The ripple effect: A mother’s perspective on addiction, mental health, and family recovery

Title : The ripple effect: A mother’s perspective on addiction, mental health, and family recovery

Abstract:

When addiction and mental health challenges enter a family, no one remains untouched. While much of the conversation focuses on the individual struggling, the experiences of parents, siblings, spouses, and children are often overlooked. In this powerful and deeply personal presentation, Linda Lundstrom shares her journey as both a mother and a woman with 28 years in recovery, offering a unique perspective shaped by lived experience on both sides of the recovery journey.

Drawing from her personal experiences with addiction, recovery, parenting, incarceration, mental health challenges, and family healing, Linda provides an honest look at the emotional impact addiction has on families—the fear of late-night phone calls, the grief of watching a loved one suffer, the confusion of trying to help, and the exhaustion that comes from carrying hope through years of uncertainty. She explores how addiction and mental health challenges affect family relationships, communication, trust, boundaries, and overall well-being.

With compassion, vulnerability, and wisdom gained through nearly three decades of recovery, Linda discusses the complex emotions many family members experience, including guilt, shame, anger, resentment, helplessness, and chronic stress. She examines the difficult balance between helping and enabling, while highlighting the importance of self-care, healthy boundaries, education, and support networks for family members navigating their own healing process.

Through powerful storytelling and practical insights, attendees will gain a deeper understanding of how recovery impacts the entire family system. Linda's message offers hope that healing is possible—not only for the person struggling with addiction or mental health challenges, but also for the loved ones who walk beside them. This presentation reminds us that recovery is a family journey, one built on resilience, connection, accountability, and the courage to keep showing up for ourselves and those we love.

Biography:

Linda Lundstrom is a survivor, advocate, and fierce voice for recovery. With 26 years in recovery and a life shaped by resilience, she knows firsthand what it takes to rebuild—and to keep going even when the road gets hard. As a mother, Linda understands the intersection of love, grief, and advocacy in a way that only lived experience can teach. Her commitment to mental health is not just professional, but personal, daily, and deeply rooted in her own journey of overcoming trauma, violence, and transformation.

A seasoned international speaker with 26 years on stage, Linda brings raw honesty and hard-won wisdom to every room she enters. She is currently writing a book about her journey—one built on decades of reinvention, grit, and choosing herself over and over again. Her adventurous spirit mirrors her approach to life. She once rode her motorcycle solo from California to New York and back, raising $5,000 for charity—a journey Harley-Davidson honored with a full feature spread.

Professionally, Linda has spent 25 years in corporate operations, helping small businesses scale and thrive. Yet it is her humanity—as a mother, a person in recovery, and a mental health advocate—that makes people lean in when she speaks.

Linda doesn’t just tell her story; she gives others permission to tell theirs.