A young person's journey from addiction to recovery
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What one story reveals about support and trust
What does recovery look like when substance use begins early and becomes intertwined with mental health, family relationships and crisis? In this edition of Stories of Hope, Lindsay shares her experience of substance use as a young person and the circumstances that eventually led her toward treatment and recovery. Her story offers a candid look at how addiction can develop, the impact it can have on both the individual and their family and the possibility of finding a path forward.
Moderated by Akela Peoples, CEO of Mental Health Research Canada, the conversation brings Lindsay together with Susan Raphael, an addiction and mental health clinician who worked with Lindsay during a pivotal period in her recovery. Together, they explore the experience from two perspectives: what Lindsay was living through and what Susan was seeing as a clinician. Their discussion looks at family dynamics, trust, treatment, readiness for change and the relationships and supports that can help a young person move from crisis toward sustained recovery.
Expert Voices
Lindsay
Lived Experience Speaker
Lindsay shares her experience of addiction, mental health and recovery from the perspective of a young person who lived through them. Her contribution offers a firsthand look at the progression from substance use and family crisis to treatment and recovery, including what helped her begin making lasting changes.
Susan Raphael
Sustainable Recovery
Susan Raphael is an addiction and mental health clinician, author and founder of Sustainable Recovery Counseling Services. Her work focuses particularly on teen and young-adult addiction, mental health and family crisis, drawing on both clinical expertise and her own lived experience of long-term recovery. In this conversation, she brings the perspective of a clinician who worked directly with Lindsay during an important stage of her recovery.
MediaSmarts, Université de Sherbrooke
What is Stories of Hope: Voices of Lived Experience?
This webinar series creates space for people to share their experiences with mental health in their own words. Hosted by Mental Health Research Canada, the series uses personal stories to offer insight and inspiration while highlighting the roles that hope, connection and recovery can play in people’s lives.
