Welcome to the 12 Days of Family Recovery!
For the next 12 days, you'll be receiving daily emails with powerful mindset shifts, simple action steps, and links to this page, where you can claim you free gifts designed to help you get healthy in mind, body, spirit, and relationships.
This isn't just about surviving your loved one's addiction and mental health challenges, it's about advancing the Family Recovery MOVEMENT that is transforming families, communities, and the world. Each daily visit to this page offers:
One simple action step to help eliminate the shame, blame, and stigma around mental health and addiction
One free digital gift of a family recovery support tool
Resources and opportunities to bring more peace into your family (and the world)
Free access to all 12 Gifts ends December 31st
December 12th
Day 1: The Gift of UNDERSTANDING
One of the most harmful addiction myths is this: “If they really wanted to change, they would.” The truth is, addiction isn’t a lack of love, desire or willpower, it’s a condition shaped by brain chemistry, trauma, and stress.
Today’s Action Step: Shift your language from judgment to curiosity. Instead of “Why won’t they stop?” try “What is the pain my loved one is trying to escape from?” This is how stigma begins to dissolve.
Go here to claim your gift: Addiction & the Brain: A shame‑free Family‑Friendly Guide for loved ones.
December 13th
Day 2: The Gift of TRUTH
The language we use either deepens stigma, or opens doors to healing. When we say "addict" instead of "person with a substance use disorder," we reduce someone to their diagnosis. When we use words like "clean" or "dirty," we attach morality to a medical condition.
Today's Action Step: Notice your words when talking about addiction and mental health. Commit to making one language upgrade today - in your home, online, or in conversation. When you change your language, you change the narrative. This is how we dismantle stigma.
Go here to claim your gift: Person-First Language Guide
December 14th
Day 3: The Gift of LIFE
Cannabis-induced psychosis is a silent epidemic that’s tearing families apart - and most don't see it coming. Today's high-potency THC products are nothing like the marijuana of the 70s and 80s. They're triggering psychotic breaks and suicidality in young people at alarming rates, leaving families desperate for answers.
Today's Action Step: Watch this powerful 45-minute documentary and consider hosting a community screening. It's FREE to show in any setting - invite parents, educators, coaches, anyone who cares about young people. When you bring this conversation to your community, you become part of the solution.
Go here to claim your gift: https://johnnysambassadors.org/cip
December 15th
Day 4: The Gift of COURAGE
We're only as sick as our secrets. Addiction thrives in the darkness of shame and silence. When we break that silence - even in small, safe ways - we shatter the isolation that keeps so many families trapped.
Today's Action Step: Write your story. Journaling can be a very powerful path to healing. Start with where you were, what's shifted, and where you are now. Then decide where, when, and with whom it feels safe to share. When you lead with your story, you light the path for others. This is how we dismantle stigma.
Go here to claim your gift:Telling Your Story: A Guided Journaling Exercise
December 16th
Day 5: The Gift of COMPASSION
The hardest conversations aren't with strangers - they're with the people we love most. How you communicate can be just as important as what you say. When we speak with compassion instead of judgment, curiosity instead of criticism, defenses come down and connection becomes possible.
Today's Action Step: Before your next difficult conversation, pause. Shift from "Why can't you just stop?" to "What's going on?" Small language changes create space for honest dialogue instead of arguments.
Go here to claim your gift: Compassionate Communication Cheat Sheet
December 17th
Day 6: The Gift of FREEDOM
Most people think boundaries are about controlling others. They're not. Boundaries are simply about what you are, and are not, willing to tolerate, and what you will do when your limits are crossed. When you honor your boundaries, you take your power back - reclaiming your time, energy, and identity instead of shrinking to please others, avoiding conflict, or saying yes when you really mean no.
Today's Action Step: Get crystal clear on one boundary you need to set. Make sure it's about YOUR behavior you’re trying to control, not theirs. This is hard, and essential.
We can do hard things.
Go here to claim your gift: A Gentle Introduction to Loving Boundaries that Heal (Not Hurt) Relationships
December 18th
Day 7: The Gift of POWER
Your lived experience makes you one of the most powerful advocates for policy change. Lawmakers need to hear from YOU - the parents, partners, siblings living this reality. When families speak up, policy shifts, funding changes, lives are saved.
Today's Action Step: Visit the Partnership to End Addiction's policy page. Sign up for updates, learn to write letters to officials, join campaigns. **Don't worry - they make it super simple.
Go here to claim your Gift: Resources parents desperately need like parent coaching, support groups, courses, a helpline and so much more. All of it free of charge! comprehensive guide to everything Partnership to End Addiction offers
December 19th
Day 8: The Gift of CONNECTION
When we're hurting, our instinct is to pull inward. To hide. To handle it alone. But here's what we know: The healing families need most can't be found in isolation.
