Season 14, Episode 7
Mindie
Age: 29
Location: Des Moines, Iowa
Addiction: Meth
What’s memorable: Her parents not understanding how a 3 year old could even be molested, and not doing anything to support her when she finally told them about it. The things she said to her sister in law were awful and insensitive – there’s gotta be some amends to make there. I loved that she met Sam (from the last episode) in treatment and they became fast friends. Having someone there that just went through an intervention (televised!) must be so comforting. I hope they continue to help each other through recovery.
Official Synopsis: Suffering post-traumatic stress after being molested as a child, Mindie developed a drug habit in her teens that gave way to a full-on meth addiction in her 20’s.
Original Air Date: May 2015
Interventionist: Donna
Well, you pretty much nailed it in your summary, Dizzy. How could you not love Mindie? Adorable, funny, smart, vulnerable. But the things she said to her grieving sister in law…WOW. I have to believe it was the drugs making her say such selfish and hurtful things.
Her older brother was a sweetheart and a saint. The whole thing with the family frantically checking on her after only 12 hours without hearing from her seemed a little strange and codependent, but, again, another episode so rushed that there was probably a lot we were missing.
I squeed when I saw her with Sam at the end. I knew it was her as soon as I saw the purple hair from behind! How awesome was that? SO very happy for both of them. Best of luck, Mindie. You captured a lot of hearts this week, I’m quite sure. Keep up the good work.
This one was very hard for me to watch because Mindie reminded me SO MUCH of myself. Wow she was in severe pain. It was awful watching her mom, she seemed so fake and forced. I cringed when she kept getting upset and trying to emotionally manipulate Mindie with the “what did I do wrong?” comments. She and the dad not believing their little girl had been molested also made me feel horrible. Mindie was not just suffering from PTSD after her rape, she was experiencing C-PTSD after a lifetime of emotional neglect.
I also thought the scene with the sister in law was rough but could feel Mindie’s pain. She said some things she shouldn’t have said but I couldn’t believe she reached out to someone and asked for help and the sister in law did nothing! I get that she can’t have drug addicts around her kids but Mindie felt neglected and was literally begging for someone to love and care about her.
Seeing Sam at the end made me so happy. I related to her a LOT as well. She’s another one suffering the horrible effects of being emotionally neglected. They’re both so bright and funny. I honestly would love to meet the two of them and feel like we could all be good friends. I wish them both luck on their journey of sobriety.
Oh yeah I was disappointed to see Donna and not Candy. Candy is just So Much Better at emotionally connecting with the addicts and I think Mindie could have used that. Then again I want Candy to do every Intervention, she’s just so awesome.
I don’t know enough about Donna to determine her strengths. She does seem to be quite compassionate, though! Candy is awesome, especially when family dynamics are involved. Of course, you can’t go wrong with General Jeff’s “Anything other than ‘yes I’ll go’ is just noise” approach! Still, if I had to pick a favorite, it would have to be Ken. He has the perfect balance of compassion and toughness (as we’ve seen with Cristy and Samantha C.)
As a side note, this episode was in my city! I loved the opening shot of Gray’s Lake! 🙂
Zack, I totally agree with you about Ken! He is my favorite interventionist based on his super caring voice and overall calm demeanor. They’re all great of course, and I agree with Dizzy about Seth, but he isn’t in enough episodes. The way he makes the family members confront their shortcomings is really admirable.
Yes I agree about Ken! I also find Ken very attractive 😂 #oopsisaidit. Candy is number one though obviously. I also loved reading in an article that I think is posted somewhere on this site that Candy responded to concerns about her age in her being hired by this show by saying “you can’t be 17 and sing the blues” 😂🙌
I gotta say I agree and think that Donna was NOT the right interventionist for Mindie. Candy would’ve been a much better choice simply for the fact that she is sympathetic and shows that she cares.
I don’t know, I like how Donna is able to call the family members out. The way she dealt with the parents, especially mom, was pretty good. As much as I adore Candy and her empathetic way with the addicts, I think Donna might be better at getting family members to take responsibility. Seth is the master at that though. He’s so dang good at calling people out. I’m thinking specifically of Megan’s parents and Gina’s mom. He blew me away on those ones. To the point that I don’t know if the intervention would have even worked if those parents didn’t say what they did, which they ONLY did because of Seth.
