We still hadn’t even finished writing out the thank you notes for the wedding gifts when the effects of my husband’s lust addiction first hit hard. We had been married for less than three months. It was a rainy Friday night, and I’d made it home from work first. I’d...
For Adult Children of Dysfunctional Homes, the journey of healing is often paved with the need to establish and maintain healthy boundaries. These boundaries are not merely about self-preservation; they are about fostering an environment where love, compassion, and...
The night I visited my first meeting for family and friends of lust addicts, I heard so many new terms in the space of that hour that, for a second, I wondered if I’d landed on another planet. None of the words were exactly foreign, but the folks in that meeting used...
I remember being at a Catholic spirituality conference the summer before I got married. The conference included a time of Eucharistic adoration, and so in the silence of that space, I did what any faithful Catholic fiancée would do and opened up to God about my fears....
Growing up amidst the turbulence of alcoholism and dysfunction, my instinctive urge for control was born from a longing for stability. As I navigate this journey of healing, I am discovering that true liberation springs not only from acceptance but from surrendering...
Growing up as an adult child of a dysfunctional home (ACDH) can leave lasting emotional scars. One of the most challenging aspects of our journey to healing is confronting painful relationships with controlling, manipulative, and abusive family members. That is why...
My forty-sixth birthday had just passed. I looked in the mirror on my husband’s side of the room. He was in the bathroom, and his was the only mirror available. I pressed my fingertips to the sides of my cheeks. There was no denying it: my laugh lines, the parentheses...
When I had been dating my husband for about three months, I told him I was getting concerned about our relationship. I was feeling like he wasn’t listening to me as much as I was listening to him, and I was wondering if we could address this so we could work things...
I remember the moment I came to terms with my addiction: the moment I stepped out of denial and into God’s healing light. I had no idea what would happen. I was scared and overwhelmed with guilt and shame. I had gone almost twenty years without openly acknowledging...
I was a cradle Catholic raised as the oldest of four children. Being part of a large extended Irish-Catholic family, we had lots of celebrations where beer and liquor were always plentiful. When I was 10 years old my world fell apart, my father was a detective and he...