addiction Archives - HOPEFUL MOM

April 21, 2025April 19, 2025

What Netflix Show Adolescence Reveals About Teen Mental Health and Technology

Information about the Netflix series Adolescence filled my feed, but I resisted the urge to turn it on. I ignored the ads and scrolled past the comments. I didn’t want to watch.

My research can affect my mental health to the point that I must step away. When that happens, I view uplifting, positive, or humorous content. I press pause on social media and all things mentally exhausting or downright sad.

But after seeing post after post about the new record-breaking Netflix series Adolescence, I relented. Accounts I trust claimed the show was impactful and that the storyline mirrors what our teens face every day.

June 3, 2024May 31, 2024

Ripple Effects of a Child’s Porn Use on Parents

“When my son’s indiscretions surfaced, I felt like I’d been punched in the gut and then kicked while down. I was unknowingly in a war zone, and when the bomb exploded, I was hit. The fallout of his conduct landed on me.”[i]

If you’re a parent, grandparent, or sibling of a child who watches (or watched) pornography, you’re likely hurt, sad, and/or mad. You may experience shame and guilt as well. That’s understandable.

Ripple effects of youth who watch pornography extend to those close by.

February 19, 2024February 17, 2024

A Millennial Talks About Internet Filters, Pornography, and Addiction

“I was first introduced to online sexting with strangers when I was 12 years old through an online video game on my computer.” Austin Couture, now 29, eventually developed an addiction. “I could not stop seeking out pornography and women to chat with online or the obsessive and compulsive masturbation that always went along with it. At one of my lowest points, I felt isolated, alone, confused, faulty and irreparably broken. I believed that I was an emotionless, guilt-ridden zombie that was forever cursed to live in despair with these sexual secrets.”[1] Austin and I met at a Sexual Integrity Leadership Summit and connected further when I was a guest on his podcast. I asked Austin to give us some insight from his perspective on addiction, talking, and using an internet filter. He had the following advice:

August 7, 2023July 19, 2023

Sexpectations Book Launch Day and Hopeful Mom’s Birthday

Cue the confetti. Sound the trumpets. Let’s celebrate!

Hopeful Mom is 5 years old.

This is the 100^th blog post.

**AND . . . Sexpectations: Helping the Next Generation Navigate Healthy Relationships releases today.**

That’s enough to get up and dance.

When I started Hopeful Mom (originally called Difficult Conversations) five years ago, I didn’t know the impact it would have. All I knew was that I had a burden for other parents struggling with pornography in their home and couldn’t stay silent any longer. I wrote under a pen name for two years.

In August 2020, my family gave me permission to use my given name and Hopeful Mom gained traction. In October of that year, I attended a writers conference and, through the conference, landed an agent. In November 2021, I signed a book contract with Leafwood Publisher and . . .

May 29, 2023May 29, 2023

How Can You Help Your Teen with A Pornography Addiction?

There’s a special place in my heart for Dr. John Thorington of Restoring Hearts Counseling. When my son came clean regarding his porn use, I called Focus on the Family. They directed me to Dr. Thorington. Through our conversation and his resources I learned my son had a pornography addiction. I’m so grateful for the time he took to help me and our family. I recently re-connected with Dr. Thorington when he graciously endorsed my book, Sexpectations. (Read his endorsement here.) I’m pleased to introduce him to you!

Internet pornography is quite powerful in capturing the attention of the teen brain. This power can be understood in considering how easy it for people to:

March 20, 2023March 22, 2023

Training Wheel Consequences and Alternate Behavior Changes

Nick and I talked a few months ago about his app, Relay. He and his team designed this fairly-new app to help those trapped in pornography’s grip by teaming people up into support groups. I recommend you check it out. Nick’s enthusiasm and passion are contagious, so I’m thrilled that he agreed to write this post about training wheel consequences for you.

One reason raising children is so hard is that they often don’t internalize the link between cause and consequence. They don’t like their stomach to hurt, yet they still eat half their Halloween candy in one sitting. They don’t like to get sunburned, but they won’t let you lather sunscreen on before they run out to play. Because children have a hard time understanding the true impact of their actions, parents often create what I call “training wheel consequences”; let’s examine these consequences and consider how we can reframe them, particularly in the context of pornography habits, to help children make lasting behavioral change.

September 12, 2022August 12, 2022

Preventing Social Media Addiction

I’d like to introduce Larissa Mills, Founder of Iparentgen.com, The Mental Game Academy and Digital & Mental Wellness HR Solutions, our guest author. She has some practical advice for parents concerning social media and pornography addiction.

I have twenty years of experience in education and I’m a mother of three. So, I can safely say that phones with social media should never have been invented. Phones, yes! We, as adults, love them but are just as addicted as children. Once a child has one, they are sucked down the proverbial rabbit hole, never to talk to you again.

October 14, 2020October 14, 2020

5 Reasons to GET LOUD About Porn

I am overly excited to introduce Marilyn Evans of ParentsAware/Media Savvy Moms. Marilyn and I met a few short months ago and immediately hit it off. Like me, Marilyn has a heart for parents navigating the perils of parenting in a tech-saturated world. She is a wealth of information, and I am grateful she stopped by to offer her insight to us! I hope after you read, you will GET LOUD about porn, too. ~ Barb

Hello! It’s nice to meet you. What is it you do again? Oh, thanks for asking. I write and speak about the harms of pornography. (Awkward pause.) Is that weird? Some people think so. But I’ve got five compelling reasons to say it’s not. Care to listen?

October 6, 2020September 19, 2023

Boredom Leads to Porn Use

After learning of my son’s transgressions with porn, I analyzed every angle I could about his issue. The one question I kept asking was “Why?” Of course, there was the obvious. He’s a curious teenage boy with out-of-control hormones. But that only answered the question of why he initially sought porn. The question of what triggered his continuous use still seemed elusive.

June 24, 2020February 1, 2024

In the Trenches with Your Child

My son struggled with pornography for nine years. His fascination began when he was nine or ten and turned into a full-blown addiction sometime before he was fourteen. His dad and I found out about it at that point and vowed to get in the trenches with him to help him . Unfortunately, he wasn’t completely honest with us, so he fell back into his ways fairly quickly—even though we talked with him, added filters to our devices, and updated our house rules.

Cue the confetti. Sound the trumpets. Let’s celebrate!

Hopeful Mom is 5 years old.

This is the 100th blog post.

AND . . . Sexpectations: Helping the Next Generation Navigate Healthy Relationships releases today.

That’s enough to get up and dance.

This is the 100^th blog post.

**AND . . . Sexpectations: Helping the Next Generation Navigate Healthy Relationships releases today.**