Support for Those Struggling with the Disease of Addiction: an interview with Wendy Noe

Wendy Noe, Executive Director of Dove Recovery House

This episode is about the disease of addiction.  There is so much important ground we are going to cover, including why it matters that we call addiction a disease.  Because this wasn’t the language that was used when I was a kid growing up in the “Just Say No” to drugs era. 

And my guest today has a ton to share.  That is because this is Wendy Noe’s work.  She is the Executive Director of the Dove Recovery House in Indianapolis, which is a recognized residential program for women with substance abuse disorders. 

 But Wendy doesn’t just talk with us as a professional who works with women dealing with substance addictions, she talks to us as a woman who has been directly impacted by addiction. She walked with her brother as he spiraled deeper into addiction.  She helped check him into and watched him leave treatment programs and she has really, really good words to offer if you are just feeling at the end of your rope as you try to help someone you love who is grappling with their addiction.

You can find the Handle with Care: Empathy at Work podcast on Google Play, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify. And you can listen to the episode here…

Wendy and her husband

Here are three key takeaways from my conversation with Wendy…

1. Listen and make space for caregivers to share without passing judgment or defaulting to advice.  And this is hard, just in life in general.  It is so easy to try to fix someone or to shut them down as they are expressing their feelings.  Addiction is all too often shrouded in shame and secrecy, and this extends to caregivers as well.  If you know someone who, like Wendy, is supporting someone that is living with addiction, do your best to be a safe person for them to share with. 

2. Wendy was able to talk with women who were recovering addicts, to hear their stories and get their perspective…and this helped her with her brother.  You probably don’t work at a place like the Dove Recovery House, but listening to or reading the perspective of former or current addicts could help you have a more grounded perspective on what it is like for the person you care about to walk with addiction.

3. Many times, people who are struggling with addiction need treatment to combat their addiction.  Wendy talked about the common theme of trauma and how just getting chemicals out of someone’s system is not enough.  And not all addiction treatment programs are created equal. 

4. And I know, we usually only have three take-aways, but I want to add one more. What would it mean for you to consider addiction as a disease?  As I mentioned at the top of the podcast, this was not the paradigm that I grew up with.  Addiction was seen a much more of a choice or a moral failing.  How would this affect how you interact with a loved one or a colleague that is struggling?  How would it affect how you show up with resources and care?

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