THE EPISODE ARCHIVE
Every conversation. A little more perspective.
Listen, reflect, and find your next conversation.
Showing 12 of 141 episodes.
November 4, 2026
Cognitive Tunneling, Misery Stabilizers & Emotional Meridian
The Unhooked Podcast! “Cognitive Tunneling, Misery Stabilizers and WHAT is an Emotional Meridian?” When our thoughts RULE us, even if for good reasons. Tools and tips for stabilizing misery and moodiness. Finding our emotional balance on the tight-rope walk that can be our life and circumstances. Have you ever noticed how we con at times seem to live between two extremes? When things are good, they’re REALLY good. Everything is wonderful, possibilities are endless, and life feels almost euphoric. But when something goes wrong, everything falls apart. One disappointment becomes five. One difficult conversation becomes a crisis. One person’s behavior can derail an entire day. High highs and low lows. Feeling wonderful one minute and defeated the next. Allowing other people’s behavior to determine our emotional temperature. Becoming attached to the excitement of a high and overwhelmed by the discomfort of a low. What if the goal of recovery isn’t to feel good all the time? What if the goal is to become stable enough that we don’t need everything around us to be good in order for us to be okay? A good life isn’t necessarily an emotionally exciting life. Sometimes a good life is a peaceful, predictable, disciplined, healthy life. Listen to this week’s episode here, on the AnnieHighwater website or wherever you download podcasts! Audio Editing by 2C Film Co
Listen to the episodeOctober 28, 2026
King Baby Syndrome
The Unhooked Podcast! "King Baby Syndrome, Recovery & Boundaries" Have you ever known someone who expects understanding but offers very little in return? Someone who wants forgiveness without accountability, help without responsibility, and loyalty without reciprocity? In recovery rooms, you may hear the term "King Baby Syndrome" This is an informal expression describing emotional immaturity, entitlement, wild immaturity and difficulty accepting responsibility. It can show up in addiction, family relationships, marriages, workplaces, and, if we’re honest, sometimes in ourselves. Understanding someone’s patterns and even their wounds doesn’t mean excusing their behavior. Childhood trauma, addiction, and painful experiences may help explain unhealthy patterns, but healing requires accountability and a willingness to change. So how do we navigate these relationships without losing ourselves? Listen to this week's episode for tools and tips from the rooms of recovery. Check it out! Editing by 2C Film Co
Listen to the episodeOctober 21, 2026
Holy Split!! Splitting and Splitters
The Unhooked Podcast! Splitters and Splitting In this week's episode we take a look at Splitting behavior as it occurs with those who have Borderline Personality Disorder, High Conflict Personality Disorder as well as people struggling with chemical dependencies. Many people are affected by splitting behaviors without realizing that's what they're dealing with. Pulling information from a work class, years in the rooms of recovery and my own personal life and family...I hope this will be eye opening as well as encouraging information for how to handle and respond when you find yourself the villain in the story or in the cross hairs of someone operating with splitting. Listen in to check it out! (Email: Annieunhooked@gmail.com)
Listen to the episodeOctober 14, 2026
Mind Harassment
The Unhooked Podcast by Annie Highwater "When my mind is my Bully" There are times when thoughts of fear, embarrassment, dread...self-loathing etc., keep me up at night. Or...WAKE me up at night. Or...paralyze me when the alarm goes off in the morning and getting up to face the day is a battle. It happens. No one is immune. I'm better at navigating it, but it does happen. When it does, I have to dig deep into the reserves to find my way forward. Listen in to this week's episodes to hear those experiences along with tools and tips from the paths of recovery. Check it out!! (Edited by: 2CFilmCo)
Listen to the episodeOctober 7, 2026
Choose Your Momma
For much of my life, I carried what I now understand as a Mother wound. As the youngest of six, I longed for the kind of Mother I saw other children have. I remember looking at Moms on elementary-school field trips and feeling something deeper and more wholesome than jealousy or anger. It was a painful longing. A quiet, aching wish for someone who felt safe, steady, nurturing, truthful, and strong. That wound followed me into adulthood and affected how I saw myself, my relationships, and even my years as a young Mother myself. But recently, while riding my bike, a question occurred to me: If I could choose any Mom in the world for myself, who would I choose? Listen in for experience, strength and hope from the rooms of recovery and my own journey out of dysfunction and misery. Doing our inner recovery work...works. Listen in here or wherever you download your podcasts. Check it out! (Edited by 2C Film Co)
Listen to the episodeSeptember 30, 2026
Chaos has a Pattern
The Unhooked Podcast! “Chaos has a Pattern: Navigating the Madness of it” For me this is familiar territory—especially theidea that chaos can feel random while actually following recognizable patterns. I learned this from a recovery specialist…I called her and these were her words that calmed me… "What's happening isn't random, chaos has a pattern." There is, however, distinction between chaos we create, chaos we inherit, and chaos that simply happens Whatever the case it’s worth asking: How doI become steady when my circumstances aren’t? The goal isn’t to eliminate chaos. It’s learning to recognize it, not to feed it, and to develop enough internal stability that you don’t have to participate in every storm around you. Listen in for tools and tips in this week's Unhooked episode. Check it out!
