NEW ORLEANS –  After battling with addiction for 6 years, this week’s Remarkable Woman now uses her journey to recovery,  to help others.

Her name is Linda Couch. Like many New Orleanians, she went to Catholic School in the city. She was happily married with 2 young children when opioid drug abuse took over her life.   

“I was on them for about 6 years. It’s been a rough journey. I had to fight for custody of my kids. Went through a divorce, separated from my children for 2 years. Have gotten custody back with them, been through therapy, and now we have this amazing relationship,” said Couch.

It all started when Couch started to have back problems. She was diagnosed with Degenerative Disc Disease which lead to surgery, followed by prescription opioids.

In recovery, Linda joined a group of other women battling their own addictions. Later, she became a ‘mother-figure’ to a large group of the young girls.

” I didn’t have my daughters at the time, and god kind of gave me these women to kind of mother. They needed help. We struggle in life to be perfect, especially women. You don’t have to be perfect. You can make a mistake and come back 10x’s better than you were before,” says Couch.

Linda is now a trained interventionist and works at Longbranch Recovery Center.

On the 2nd Tuesday of every month Linda hosts the Substance Addiction Ministry at Mary Queen of Peace Catholic Church at 7pm. She encourages those struggling with addiction to share their story and reach out for help!