TOTALLY agree. I am fixated on Megan’s intervention and seth’s perfection in dealing with her utterly worthless parents.
Dizzy,
I agree with you about the parents, but I just think that Mindie needed someone who was more compassionate. Throughout the whole episode she kept saying things about how she needed affection and love from her family, and just seems like the type of person where it works better being sweet to them than being tough. In my opinion, Donna is more the type to scare addicts into treatment (I can think of a few episodes where she actually was threatening people, and we all know that you *almost always* can’t bully someone into recovery and expect them to be successful, not saying Donna was bullying here), and while it worked, I don’t think that approach was appropriate for Mindie. Even Seth would have been good here, and you’re also right that he is amazing at getting people to take responsibility for their roles in the addict’s state. All that matters is that it worked, though.
That said, I can’t get over how great Mindie looked after treatment, and it warmed my heart to see her with Sam. I hope that the two can remain friends!
Yeah, you’re probably right. Mindie may have been in need of Candy-style compassion and Donna is certainly more of a hardliner. I’m just glad it worked.
I think Donna’s real strength is getting the family on the same page. She’s pretty good at calling out BS, but I think she was a freaking miracle worker for getting Sandi’s family to show a united front (especially her mother). She does have a gentle side we seem to be seeing more of. I loved her for the way she consoled Dallas in the van on the way to treatment. That episode was another good example of her calling out the mother and somehow getting both parents and stepmother to work together. Donna doesn’t seem to speak as much during the intervention itself but instead lets the family lead (could be editing, but it seems pretty consistent). Anyway, my point is, there’s no doubt that Candy is awesome and she just exudes care and concern, but I think that Donna is also caring and she orchestrated the family well this time. They can’t all have Candy, unfortuntely!
I see your points. Maybe she just left a bad taste in my mouth after her botched intervention with Courtney. That was brutal! Maybe she has grown since then and I will learn to like her more. The funny thing is that Candy isn’t even my favorite… Ken is. He has the perfect mix of compassion/sweetness and not taking anyone’s crap.
I think most of us (fans, that is), in the back of our minds always associate Donna with the Courtney disaster! If I’m remembering right that was her first episode? I know she’s been an interventionist for a long time so I don’t know how that one went so badly off the rails…
She went to treatment and got clean. You’re so right that Donna was the wrong choice.
Dizzy I just left a comment on the interventionist poll that is exactly what you said!!!
Kat R me and you think the same!!
I love Seth. Just thought I’d throw that out there;)
Donna gets zero love from fans. I rather watch her be real than listen to Jeff say “They love you like crazy….”
I agree with everything you just said and more.
Totally. Donna is as compassionate as required but not pandering and fake. The whole process is strongarming people into rehab w threats. Some here like to pretend it’s a warm and fuzzy thing, but it’s not. I would bet Donna has as many or more letters after her name than the other interventionists. The fan thing of certain interventionists is odd to me. I’m not a fan of Rehab Inc at all. I find it weird how so many view it as anything but a business. 3/4 of people get sober w zero specialized treatment. The Johnson model of intervention and it’s success rate is abysmal, yet the rehab Inc cult would have you believe that spending 50-100k on rehab is the ONLY means to sobriety. It’s not. At all. It’s just the propaganda that rehab inc sells us, and this show is just another part of that.
😂
My above 😂 was for @richard. The format makes it unclear.
& Seth is an awesome interventionist! Too bad he’s not on more seasons!!! I am still a candy lover, but also a s Seth, Donna, and John Southworth lover!! Put them all together and you have one AMAZING interventionist!!! You can’t be perfect in all areas!!! Still wishing Elena would have became an interventionist!!!
I was so happy to see her and Sam at the end. Its really awesome that they became friends. I hope both of them continue to do good!
I like Mindie. I really felt for her, having her family not believe that she could have been raped at a young age… thats super rough.
One thing about Mindie is that I felt that she knew that she was being filmed for Intervention from the start. When she said “I have no idea why im doing this show,” was when I thought that she might have known that she was being filmed for Intervention. Im probably wrong, but I felt from her general attitude, things she said, and the way that she said them, that it seemed like she might have known what was up.
Just a hunch. which i guess doesn’t matter because she’s an awesome person who needed treatment anyways. So, Go Mindie!
