can't Move Forward

I'm proud he's in recovery and that my kids now have a sober dad. But I'm so hurt at everything that has lead up to now. I don't know how to move past this. Read...
What can I do for us to have a healthy, better, successful life and future marriage? (Artwork: Tess Emily Rodriguez)

Ask Erin: Will I Lose My Fiance To Rehab?

My fiancé has been in inpatient rehab for close to a week. What can I do for us to have a healthy, better, successful life and future marriage?

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He told me he has a gambling addiction and had been gambling in secret for the past year or two. (Artwork: Tess Emily Rodriguez)

Ask Erin: Is My Gambling Addict Partner Gambling My Life Away?

About six months ago my partner dropped a major bomb on me. He told me he's a gambling addict and has been gambling in secret for the past year or two.

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