Insight and Connection
Insight and Connection is hosted by Patty and Kam Dirilten. Patty and Kam are psychotherapists and have been married for 25 years. They have two children. The goal of the podcast is to bring common everyday issues to a deeper place of understanding through humor, research, experience and discussion.
Insight and Connection
Addiction as a Family Disease
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
Therapist couple Patty and Cam explore addiction not just as a substance problem, but as a whole-family disease rooted in attachment wounds and generational patterns.
Using a fictional family — John (alcohol use disorder), his wife Sally, and their two kids — they walk through John's story using three frameworks:
- The Laundry List (Adult Children of Alcoholics' 14 traits)
- Attachment Theory – how early emotional neglect shapes adult behavior
- EMDR's four themes – particularly defectiveness ("I don't matter") as the core driver of John's drinking
Key Takeaways
- Addiction is a symptom of deeper emotional pain, not the core problem
- Treating only the substance use disorder misses the underlying attachment wounds
- Shame, hyper-independence, and emotional shutdown are generational patterns
- Blaming the addict perpetuates the very shame driving the behavior
- Healing is possible — neuroplasticity allows new connection pathways to be built
- The whole family system is affected; recovery requires the whole system to heal
Visit our Website and Follow us on Instagram!
website: https://www.insightandconnection.com/
instagram: @centerforinsightandconnection
Show notes and Mixed By NEXT DAY PODCAST