Loving someone through addiction or mental illness can slowly consume every part of your life. The focus shifts to crisis after crisis, while your own well-being quietly slips into the background.
In this episode, KL Wells sits down with Lisa Taylor to share the deeply personal story of reaching that breaking point. Together, they explore the difficult decision to step back, the courage it took to rebuild, and how caring for yourself can become an important part of loving someone else.
Episode Summary
Lisa Taylor is a former corporate sales executive and single mother from Ontario, Canada, whose daughter was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder as a teenager before experiencing a traumatic brain injury the following year. As the challenges continued to grow, Lisa found herself carrying the emotional, financial, and physical weight of trying to keep everything together while gradually losing herself in the process.
In this conversation, Lisa reflects on the moment she realized something had to change. She shares how creating healthy boundaries, slowing down, and focusing on her own healing allowed her to rediscover herself while continuing to love her daughter. Together, KL and Lisa explore burnout, generational patterns, spirituality, and the quiet ways healing can influence the people we love.
Key Discussion Points
- Parenting through both mental illness and addiction
- The emotional and physical exhaustion of long-term caregiving
- Burnout, financial stress, and losing your sense of self
- Why setting boundaries is different from abandoning someone you love
- The difficult decision to create distance for everyone's well-being
- Rebuilding life after years of crisis management
- Slowing down and discovering deeper patterns beneath constant busyness
- How generational patterns become visible through self-reflection
- Spirituality, stillness, and personal growth during recovery
- The unexpected ways personal healing can influence family relationships
- Loving from a distance while remaining connected with compassion
Some Questions I Ask
- At what point did you begin taking your life back?
- What did slowing down teach you about yourself?
- How has your daughter become one of your greatest teachers?
- Was reaching your breaking point what finally opened the door to your own healing?
In This Episode, You Will Learn
- Why setting boundaries with a child is not the same as abandoning them
- How chronic caregiving can lead to emotional and physical burnout
- What rebuilding life can look like after losing stability and identity
- Why personal healing may influence family relationships in unexpected ways
- How slowing down creates space to recognize generational patterns
- What loving someone from a healthy distance can look like
- Why caring for yourself is an important part of supporting someone else
- How healing often begins by turning inward rather than trying to change another person
Resources
Sashbear Foundation
https://sashbear.org
Turn the Lens Inward Podcast
Notable Insight From The Episode
Sometimes the most loving decision is also the hardest one.
Creating distance from someone you love does not always mean giving up. For many families, it can become the boundary that allows both people the opportunity to begin healing.
About the Guest
Lisa Taylor is a confidence coach based in Ontario, Canada, who helps people move beyond living for the expectations of others and build lives rooted in authenticity and self-trust.
After navigating years of supporting her daughter through mental health challenges and addiction, Lisa turned her own healing journey into a source of support for others. She is the co-host of the Turn the Lens Inward podcast, where she shares conversations about mental health, addiction, personal growth, and resilience. Today, she and her daughter also co-own a residential cleaning business, reflecting the new chapter they have built together.
Connect With the Guest
Website
https://glowingconfidence.com