Today's Action Step: If you've been hiding out, try to get out into the community. Attend a support group meeting, volunteer at a recovery center, faith community, or nonprofit. Show up at a community event focused on mental health or addiction awareness. When you show up for others, you show up for yourself.
Today's Gift: Before you reach out, come back to yourself first. This gentle 13-minute breathwork practice is designed to help you find your center, calm your nervous system, and step into connection. Go here to claim your free gift.
December 20th
Day 9: The Gift of GRACE
The holidays might bring uncomfortable questions and hurtful comments from people who don't understand. You don't owe anyone an explanation, and you deserve language that protects your family's dignity. When you calmly correct stigmatizing language, you're doing advocacy work, changing the conversation one awkward holiday dinner at a time.
Today's Action Step: Prepare for those moments before they happen. Think about the comment you dread most, then practice one calm, clear response that shifts the narrative.
Go here to claim today's gift: 12 Calm Responses for Awkward Holiday Moments, complete with affirmations to ground you. You can print them out, keep them in your pocket, or just rehearse them before the next gathering.
December 21st
Day 10: The Gift of WISDOM
When your world feels out of control, understanding what you're dealing with can be the anchor that keeps you steady. Knowledge doesn't fix everything, but it does give you clarity when everything feels confusing. It shows you that what you're experiencing isn't random - it's been researched, studied and documented.
Today's Action Step: Become a student of family recovery. Read a book, watch a documentary, take a course, find a study buddy, or join a book club. When you educate yourself, you become a more informed advocate.
Go here to claim today's gift: A curated reading list of transformative books.
December 22nd
Day 11: The Gift of PEACE
Harm reduction isn't about "giving up" - it's about keeping your loved one alive long enough to get better. It asks: "How can I help them stay safer today, even if they're still using?" Research shows harm reduction reduces deaths and increases treatment engagement. It's not approval or permission. It's pragmatic love that prioritizes life over ideology.
Today's Action Step: Educate yourself on harm reduction. Ask: What does keeping them alive TODAY look like? What boundaries can I hold while staying connected?
Go here to claim today's gift: A Harm Reduction Fact Sheet.
December 23Rd
Day 12: The Gift of SERENITY
Contrary to popular belief, self-care is not selfish. It's absolutely necessary. When you prioritize your mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual health, you're not abandoning your loved one - you're modeling what recovery looks like. When you give yourself permission to heal, you give others permission to heal too. When you set boundaries, choose peace, prioritize your own wellbeing, others see that it's possible for them too. That's leadership. And it's exactly what your family needs most.
Today's Action Step: The best gift you can give your family this year is a happier and healthier YOU. We would love for you to join The Serenity Circle free community for support, mindfulness-based self-care, education, connection and more!
Go here to claim today's Gift of Serenity:
Access to everything The FREE Serenity Circle offers https://serenitycircle.co
⏳ Important Access Note:
The entire 12 Days of Family Recovery gift collection will be available through December 31, 2025. After 12/31/25, this page - and all 12 gifts - will become private and available exclusively to Serenity Circle members. If you’d like to keep lifetime access to:
All 12 gifts
Ongoing meditations & yoga
Family recovery support circles
Guest experts Interviews
Book discussions, and more!
The Serenity Circle MANIFESTO
We believe in a world where families affected by addiction find peace, not punishment.
Where compassion replaces judgment.
Where mindfulness conquers chaos.
We are parents, partners, siblings, and friends who've spent sleepless nights worrying,
Who've felt our hearts break over and over - yet refuse to give up hope.
We reject the failed "tough love" approaches that have torn families apart.
We stand against the shame, blame, and stigma that keep us trapped in isolation.
We embrace a new way forward: Finding our own peace first…
Responding rather than reacting.
Leading with understanding rather than fear.
Building bridges instead of walls.
We understand that yelling doesn't work.
Threatening doesn't work.
Cutting ties rarely leads to healing.
Rock bottom often means death.
Where our own destructive habits once controlled us - awareness now guides us.
We believe mindfulness isn't just a buzzword - it's a lifeline.
Yoga isn't just exercise - it's emotional freedom.
Meditation isn't just sitting quietly - it's connecting to our power.
We understand that our loved ones may not be able to change yet - but we can.
When we heal ourselves, we transform our families.
When we breathe through chaos, we model the calm our loved ones so desperately need.
We are not powerless.
We are not helpless.
We are not alone.
We are families choosing a different path -
One of strength through serenity,
Power through peace,
and healing through community.
This is more than support.
This is a revolution of the heart.
This is The Serenity Circle…
Where peace begins with us.
Empowering families impacted by addiction to find strength and serenity through mindfulness, education, and compassionate support
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