Life With: an Alcoholic

Jennifer Young
  • 5.0 (6)
  • Mental Health

The Life With: an Alcoholic If you've been Googling "how to live with an alcoholic" at 2 a.m., this show is for you. Most addiction content talks about the alcoholic. This one talks about you, the spouse, the partner, the woman who is quietly losing herself trying to hold everything together while someone she loves falls apart. Hosted by Jennifer Randall Young, The Life With: an Alcoholic gives you tools, not platitudes. Real frameworks, honest conversations, and quick wins you can use today whether you're deciding to stay, thinking about leaving, or just trying to remember who you were before all of this. You don't have to have it figured out to start reclaiming your life. You just have to start. https://www.instagram.com/the.lifewith/ https://www.youtube.com/@the.lifewith

  1. Sep 22

    Why You Feel Like You’re Losing Your Mind in This Marriage

    He Got Sober—So Why Are You Still Angry? 5 Truths About Repair After Alcoholism Jennifer Randall Young hosts The Life with an Alcoholic and addresses why anger, fear, distrust, and exhaustion can remain even after a partner stops drinking. She explains that relief and resentment can coexist, that the body may not trust sobriety by the calendar yet, and that apologies are not the same as repair, which requires responsibility, changed behavior, and respect for your timeline. She emphasizes that his recovery does not replace yours and that sobriety alone does not decide the future of the relationship. Jennifer offers a practical “repair list” exercise using four categories—truth, consistency, accountability, and space—to identify one step that brings clarity. She notes relapse is possible, warns alcohol withdrawal can be dangerous and requires medical guidance, and prioritizes safety in cases of coercion, intimidation, or violence. 00:00 Welcome and Purpose 00:34 Why Youre Still Angry 01:46 Two Truths Can Coexist 02:55 When Crisis Ends Feelings Begin 04:08 Five Truths Overview 04:19 Relief and Anger Together 04:57 Your Body Remembers 05:50 Apology Versus Repair 06:40 Your Recovery Matters Too 07:47 Sobriety Doesnt Decide 08:43 Repair List Exercise 11:05 Relapse Withdrawal Safety 11:58 Final Takeaways and Subscribe For more resources and tools; Life With app https://www.lifewithanalcoholic.com Your FREE Reality Check;  https://yourrealitycheck.lovable.app

  2. Sep 15

    The Hidden Reality of Living With a High-Functioning Alcoholic

    Good Day Amnesia: Why One Peaceful Day Makes You Doubt the Pattern (Living With an Alcoholic) Jen explains “good day amnesia,” the disorienting effect of one peaceful, loving day making you doubt months of difficult experiences in a relationship with an alcoholic. She emphasizes that good days can be real, but problems arise when a single calm moment is treated as proof the overall pattern has changed. She distinguishes relief from resolution, and offers clarity through key contrasts: a moment isn’t a pattern, an apology isn’t repair without consistent follow-through, calm isn’t always safety if you’re “performing peace,” and intentions aren’t consistency. She advises not making permanent decisions on the worst or best days (with safety exceptions), and shares a private exercise to review the last 30 days by documenting the best day, hardest day, ordinary days, and what has changed consistently, plus grounding phrases to hold both hope and memory. 00:00 Good Day Amnesia 01:09 Meet Jen And The Goal 01:46 Moments Versus Patterns 02:35 Relief Is Not Resolution 03:48 How Doubt Sounds 04:33 Five Clarity Distinctions 06:55 No Decisions At Extremes 08:04 The Four Question Exercise 09:36 Keep The Peace And Memory 10:30 Resources And Closing For more resources and tools; Life With app https://www.thelifewith.app/ https://apps.apple.com/us/app/life-with-an-alcoholic/id6761145430 Life With: an Alcoholic Impossible Choice Action Guide https://impossiblechoice.co/action Clearly Together https://apps.apple.com/us/app/clearly-together/id6782741136 Clearly Together Your FREE Reality Check;  https://yourrealitycheck.lovable.app