Listen to the episode
September 23, 2026
HSP Highly Sensitive Persons
The Unhooked podcast! If you have ever been told you are, "Too sensitive," this episode is for you. Being highly sensitive isn't about being emotional. It's about having an acute awareness, a strong sense of intuition, a sharp eye for detail and catching behavior patterns quick, many times before anyone else. This can lead to others dismissing your thoughts, invalidating what you are sensing, and sometimes becoming aggravated and even angry with you over it. It doesn't have to be pain point or a reason to shrink back or feel condemned over what you know you are catching onto. Being highly sensitive (hyper aware) is actually a protection and even a power tool when cultivated and used with wisdom. I share a few situations in my own life when I felt the scorch of disagreement from others when I knew what I knew was a true and real thing. I (Note: t's smart to realize we can always get something wrong, it's good to observe versus hurrying to speak to a thing, I have been stung a time or two making that mistake. You live and learn!) Listen in to this week's episode for experiences as well as tools and tips when it comes to navigating your own experiences with hyper sensitivity, discernment and awareness. Check it out!
Listen to the episodeSeptember 16, 2026
Tools and Tips for the affected Family Side of the House of addiction and alcoholism
The Unhooked Podcast! "Quick Tips for Moms, Dads, Partners, Relatives and any other entourage of a Loved One in active use" “Until we heal the family system, there is no hope for the person struggling.” ~Ken Seeley I am the family member of someone who suffers with addiction. I have also been through an addiction adjacent experience up close and very personal. I know the ups and downs, the misery in the midnight hour, the high hopes and hopes dashed that one goes through when they love someone caught in the death grip of a substance dependency. That’s why I now openly share our story, our pain and our processes of recovery. Thank goodness for our recovery. In the midst (as well as the aftermath), of some of the worst days of our life as a family, I gathered great strength and wisdom along the way from those who carried me through to a healthier, stronger place. I write and share not as one in recovery from a substance, but as one in recovery from the obsession with someone battling a substance. The goal of my heart as I continue my path to wellness is to share my experience, strength and hope with others who are walking the same bewildering road. I believe it to be crucial; to quote Ram Dass, “We are all just walking each other home.” Check it out!
Listen to the episodeSeptember 9, 2026
Principles Over Personalities: When Other People are Pulling Our Strings
THE Unhooked Podcast! “Principles Over Personalities: Stop Letting People Pull Your Strings” Have you ever had somebody ruin your entire day? Sometimes without even being in the room... They said something. They didn’t say something. They criticized, insulted or ridiculed you. They ignored and dismissed you. They lied about you. They misunderstood you. They pushed a button—and suddenly you’re reacting instead of responding. It happens to us all. Listen in for tools and tips from the Rooms of Recovery!
Listen to the episodeSeptember 2, 2026
"When You Don’t Know What to Do"
The Unhooked Podcast! "When You Don’t Know What to Do" This is a really strong topic to me… because “I don’t know what to do” is often how we feel and can be the exact place where recovery, faith, and emotional regulation intersect. “What do you do when you don't know what to do?” Sometimes it's a crisis. Sometimes it's a relationship. Sometimes it's a decision you have to make. Sometimes you've done everything you know to do—and nothing seems to be working. And sometimes the hardest thing is that we desperately want an answer right now. Listen in for tools and tips from the rooms of recovery!
Listen to the episodeAugust 26, 2026
Anguish. What I did in the dark!
The Unhooked Podcast! “What I Did in the Dark” I know what anguish feels like. I have lived through seasons of it. Listen in for tools and tips from the rooms of recovery and hear what anguish taught me about surrender, resilience, and truth. Check it out!
Listen to the episodeAugust 19, 2026
Debbie
The Unhooked Podcast! Listen in this week as Debbie, my friend from many years in the Rooms, shares her story and so much wisdom from Recovery. We combine our best practices for dealing with the madness (especially our own!)... Check it out!
Listen to the episodeAUDIO POST-PRODUCTION
Audio Editing & Mixing by 2C Film Co