Addiction and getting clean

22 stories.

Kintsugi Heroes

The Light Bulb Moment: From 17 Years Inside to Rebuilding a Life of Purpose

Holly Deane-Johns spent 17 years in prison for addiction, then chose to spend her freedom helping others leave.

Grit Diaries

The grace between the cracks

A woman learns that loving someone deeply means knowing when to stop trying to save them.

Kintsugi Heroes

Overcoming Drug Dependence by Escaping to Australia with Luiz Ferreira

After seventeen years of hidden cocaine addiction driven by a secret he could not tell his family, Luiz Ferreira discovered that moving to Australia and finally accepting himself as a gay man was the only treatment that worked.

Kintsugi Heroes

The Pain of Losing a Child and the Slow Climb Back with Barb Higgins

After losing her thirteen-year-old daughter to a misdiagnosed brain tumour, surviving her own brain tumours, and fighting through grief-fuelled substance use, Barb Higgins found an improbable path back to life — guided by dreams, synchronicities, and the birth of her son Jack at age fifty-seven.

Kintsugi Heroes

From Hiding to Helping: Matthew Tulle's Path Through Addiction to Peer Work

Matthew Tulle traded hiding his identity for drugs, then discovered his lived experience of addiction and recovery was his greatest professional asset.

Kintsugi Heroes

Reflecting on Drug Addiction, Prison and Rehabilitation with Dean Lloyd

A suburban teenager's curiosity about heroin spiralled into armed robbery, incarceration, and a twelve-year addiction — and then became the unlikely foundation for a fellowship-winning mission to close a prison.

Kintsugi Heroes

From lawyer hiding her truth to teaching others vulnerability

Melissa spent 23 years sober while living a double life until her husband asked: 'I don't even know who you are.' Integration became her cure.

Kintsugi Heroes

Transformation after Generational Trauma, Abuse and Addiction is possible with Alex Brandt

Alex rebuilt from thirty years of addiction and parental betrayal by studying her parents' war trauma and learning to reparent herself.

Kintsugi Heroes

BONUS: Preview of "Humans of HOPE: Inspiring Stories with Kerrie Atherton"

Dave spent 44 years calling his abuse privilege, then rebuilt his life by admitting the truth and using it to help traumatized kids.

Kintsugi Heroes

From Gambling Addiction to Finding Purpose in Helping Others with Shay Hare

Shay Hare spent fifteen years masking childhood trauma through gambling — and now channels that same obsessive energy into helping others find freedom from shame and addiction.

Kintsugi Heroes

Rising Above a Traumatic Childhood and Changing Lives with Danny Lloyd

A grossly overweight, bullied boy from a tiny Channel Island who became a crystal meth addict found his purpose on the summit of Kilimanjaro — and went on to build a nationally recognised addiction program for some of Australia's most marginalised people.

Kintsugi Heroes

Teaching & Mental Health Advocacy after Trauma, Addiction and Loss with Chris Edwards

A father who lost his son to suicide and nearly lost himself to addiction has turned a lifetime of pain into a grassroots movement giving men permission to not be okay.

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