Lived Experience: SUD Survivors Share Their Stories to Save Lives

Hiker following a windy path with a fallen tree blocking the way.

August 19, 2025

Kathy Reynolds, Author & Wayfinder Recovery Coaching

Tom O'Connor, Editor & Publisher

The phrase "Lived Experience" represents a growing movement in the field of substance use disorder (SUD) recovery, emphasizing the powerful effect of individuals sharing their journeys to inspire hope and foster healing in others.

"Lived Experience" is meaningful:

• Authentic understanding: Individuals who have firsthand experience with addiction offer a unique and deeper insight into the challenges and complexities of SUD

• Peer support: Sharing stories fosters a sense of solidarity and gives hope to those currently struggling, helping them feel less alone in their recovery journey.

• Reducing stigma: Sharing stories helps to humanize the experience of addiction, challenge stereotypes, and promote the understanding that SUD is a treatable medical condition rather than a moral failing.

• Empowerment and resilience: The journey through addiction and recovery builds strength in individuals and promotes resilience.

• Advocacy and education: Survivors often become powerful advocates, raising awareness, educating others, and contributing to policy changes that improve access to treatment and support services. 

Author Kathy Reynolds is a Certified Trauma-Informed Mental Health & Substance Use Recovery Coach as well as an Alcohol and Drug Counselor. She is the founder of Wayfinder Recovery Coaching (https://www.way-finder-recovery.com/).

Katherine's Story

My journey with substance use disorder is layered and deeply personal, like so many others. It started in the context of unresolved trauma.

I was already an anxious child and painfully shy. I then experienced several traumatic events in childhood, including sexual abuse by a neighbor and a devastating house fire that destroyed our home. These experiences left deep emotional scars. I didn't have the tools or language to process what had happened to me, so I internalized the pain and blamed myself for what happened. As I entered adolescence and young adulthood, I struggled to regulate emotions, trust others, or feel safe in my own body.

I experienced my first psychiatric hospitalization at 12 years old after my mother found self-inflicted cuts on my arm. Psychiatric medications were introduced early, along with diagnoses that never quite captured the whole picture. I spent years cycling through therapists, psych wards, and medications that often made me feel worse. No one asked the right questions. Trauma wasn't mentioned. I was told I was broken, but never shown how to heal.

Eventually, I turned to substances to numb what I couldn't explain. I would use anything I could. I was prescribed Klonopin at 16 years old for my severe anxiety and panic disorder. At first, I thought it was a miracle drug. I didn't know that taking it daily for years would lead to horrible consequences to my brain and body, or a psychotic break when I was inappropriately taken off of them too quickly. By 18, I was using heroin intravenously. I was in and out of detox, rehabs, and emergency rooms. The combination of benzos and heroin led to countless overdoses.

I reached a point where I genuinely couldn't stop using. I wanted to, but the physical and psychological dependence had taken over. I was scared to die, but even more terrified to live without drugs. I thought I had tried everything.

What ultimately gave me a real chance at recovery was Suboxone.

After so many failed attempts at abstinence-only programs, I finally found a path that addressed the biological and psychological aspects of addiction. Suboxone stabilized my nervous system long enough for me to begin the deeper healing work. The work I had been unable to access was in a constant state of survival.

But unfortunately, not everyone supported my recovery.

Peer-to-Peer Stigma

In early sobriety, people in traditional recovery spaces told me I "wasn't sober" because I was on medication. They said I was "just trading one drug for another." That kind of peer-to-peer stigma hit hard, especially coming from people who claimed to understand.

Desperate for approval, I tapered off Suboxone before I was ready. I returned to use during the 3rd day of withdrawal and almost died again. That was a wake-up call.

This is why I now advocate so fiercely for harm reduction, multiple pathways, and radical compassion. Meeting people where they are is essential. The only thing I won't tolerate in recovery spaces is shaming someone else's pathway. That kind of judgment causes more harm than we realize and can cost lives.

What Helped Me Heal

• Suboxone was a bridge — but recovery didn't stop there. What saved and sustained me was an entire ecosystem of healing. I built my life from the ground up, piece by piece:

• Therapeutic tools like DBT and trauma-informed therapy helped me process and regulate emotions.

• Peer support programs like SMART Recovery, Recovery Dharma, and 12-step groups gave me community, language, and connection.

• Buddhist principles and mindfulness practices helped me stay present, forgive myself, and build compassion.

• I developed a healthy routine: eating nutritious meals, staying hydrated, getting regular sleep, and moving my body through yoga and exercise. I found things that brought me joy.

• I built a support circle of people who respected my recovery, who could handle the truth, and who didn't flinch when things got hard.

All of these pieces became the foundation of a recovery that works for me. And that's the thing: recovery is personal. It's not a formula. It's a relationship you build with yourself over time.

Today, I am proud to be a Certified Recovery Coach, Family Coach, Credentialed Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Counselor, a wife, and a mother. These roles bring meaning to my life and remind me every day why I do this work. Recovery didn't just help me survive, it gave me the chance to become the person I was always meant to be. My past does not define me, but I carry it with me as a source of strength, empathy, and purpose.

What I Believe Now

• Recovery isn't linear. You can return to use and still be recovering. You never lose the progress you made. 

• You are not your diagnosis. Labels don't define you. Your story does.

• Medication can be recovery, and abstinence is not always required to start recovering. Harm reduction saves lives. 

• There's no one right way. AA, SMART, Dharma, therapy, coaching, religion, exercise — whatever works for you is valid.

You are not alone. There is a whole community of us out here. Find your people.

I tell my story not to glorify the pain, but to spotlight the possibility. If you're struggling, I want you to know that healing is real. Help exists. You are worthy of support, no matter what stage of change you are in, even if you don't believe it yet.

In Closing

Lived experience isn't just a buzzword. It's a revolution.

When we share the truth about what we've been through, we create space for others to do the same. We challenge systems. We build bridges. We save lives.

If you've survived SUD, your story matters. If you're still in it, you're dealing with life's issues. And if you're in recovery, your voice might be the lifeline someone else is waiting for.

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Katherine Reynolds lives in Mahopac, New York. To reach Katherine, her work number is 845-581-0071. You can visit her website at www.Way-Finder-Recovery.com.

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