John Makohen argues that lived experience is not a soft extra in addiction counseling—it is a skill set. Drawing from homelessness, heroin use, and sex work, he explains how lived experience builds trust, reads risk, and guides clients, while demanding supervision, disclosure training, career paths, and equal pay.

Jessie Monreal writes a raw letter to children of addiction about confused grief after losing a parent to substance use and suicide. With honesty and compassion, she names anger, love, relief, guilt, forgiveness, and the possibility of breaking cycles.

Sandy Rivers opens July's Author of the Month with a family story about grandparents forced to protect children during a daughter's opioid use disorder. The piece explores love, safety, court, peer support, and the hidden burden families carry alone.