Jessica Danger spent nearly ten years estranged from her father after his alcoholism turned violent. When he was dying of liver failure, she came back to care for him.

That experience became No Heroic Measures, a memoir about addiction, family trauma, and the complicated work of forgiving someone who has deeply hurt you. Now sober herself, Jessica joins Max to talk about how recovery helped her see her father as more than his addiction.

Together they explore how addiction travels through generations and how recovery can interrupt the pattern. Jessica shares why sobriety made her a better writer, why forgiveness doesn’t mean giving up boundaries, and how her own healing has changed life for her children and grandchildren. Whether you’ve lived with addiction yourself or grew up around it, you’ll likely recognize something in her story.

Jessica Danger
Website

If you or someone you love is struggling with addiction, Workit Health offers compassionate, evidence-based treatment for alcohol and opioid use disorder, all from the privacy of home. Learn more at workithealth.com.

Shawn spent years caught in a cycle of addiction that brought him to some of the darkest moments of his life. In this episode, he talks about where that path took him and what it has meant to find a way forward through recovery.

Shawn’s story is part of Worth It, a Workit Health video series featuring real members sharing their experiences with addiction and recovery, in their own words. His story is raw, deeply personal, and a reminder that recovery doesn’t erase what came before it — but it can make room for a life that once felt impossible.

Watch Shawn’s full Worth It story
YouTube

Content Warning: This episode contains descriptions of loss, a suicide attempt, and explicit substance use. If you or someone you know is struggling, the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline is available 24/7 by call or text at 988.

If you or someone you love is struggling with addiction, Workit Health offers compassionate, evidence-based treatment for alcohol and opioid use disorder, all from the privacy of home. Learn more at workithealth.com.

For Recovery Month, we asked one simple question: Recovery gave me _____. Nearly 40 people called in with their answers — and together, they paint a picture of recovery that’s much bigger than just stopping drugs or alcohol.

Again and again, people told us recovery gave them their lives back. But what that meant was different for everyone: relationships with their children, trust from their families, careers they thought they'd lost, freedom, confidence, peace, creativity, second chances, and the ability to actually be present for the life happening around them. One caller talks about becoming a mother and breaking generational cycles. Another shares how medication-assisted treatment changed their understanding of what recovery could look like. And one puts it beautifully: recovery didn't rewrite their story: "it handed them the pen back."

These voices come from people in different places, at different stages, and with different definitions of recovery. Some found meetings. Some found medication. Some found spirituality, family, art, work, or simply the chance to start over. There isn't one right way to recover — but across these stories, one thing comes through loud and clear: recovery can give us the chance to build a life we want to stay for.

If you or someone you love is struggling with addiction, Workit Health offers compassionate, evidence-based treatment for alcohol and opioid use disorder, all from the privacy of home. Learn more at workithealth.com.