100 Pedals

Recovery for Parents Dealing with Addiction in their Families

## Parenting, addiction, and an understanding the adolescent mind

October 30, 2025 by Dave Cooke

How many times have we heard a parent say, “I just don’t know why they would do this?” or “How could they possibly put themselves in that position?” My son used to remind me, “we cannot make sense out of nonsense.”

Today’s guest, Lisa Frederikson, sheds a bright light on: the various components impacting a child’s psychological and emotion development; the factors that can influence or impact the risk of addiction; and, how our child’s mind evolves over time.

Many of these concepts have been discussed and introduced to most of us, few have ever had the opportunity to have it delivered in such an organized, intellectual, and educational fashion.

This is one podcast the parents of an adolescent child cannot miss. Enjoy!

Check out this episode!

Filed Under: Addiction Conversation Podcast

## There is a gift hidden in this journey

October 27, 2025 by Dave Cooke 1 Comment

This past weekend, I had the opportunity to share the stage with Barry Adkins at a Men’s Breakfast Group (expanded to include Women for this special event). At this “Parent’s Breakfast” Barry and I had the opportunity to share our respective stories as Dads who faced life changing adversity in their life and our responses and lessons to it.

Barry Adkins story can be found at Kevin’s Last Walk. Barry lost his eighteen year old son, Kevin, to a night of binge drinking while he was celebrating at a house warming party in the apartment he just moved into. Committed to not letting this tragedy be the end of the story and to make something positive of it, Barry walked his son’s ashes from Arizona to Montana - 1400 miles - while giving talks to churches, schools, treatment facilities along the way. His is a very powerful inspiring story.

As as fellow dad, I easily related to the love and commitment in his story. I often speak with and in front of countless parents confronted with the loss of a child to their addiction or an overdose. I have faced my own adversities associated with my son’s addiction. Even though I count myself as one of the fortunate ones not to have lost my son, the battle my son is in for his life offers its own painful experiences and lessons. Like Barry, I am committed that while I may not be able to save my son, I am committed to making sure something positive comes from my journey.

Between the two of us, we shared seven lessons for all parents, who are dealing with adversity and pain in their life:

1. Whatever and wherever you are on your journey, you are not alone, you are never alone.
2. It is not the adversity in your life that defines you, it is how you respond to it that defines your life.
3. The person you need to forgive most is you; let go of that fear, guilt and judgement.
4. Believe there is a lesson and an opportunity in the struggle and you will discover a path to follow to get you through it.
5. Focus in what drives, inspires, and guides you in your life and put all your energy into those forces.
6. Authenticity and vulnerability bring balance to your life - you are not alone and you cannot do this alone; ask for help and guidance.
7. Give power to moving forward and walk past the distractions and interruptions and you will find yourself in a different place

Everyone is going through their own personal adversity in their life. Whatever is it, the path to a better outcome is not merely in enduring the storm but in finding the courage and the inspiration to look for the opportunity and the lesson in it.

“This is not the trip I signed up for; however, this is a journey designed specifically for me that I might learn from my experiences to educate, guide, and inspire others in the future.” ~ Dave Cooke

> 100Pedals has just released two new programs for parents. “Addiction and Parenting: Four Practical Rules to Live By” is a FREE audio segment that provides parents perspective for their approach for dealing with addiction in the family. To obtain your digital download click here. “Addiction Conversation” is a weekly podcast where Dave Cooke interviews parents, those in recovery, counselors, and legal experts to provide their perspectives from their experiences with addiction. To listen to an individual session click here or to download the podcast to I-Tunes click here.

Filed Under: Inspirational Perspectives Tagged With: addiction, addiction and love, addiction and parenting, alcohol abuse, Barry Adkins, Kevin's Last Walk, parenting, recovery

## Podcast Launch: Addiction Conversation

October 24, 2025 by Dave Cooke Leave a Comment

You have likely already noted announcements pertaining to the release of several episodes of The Addiction Conversation.

Now that we have successfully grabbed your attention, here is the rest of the story….

ABOUT THE SHOW

The Addiction Conversation is a weekly podcast featuring prominent, passionate voices in the addiction world such as Dean Dauphinais, Sandy Swenson, Cathy Taughinbaugh and many more. Each guest joins the Conversation to share their experiences, lessons, and perspectives on the issue of addiction in the family, in the community, and in our youth.

Our guests include parents, those in recovery, professional counselors, and experts in various court and law enforcement arenas. It is our objective to offer a wide range of information to parents looking for insight and answers.

The Addiction Conversation gives parents a place to listen to and learn from the stories of those with similar personal or comparable professional experiences to help guide them through the chaos and confusion of the addicted world.

Every Thursday, Dave Cooke and his guests will share their conversation about addiction, treatment, recovery, parenting. To join us, simply head over to I-Tunes and download an episode or, subscribe to them all.

Each week you will receive another inspirational, informative dose of love from passionate, caring, and incredibly knowledgeable people. I hope you will join us.

