The Real Dope Podcast

meridith elliott powell
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The Real Dope How Did You Get Here? Real Stories, Real Solutions, Real Hope. A show for anyone who loves, supports and suffers from and with loving an addict. This is a show dedicted not to addiction, but to support, help and provide concrete ideas for those who suffer the pain of loving addict.

  1. 5d ago

    A Pill for Addiction? What Enablers Need to Know About the Telehealth Ads

    You saw the commercial. A pill. A monthly plan. A telehealth visit from your couch. And for one hopeful moment, you thought: this could be the answer. That hope is exactly what Beth and I want to talk about. Telehealth companies now advertise medications like naltrexone for alcohol and Suboxone for opioids on cable news, the Golf Channel, and the Tennis Channel. Some offer licensed providers and group support. But who are those ads really reaching? We believe it is the people who love the addict. Not the addict. In this episode, we cover: Why the person watching the whole commercial is usually the enabler Why giving up alcohol does not fix the dry drunk or stop the switch to gummies How your hope and expectations can undermine your person's progress What to do if you are the parent of a young adult who is struggling Why there is no pill for enabling, and your own work still matters Our bottom line: create the awareness, then let it go. It is their journey, not yours. We are not doctors or therapists. We are two sisters who have loved, supported, and had to deal with addicts. This show is for you.

  2. Sep 8

    What Not to Say to Someone Struggling With Addiction

    You've asked the questions before. "If you loved me, you'd quit." "Couldn't you have done something?" "Haven't you suffered enough?" They feel logical. They come from fear and love. And they do not work. In this episode of The Real Dope, sisters Meridith Elliott Powell and Beth Brand get honest about the well-meaning words that make everything worse. Drawing on decades of loving addicts, including their own father, Meridith's ex-husband, and Beth's ex-husband, they break down why questions built on guilt and ultimatums cannot reach someone whose brain has been hijacked by addiction. You will hear why "use some willpower" misunderstands the disease entirely. Why threats you don't intend to keep only teach the addiction that you're bluffing. Why "I'll fix this" takes away the one thing that might create change: consequences. This is not therapy. It's not a clinical playbook. It's two sisters who lived it, sharing what they wish someone had told them sooner. If you love someone in active addiction, this episode will not tell you what to do. It will tell you what to stop doing, and why that matters more.

  3. Aug 31 ·  Video

    The Truth About Alcohol: Separating Science From the Stories We Tell Ourselves

    Meridith and Beth take on the question everyone has an opinion about: is alcohol actually good for you, or have we just been telling ourselves that for decades? They dig into how the moderate-drinking-is-healthy myth got started in the first place, what those early studies actually left out, and why an addiction specialist's blunt answer, that there is no amount of alcohol that is good for you, changed how Beth thinks about it entirely. This episode covers what recent research says about the real risk curve between one drink a day and two, how alcohol quietly shows up behind health problems that never get labeled as alcohol related, and why doctors often miss the connection. Beth and Meridith also turn the lens on themselves and other enablers, asking the harder question: if you would never defend eating dessert every day as healthy, why do we defend a nightly drink the same way? This one is honest, occasionally uncomfortable, and rooted in the idea that awareness matters more than judgment, for the addict and the enabler alike. Key takeaways: The moderate-drinking-is-healthy research from the 1970s and 80s likely had major blind spots around who was actually being compared A 2025 New York Times report on a major study found the risk of premature death jumps sharply between one drink a day and two Alcohol contributes to health issues that rarely get connected back to it in a doctor's office, from sleep apnea to cardiovascular disease to a documented rise in breast cancer risk Enablers often fall into a justification trap, explaining away symptoms and health issues instead of naming the pattern Moderation and self-awareness matter more than perfection, in drinking and in the smaller ways all of us self-soothe

  4. Aug 24

    Is Trauma the Real Gateway Drug?

    Meridith and Beth get honest about the connection nobody talks about: trauma, hopelessness, and addiction. They break down the difference between single-event trauma and the complex trauma that builds slowly, from growing up in a home with alcoholism to living through war. The truth is uncomfortable. Most of us never connect our coping behaviors, drinking, overeating, overworking, controlling, back to the trauma that started them. This episode gets into why some people carry trauma without ever naming it, why enabling is its own addiction rooted in the same wound, and why hopelessness (yours and theirs) can do more damage than the addiction itself. Meridith and Beth share raw stories from their own lives, including the moment a therapist told Meridith she had a choice to make in her first marriage, and why judgment never heals anyone, curiosity does. If you love an addict, or you recognize your own coping behavior in this conversation, this one is for you.

  5. Aug 17

    What's a Secret and What's Not a Secret

    Privacy feels like protection. In an addicted family, it is usually the opposite. In this episode, Meridith and Beth unpack the line between healthy privacy and dangerous secrecy, and why so many enablers never learn where that line is. They share the moments they lied to cover for an addict, the safety risks that secrecy created for the people they loved, and the relief that came the first time they told the truth out loud. This is a clear-eyed look at why keeping the secret does not protect the addict. It protects the addiction.

  6. Jul 21

    The Unwritten Rules of Enabling

    No one hands you a rulebook when addiction moves into your house. You just learn to live by it. In this episode, Meridith and Beth name the unwritten rules that took over their childhood home and, later, their own marriages: the addict comes first, the family's resources go to the addiction before anything else, you handle everything and feel nothing, and you never, ever talk about it. They trace these rules back three generations and show how easily they get passed down without a single conversation. If you have ever wondered why you cannot stop overfunctioning or keeping the peace at your own expense, this episode names exactly why.

  7. Jul 14

    Are We Fueling Addiction in Our Children?

    Every generation faces its own perfect storm. For today's kids, it is the loss of community, the loss of trust, and thirteen hours a day on a smartphone. In this episode, Meridith and Beth dig into Jonathan Haidt's research on the anxious generation and ask a hard question: are we raising children who will self-medicate their way into addiction? They talk about what kids lose when they stop playing outside unsupervised, why constant screen access is undermining their ability to cope, and what parents can actually do, starting today, to build resilience instead of anxiety. This is not a lecture on banning phones. It is a conversation about raising kids who can handle discomfort, failure, and real life.

  8. Jul 7

    Anxiety and the Addict in Your Life

    Hypervigilance is not a personality trait. It is a survival response to living with active addiction. In this episode, Meridith and Beth trace anxiety back to its roots: the sleepless nights, the constant phone checks, the inability to sit still at dinner with friends. They talk candidly about how anxiety shows up in the body long after the addict is gone, why it steals your ability to think, create, and connect, and what actually helped them move through it: movement, honesty, humor, and letting go of what they could not control. If you have ever wondered whether you are just wired anxious or carrying something real, this episode gives you the answer.

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About

The Real Dope How Did You Get Here? Real Stories, Real Solutions, Real Hope. A show for anyone who loves, supports and suffers from and with loving an addict. This is a show dedicted not to addiction, but to support, help and provide concrete ideas for those who suffer the pain of loving addict.

Information

  • Creator
    meridith elliott powell
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    27
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2025
  • Show Website
    The Real Dope Podcast