Breaking Free From Addiction

Podcast Episode Description:In this episode of the Break Free From Addiction Podcast, Barry Gregory, Ed.D., M.Ed., BA, a professional recovery coach, challenges the outdated “tough love” approach and introduces SMART Love — a smarter, evidence-based way families can support a loved one with addiction without enabling.Discover why tough love often backfires by increasing shame, isolation, secrecy, and despair, and learn the five pillars of SMART Love:S: Support without EnablingM: Motivation through Empathy + BoundariesA: Accountability with RespectR: Resilience for the FamilyT: Tools Based on Evidence (not emotion)Dr. Barry shares powerful motivational strategies and cognitive reframes to stop enabling and rescuing thoughts and beliefs, practical SMART Love scripts you can use today, and why connection, compassion, and clear boundaries are the real keys to lasting recovery.Tough love pushes people away. SMART Love brings them closer — and closer to healing and recovery. A must-listen for anyone supporting a loved one through addiction. For more information about smart love and recovery coaching, call us directly at 561-685-0555. Send comments and feedback to barrygregory1955@gmail.com.

This episode of the Break Free from Addiction Podcast introduces the Smart Love approach, a compassionate yet empowering approach for parents and families coping with a loved one's active addiction. Host Dr. Barry Gregory Ed.D., M.Ed., BA explains that common "rescuing" behaviors stem from deep fear, guilt, and trauma-driven thoughts (informed by CBT), which, though loving in intent, often enable the addiction and delay recovery. Smart Love shifts the focus from fear-based rescuing to truth-based loving, emphasizing the need to set firm, loving boundaries (which are seen as protection, not abandonment) and allow natural consequences to motivate change. Drawing on principles from evidence-based practices, the episode provides practical strategies like stopping financial enabling, replacing lecturing with listening, and prioritizing self-care, ultimately helping the family reclaim peace and foster a path toward genuine recovery for both the loved one and themselves.Contact InformationBarry M. Gregory Ed.D., M.Ed., BARecovery Coach Trainer and ConsultantPhone: 561-685-0222Email: barrygregory1955@gmail.comCall or Text For A Complimentary Consultation or For Meeting Resources In Your Community

 Welcome to Breaking Free From Addiction!Welcome to the Break Free From Addiction Podcast with me, your host, Dr. Barry M. Gregory Ed.D., M.Ed., BAAfter more than three decades of working on the front lines of the addiction crisis in America as a licensed professional—and having walked the road of addiction and recovery myself—I know the pain and some of the brutal truths about addiction and relapse, and I want to share some of the lessons learned in this podcast. This podcast is your weekly, science-backed toolkit for lasting recovery. We're here to pull back the curtain on the pain and provide the proven, proactive steps you need to prevent overdose, end relapse, and build a healthy, balanced life worth living.Ready to move beyond quick fixes?We offer CBT Recovery Coaching to help you enhance your motivation, address the root cause of your trauma, and build the skills you need for true, lifelong freedom.If you are listening right now and need a lifeline, text or call us for a free, confidential consultation. Hope is not on pause.Today’s podcast episode is entitled Overdose and Relapse Prevention by Building A Healthy and Balanced Lifestyle and A Life Worth Living. Addiction nearly destroyed me, and I’ve seen it devastate countless others. But I’m here to tell you: there is a way out.This podcast isn’t about platitudes or quick fixes; it’s about science-backed tips and tools to help people develop a healthy, balanced lifestyle and a life worth living without a drink or drug. As you will learn in our upcoming podcasts and from our recovery coaching, our science-backed approach is based on helping people enhance their motivation to change and learn the skills they need to create the life they want, free from any pain and suffering. By discovering the root causes of their addiction, we help people learn how to directly address this trauma or neglect, reducing the need to find immediate relief through addictive and other unhealthy habits. We’re here to pull back the curtain on addiction—no sugar-coating, no excuses—just raw, honest talk about the wreckage it causes and the proven, proactive steps you can take today to prevent overdose, end relapse.If you’re listening right now—whether you’re battling addiction, grieving a loved one lost to it, or terrified for someone you care about—stay with me. This podcast is for you. It’s for people currently fighting addiction, for parents fighting the addiction of an adult child, for people who grew up in alcoholic homes, and the families fractured by the chaos of addiction. It’s for anyone who feels trapped, hopeless, or alone. Please remember you are not alone, and this is your lifeline.Contact InformationBarry M. Gregory Ed.D., M.Ed., BARecovery Coach Trainer and ConsultantPhone: 561-685-0222Email: barrygregory1955@gmail.comCall or Text For A Complimentary Consultation or For Meeting Resources In Your CommunityWarm Regards, Dr. Barry M. Gregory Ed.D., M.Ed., BA