  3. Sep 8

    He's Not Changing, But You Can: Reclaiming Your Power

    5 Ways I Tried to Fix His Drinking (and the Question That Finally Helped Me Move Forward) Jennifer Randall Young introduces The Life with an Alcoholic, a show focused on the woman holding everything together while someone she loves is falling apart. She describes treating her husband’s drinking like a “customer service problem” and shares five approaches she believed would finally fix it—loving him harder, researching obsessively, chasing the right doctor or missing clue, hiding bottles and consequences, and explaining it perfectly—none of which gave her the control she wanted. She explains that love isn’t leverage, effort isn’t control, and boundaries are decisions about what she will do, not words to make him understand. Her turning point was shifting from “How do I fix him?” to “What do I need next?” and she offers a three-column exercise to separate what’s hers, what she can influence, and what’s not hers, plus a 48-hour next step and safety disclaimer. 00:00 Welcome and Purpose 00:34 Customer Service Mindset 01:47 Why Trying Makes Sense 02:42 Love Him Harder 03:45 Researching for Control 04:50 The Right Doctor Myth 06:03 Hiding the Evidence 07:21 Explaining It Perfectly 08:36 The Question That Changed 09:23 Three Column Exercise 10:39 Moving Forward and Resources 11:54 Safety Note and Goodbye For more resources and tools; Life With app https://www.thelifewith.app/ https://apps.apple.com/us/app/life-with-an-alcoholic/id6761145430 Life With: an Alcoholic Impossible Choice Action Guide https://impossiblechoice.co/action Clearly Together https://apps.apple.com/us/app/clearly-together/id6782741136 Clearly Together Your FREE Reality Check;  https://yourrealitycheck.lovable.app

  4. Aug 25

    Why You Don't Have to Leave (Yet)

    Scared to Stay or Leave? The “Third Path” to Clarity When You Love Someone Who Drinks Jennifer, creator of Life With An Alcoholic, offers a “third path” for those who feel scared to stay and scared to leave: instead of forcing a life-changing decision while overwhelmed, she outlines a framework to rebuild clarity and self-trust by shifting your inner life away from someone else’s drinking. She walks through six steps—clarity (separating facts from hopes and promises), identity (reconnecting with who you are), vision (defining desired life qualities without choosing an outcome), plan (preparing for both “if nothing changes” and “meaningful change begins”), resources (emotional, practical, professional, and safety support), and action (one personal step or boundary). She also shares a two-minute reset with four daily questions and emphasizes boundaries don’t control another person’s drinking but change your relationship with yourself. 00:00 Stuck Between Stay Leave 01:19 Introducing The Third Path 02:47 Clarity Over Chaos 03:53 Reclaim Your Identity 05:07 Vision Without Choosing 06:04 Make A Two Column Plan 07:20 Build Your Resource Stack 08:58 One Action And Boundaries 10:57 Two Minute Daily Reset 12:18 Closing Support And Safety  For more resources and tools; Life With app https://www.thelifewith.app/ https://apps.apple.com/us/app/life-with-an-alcoholic/id6761145430 Life With: an Alcoholic Impossible Choice Action Guide https://impossiblechoice.co/action Clearly Together https://apps.apple.com/us/app/clearly-together/id6782741136 Clearly Together Your FREE Reality Check;  https://yourrealitycheck.lovable.app

  5. Aug 11

    You Are Not Codependent: Reclaiming Yourself

    SMART Recovery Family & Friends: Boundaries, Self-Compassion, and Healthy Hope Host Jennifer Randall-Young introduces The Life with an Alcoholic, focused on supporting women affected by a loved one’s drinking, then interviews Pete Rubenis, CEO of SMART Recovery USA. Pete explains SMART’s scope (nearly 1,500 U.S. meetings, including family and friends groups), his personal decision to end his relationship with alcohol in 2017, and why SMART’s evidence-based, secular CBT/motivational approach and empowering language appealed to him. They discuss the difference between productive vs. counterproductive helping (often labeled “enabling”), emphasizing self-compassion, capacity-building, and tools for clearer communication and boundaries as self-care rather than rules or ultimatums. Grief is acknowledged as normal but often better processed with professionals. Pete describes “healthy hope” as realistic expectations about behavior change and lapse, and he cautions against stigmatizing labels like “alcoholic.” He directs listeners to smartrecovery.org, the meeting finder, the app, and the Family & Friends handbook and worksheets.

  6. Aug 5

    You're Not Codependent: Reclaiming Yourself After His Drinking

    Damian & Alisha: 20 Years of Addiction, 6 Years Sober—Rebuilding Marriage, Trust & Recovery Together Damian Bloss shares how he spent 20 years in active addiction before getting sober six years ago, and his wife Alisha explains what it was like living through the first 10 years of their 16-year relationship while he drank and how she became numb, built a wall, and considered leaving until the day he told her he was going to Ashley Treatment Center—both of their “rock bottoms.” They discuss how Ashley’s family weekend included spouses in education and counseling, helped them understand addiction and mental health, and taught the difference between support and enabling. After rehab, they had to relearn each other, navigate triggers, communicate gently, rebuild trust and accountability during COVID, and accept that sobriety alone doesn’t fix everything. Damian emphasizes doing the work, trauma therapy, and that recovery isn’t one size fits all, and they share how to follow “Breaking the Silence” and Damian’s books. 00:00 Meet Damian and Alisha 00:55 Their Recovery Journey 02:19 Stay or Leave Dilemma 02:54 Alisha Hits Rock Bottom 04:59 Rehab and Family Support 06:23 Ashley Treatment Center Difference 08:44 Family Weekend Lessons 12:20 Spouse Side of Recovery 13:56 Fixer Mindset and Guilt 16:23 Walls Boundaries and Numbness 18:29 Enabling vs Boundaries 21:31 Living Together in Recovery 22:47 Triggers and Boundaries 24:19 Gentle Communication Skills 26:18 Reentry During COVID 28:05 Trust When Returning to Work 31:41 Sober Does Not Fix All 33:46 Doing the Inner Work 36:55 Accountability and Tracking 39:22 Resources Books and Farewell For more resources and tools; Life With app https://www.thelifewith.app/ https://apps.apple.com/us/app/life-with-an-alcoholic/id6761145430 Life With: an Alcoholic Impossible Choice Action Guide https://impossiblechoice.co/action Clearly Together https://apps.apple.com/us/app/clearly-together/id6782741136 Clearly Together Your FREE Reality Check;  https://yourrealitycheck.lovable.app