WE ARE HAVING A CONTEST:

Let’s have some fun with this!

I will give away 12 FREE, SIGNED COPIES of my book “Behind the Dumpster.”

If you have already purchased a book - Thank you! I will offer you a 30 minute Skype session instead.

All you have to do is:

1. Head over to I-Tunes
2. Download and listen to a show
3. Leave a rating and review on I-Tunes
4. Email me a screenshot of your rating and review to dave@100Pedals.com
5. I will draw and announce 12 winners on Monday, November 24

WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE US TO DISCUSS?

If you have an idea for a topic, a request, or would like to join the Conversation as a guest, please contact Dave Cooke.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: addiction, addiction and parenting support, addiction conversation, parenting, parenting support, podcast, recovery support

## The power of effective communication and understanding on an addicted child

October 22, 2025 by Dave Cooke

Every parent desires to be effective communicating and understanding their child. When dealing with the emotionally charged issue of addiction in the famaily, it is even more important to have productive interactions with their child.

Today’s guest, Cathy Taughinbaugh brings the insights of her personal experiences with her children’s ventures into alcohol and drug use together with her training to enlighten and inspire parents. The focus of our conversation is on the power of understanding and effective communication when dealing with addiction in the family.

Cathy also sheds light on the CRAFT program at the Center for Motivation and Change, their recent and powerful book “Beyond Addiction” and her experiences as volunteer coach for the Drug Free Kids Parent’s Hotline.

Cathy is an incredible and inspiring resource, a curator of valuable information, and her empathetic and nurturing spirit is a gift to parents looking to better manage the adversity of addiction is their family.

Looking for some hope and insight - I promise this is worth your time.

Links to resources mentioned on the podcast:

Partnership for Drug Free Kids (main page)

Partnership for Drug Free Kids (Helpline)

Center for Motivation and Change

Beyond Addiction (book)

Cathy Taughingbaugh (blog)

Beyond the Yellow Brick Road (book)

Check out this episode!

Filed Under: Addiction Conversation Podcast

## Thirty days and counting

October 20, 2025 by Dave Cooke 2 Comments

Thirty days doesn’t seem very long. It is just one month, only one twelfth of a year. Yet, thirty days is a very big deal if you are going through a significant change in your life.

In thirty days you can accomplish a great deal.

In thirty days you can completely alter the path or course in your life.

Here are a few examples of successful outcomes that are possible in thirty days:

- You can break a bad habit. It only takes 30 days to break a habit; it takes 100 days to create a new one.
- You can run nearly 100 miles. If you run three miles a day, every single day.
- You can walk nearly 100 miles. If you walk for one hour a day, every single day.
- You can ride your bike nearly 400 miles. If you ride over 12 miles a day, every single day.
- You can discover over thirty different ways to express gratitude for those things you are thankful for in your life.
- You can memorize thirty mantras, bible verses, inspirational sayings to guide, support and encourage you.
- You can lose ten pounds simply by cutting out at least 1,000 junk calories from your current eating program.
- You can change your life by doing something positive for yourself, every single day.

For those parents who are dealing with addiction in their families, this list is being shared to make you think about your behaviors.

What are you doing in your life to create positive, effective change?

My son, Brandon, earned his 30-day chip Saturday. It is really not the first time he received a 30-day chip. It was different for him this time. He said, “this is the first time I earned it.” This time he did the work, focused on the positive actions and attitudes required to move in a powerful direction, and took a moment to celebrate the accomplishments of his changes and commitment.

Then I thought about it. I am asking him to change his life. What am I doing to change mine? What am I doing in my life that I could change, improve, do better, or stop doing completely? If my son can focus on changing his life; or, if I am expecting him to change something about his life - am I setting the example I desire him to follow? Are you setting the example of a change mentality to improve your life and show your child the way? If not, why not? Perhaps it is time to get busy and work on your change!

If you decide to take the 30-day Challenge, please send me a comment and share what your challenge is. Peace!

> 100Pedals has just released two new programs for parents.

> “Four Rules to Live By” is an audio segment that provides parents perspective for their approach for dealing with addiction in the family. To obtain your digital download click here.

> “Addiction Conversation” is a weekly podcast where Dave Cooke interviews parents, those in recovery, counselors, and legal experts to provide their perspectives from their experiences with addiction. To listen to an individual session click here or to download the podcast to I-Tunes click here.

Filed Under: The Four Wheels of Personal Leadership Tagged With: addiction, being the change, changing your life, creating change, inspiring change, parenting, personal recovery, recovery

## A father’s story of addiction, love, transformation, and peace

October 15, 2025 by Dave Cooke

Today’s guest, Dean Dauphinais has to two sons. His oldest son suffered from depression that ended up manifesting itself into a heroin addiction. Fortunately, his son managed to embrace his recovery and is now over 800 days clean and sober. While the story could end there, this is only the beginning. Dean and his wife have applied many of the lesson is this experience to strengthen their relationship, to embrace sobriety in their life, to use it as a educational reference for their other son’s life, and share the inspirations and insights of their journey to support other parents going through similar challenges. There are great nuggets in this podcast and I am grateful for Dean’s time, his authenticity, and his wisdom.

