02/17/2026
“Just go to Al-Anon.”
If I had a dollar for every time a treatment center tossed that line out like parade candy, I could fund a full Family Recovery department myself.
Let me be clear.
Al-Anon is powerful.
It has helped millions.
Community matters. Shared experience matters. Detachment with love matters.
But on Family Matters w/ Kevin Petersen, LMFT and Family Director at Jaywalker Lodge, sponsored by Jaywalker Lodge, we said something that needs to be said out loud:
Al-Anon is support.
It is not a comprehensive family strategy.
When a family is drowning in financial chaos, boundary confusion, relapse cycles, and years of trauma… handing them a meeting list is not a treatment plan.
It’s a starting point.
Families need education.
Coaching.
System alignment.
Clear financial and emotional containment strategies.
Ongoing guidance when relapse or manipulation shows up at the front door.
Telling families “go to Al-Anon” without deeper structure is like telling someone with a broken leg to “walk it off… but with friends.”
Support is beautiful.
Strategy is essential.
If we truly believe addiction is a family disease, then Family Recovery cannot be outsourced entirely to peer meetings.
Watch this episode of Family Matters w/ Kevin Petersen sponsored by Jaywalker Lodge.
Families deserve more than candy.