Mindie and Sara still talk occasionally. She went back to treatment in 2016 she said on her FB. not sure if she still clean after seeing her post on Facebook she needs a new place to stay and such. But I could be wrong!
Seth ???????? I adore Seth.
https://apps.polkcountyiowa.gov/PolkCountyInmates/CurrentInmates/Details?Book_ID=293878
Hope she can find her way again.
Unfortunately, Mindie has taken two known trips to Polk County Jail. I do not personal know her, but have lived in this area all my life. You can find this information on the Polk county jail inmate website, click on jail information, and then on released inmates relating to a year within release. I pray she eventually finds her way, sad to see such a beautiful person fall so deep into a terrible drug.
Mindie: season 14; episode 7
It fee for Mindie. Her mom basically said she was to tired and too busy to tend and care for her children. The father didn’t seem very active in their lives either. She told
Both parents she was molested at about age 3 and they “don’t understand how she could remember that at age 3 and didn’t seem to believe it anyways. Then proceeded to say there really wasn’t anything g they could do about it. This young gir needed therapy or counseling. She needed her mother’s love and attention. Why become parents? And then people wonder why they grow up having problems.
I completely agree with you. How hard is it to give a shit? But no, they couldn’t be bothered. I wish she had parents who cared about her more than they care about themselves/being inconvenienced
I have memories of when I was 4 and to be molested at three… I’m sure those are real memories. I wish I would have been her mother, I would’ve been so understanding and supportive.
I know we don’t see or know everything, but how could you not do anything when you hear your child was molested?? These people weren’t raised well themselves, obviously. If I had told my mom that she would have burned the entire world down trying to find the dude to exact her revenge. Poor Mindie!
also i know mindie seems so cruel to her sister-in-law, and i’ve heard people mentioning it. when addicts who aren’t generally cruel get mean like that, it’s almost always because that person is making them feel guilty for their addiction or making them face their addiction in a way that others don’t. this is likely why mindie was so so mean to her sister-in-law- her grief reminded her of how horrible she’s being every day, and she couldn’t face it.
I’m re-watching this episode now and Mindie is so manipulative with her SIL, using SIL’s guilt over her own sister to manipulate her. Survivor’s guilt is no joke. So much pain in this one, and I hope Mindie and the family have been able to heal since the intervention.
I just looked her up on Facebook and I see she posted today she has three years sober. Looks like she’s doing pretty good
Do you know her last name, or do you have a link you can share? I agree with almost every comment on this page. Mindie stole my heart.
It shouldn’t matter – but I’m a gay man – I just noticed my above comment could make me look like a creeper.
Mindie Cox
I haven’t read all the comments on this page, so somebody might’ve already mentioned this, but Mindie’s mom repeatedly saying she “didn’t know what [she] did wrong” was a real Missing Missing Reasons moment. Mindie told her EXACTLY what was wrong and she just couldn’t listen. I wanted to grab her shoulders and scream “How about the time you didn’t believe she was molested???” Mindie is a really funny and sharp lady, seems like she would be super fun to hang out with sober, she doesn’t deserve these negligent parents. I hope she is doing better today in spite of her clueless family.
When I told my parents that I was okeatws by my uncle, I got the same response from my parents as mindie got from hers. to this day it hurts. knowing that the people who should love me unconditionally and be there aren’t. not emotionally. I think mindie does what I do, and that is bury my feelings and don’t share them with anyone. I’ve been disappointed so many times(thinking someone will care but they dont) that I’ve had to wall my feelings off from others . I feel if I don’t tell anyone, i can’t disappointed when they don’t give a damn. its probably not the healthiest way to live but at this point I don’t know what else to do. I’m pretty sure that’s what mindie is doing too. protecting herself from being hurt by those people who shouldn’t hurt her and should love her no matter what. I hope she’s sober now. God bless and good luck
I know exactly what you mean. I’m sorry you had to experience it. Hang in there Lisa.
I just love Mindie so much. I learned what CPTSD is from her episode posts here and it helped me start my healing journey. Her saying “sandwich grabbers” and “I’m just a real nice gal!” Jump into my head every now and then and I think about what a nice gal she actually is. Browsing her FB today and she’s 4 years sober. I’m really so happy for her! I hope she has actual sustaining peace and never returns to the dark side.
When she called her hands “sandwich grabbers” I laughed so hard. She seems genuinely sweet and funny to me.