  7. Jul 9

    Boundaries for Staying, Not Leaving

    How to Set Boundaries When You’re Staying with an Alcoholic (Without Ultimatums) Jennifer Randall Young, host of The Life with an Alcoholic, speaks to women who aren’t leaving an alcoholic partner right now and want to stay without losing themselves. She reframes boundaries as decisions about your own behavior—not ultimatums, rules for him, or agreements dependent on his cooperation—and explains why common approaches fail (emotional arguments, conditional warnings, and boundaries based on his compliance). She offers a three-part boundary framework: make a clear internal decision, use a short repeatable script, and follow through consistently even when there is pushback. She shares key boundary examples (no serious conversations when he’s been drinking, stop managing his emotions, stop covering for him, protect sleep, and reclaim emotional energy) and assigns a 48-hour “one boundary” exercise. She also mentions her six-module action guide, The Impossible Choice. 00:00 Staying For Now 01:32 Boundaries Without Leaving 03:12 What Boundaries Are 05:12 Why Past Boundaries Fail 07:39 Three Part Framework 07:50 Decision And Script 10:27 Follow Through And Pushback 11:57 Boundaries That Matter Most 14:08 48 Hour Quick Win 15:57 Tools And Closing Encouragement For more resources and tools; Life With app https://www.thelifewith.com/ Impossible Choice Action Guide https://impossiblechoice.co/action [COMING SOON] Impossible Choice app Your FREE Reality Check;  https://yourrealitycheck.lovable.app

  8. Jul 2

    Letting Go: The Driveway Realization

    The Night I Stopped Trying to Fix My Husband (Life With an Alcoholic) Jennifer Randall-Young introduces The Life With an Alcoholic, a show focused on women and partners living with functional alcoholism, and shares a pivotal moment when she sat in her driveway for 25 minutes mentally calculating what she’d walk into at home. That night, she recognized she could not fix her husband because she did not cause, control, or cure his drinking, and she describes the hidden labor of researching, strategizing, managing the household, and clinging to conditional hope. Letting go brought unexpected grief, the loss of purpose and identity, and eventually a gradual clearing that included real sleep, rediscovered preferences, anger as information, and a grounded return to herself. She emphasizes that letting go isn’t not caring, but choosing your own healing, and offers a 48-hour “energy audit” exercise to redirect attention from him to yourself. 00:00 Welcome and Purpose 00:34 The Driveway Moment 02:15 Episode Setup and Promise 03:46 What Fixing Looked Like 06:44 The Recognition 08:05 Grief After Letting Go 09:25 What I Lost 11:15 What I Found 13:47 Letting Go Means Choosing You 15:08 Quick Win Energy Audit 16:58 Resources and Next Steps 18:33 Final Wrap and Goodbye For more resources and tools; Life With app https://www.thelifewith.com/ Impossible Choice Action Guide https://impossiblechoice.co/action [COMING SOON] Impossible Choice app Your FREE Reality Check;  https://yourrealitycheck.lovable.app

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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
6 Ratings

About

The Life With: an Alcoholic If you've been Googling "how to live with an alcoholic" at 2 a.m., this show is for you. Most addiction content talks about the alcoholic. This one talks about you, the spouse, the partner, the woman who is quietly losing herself trying to hold everything together while someone she loves falls apart. Hosted by Jennifer Randall Young, The Life With: an Alcoholic gives you tools, not platitudes. Real frameworks, honest conversations, and quick wins you can use today whether you're deciding to stay, thinking about leaving, or just trying to remember who you were before all of this. You don't have to have it figured out to start reclaiming your life. You just have to start. https://www.instagram.com/the.lifewith/ https://www.youtube.com/@the.lifewith

Information

  • Creator
    Jennifer Young
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    15
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Jennifer Young
  • Show Website
    Life With: an Alcoholic

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