You can follow Dean his writing platforms:

My Life as 3D

Huffington Post

Heroes in Recovery

Check out this episode!

Filed Under: Addiction Conversation Podcast

## Thank You - Four Rules to Live By

October 15, 2025 by Dave Cooke Leave a Comment

Thank you for requesting the Audio Program “Four Rules to Live By.” Please click this link to access and download your copy.

Have you listened to the 100Pedals podcast “Addiction Conversation”

I would encourage you to take a moment and subscribe to this podcast. The purpose of these podcasts is to provide educational and inspirational information regarding the issue of addiction in the family.

Each week I interview a parent dealing with addiction in their family, a person in recovery from their addiction, a professional in the behavioral health arena, or an expert in the judicial sector.

Hoping you will join the “Conversation” someday, soon. In the meantime thank you and PEACE!

Filed Under: Uncategorized

## A mother’s quest for joy

October 13, 2025 by Dave Cooke 5 Comments

I was fortunate to have author and mom, Sandy Swenson, make time to join me on the podcast The Addiction Conversation. Sandy has recently released her book, “The Joey Song” which chronicles her story of her experiences with her oldest son Joey and his addiction driven life. Here are a few excerpts from this podcast.

Where do you find the courage to step up and share your story?

“Once I realized that my son had a disease then I could let go of the feeling of shame and blame. I could realize how lonely and scarred I was. I was really just defeated and crushed. It’s just horrible to be suffering all this with my son and not be able to tell anybody about it. And I believe very strongly that no parent should have to go through suffering along a child’s potentially fatal disease all alone. No parent should have to feel ashamed that their child has this disease and it’s time for us to start talking about this and shinning a light on it and treating it as a disease.”

Talk a little bit a about being the mom of this little innocent miracle and this transition as you define it…to a manipulative monster

“It takes a long time for a parent to think, to come to believe that their child is turning into a monster and or just even understanding what addiction is. We were just trying to figure out how to be parents. This is trying to figure out something that not even the professionals understand. We mess up a lot. It’s devastating to see the loss of a child and the addict starting to wear your child’s face - devastating.”

How do you sustain yourself and celebrate your life going forward?

“Joey was the one consuming the drugs but his addiction was consuming me. I had to make the choice that the disease wasn’t going to bring any more harm to any more people. I could not stop what was happening with Joey but I could stop the damned disease from hurting the rest of the family and having it going on and on and destroying more people. And I wanted to honor this wonderful boy that I held in my arms 27 years ago, not the addict who had taken his place.

So I’ve been trying to fill the space where my son belongs with goodness, not badness; with saneness, not madness; and, with the hopes that when he does come back, when he does find recovery, he comes back to a place where a family is healthy and we have goodness.”

You have a purpose to your behaviors with regard to your son.

“I do. Back when I was writing the book, I started to clarify these thoughts. I never thought things through as clearly, I surfaced-thought them. I thought deep and hard when I was writing the book and I was really able to come to a real clear understanding in my head of what I believed and how I was going to proceed. I will do what I can for my son which is not much. I can just tell him that I love him and take him to lunch and tell him I have his place warm for him and that’s about it. But I am not going to help the addict to kill my son.”

Download and listen to the entire podcast here on The Addiction Conversation.

Purchase the Joey Song.

Follow Sandy Swenson.

Filed Under: Parenting, Uncategorized Tagged With: addiction, addiction and love, addiction and parentin, hope, joy, love, parenting, recovery, Sandy Swenson, The Joey Song

## Taking your life back once addiction takes control

October 9, 2025 by Dave Cooke

Today’s guest, Cindie Vertefuille, was hit with a perfect storm in her life. In what seemed like a single moment, everything in her life completely changed. In the midst of that crisis she discovered that her life, no matter how messed up it was, mattered. Realizing she mattered, everything took on a new perspective and she began a transformational journey that helps her celebrate her life, offer love, and embrace the opportunity to enjoy and appreciate what she has. This is a wonderful interview for any parent struggling to find their path in the chaotic storm of addiction in their family.

Check out this episode!

Filed Under: Addiction Conversation Podcast

## Self-Care, Guilt, Blame and Addiction

October 9, 2025 by Dave Cooke

Today’s guest, Angie Geren, discovered the power of self-care and self-love on her own journey. Having lived with addiction, abuse and personal self-loathing, she discovered how to value, appreciate, and celebrate who she was and is. Many parents go through the experiences of guilt and shame as they wrestle with the choas of a child’s addiction. It only when they begin to take care of themselves in the simplest of ways, to quit assigning themselves blame for the situation, and begin to grow from those behaviors do they find the strength and the courage to manage the issue differently and celebrate their lives.

Check out this episode!

Filed Under: Addiction Conversation Podcast