Rise Above with Kevin Lanning

This episode is sponsored by Compassion Behavioral Health.

Compassion Behavioral Health is a boutique mental health treatment center that focuses on the deeper issues driving addiction, anxiety, depression, and unresolved trauma. Their intentionally small program allows for highly individualized care rather than a one-size-fits-all approach.

They offer a full continuum of care including detox, residential treatment, outpatient programs, and virtual support. Alongside evidence-based therapy, they also provide innovative treatments like TMS, EMDR, and neurofeedback when clinically appropriate.

If you or someone you love is struggling with mental health or addiction, Compassion Behavioral Health is available 24/7.

Call or text 844-443-2274
Visit compassionbehavioralhealth.com

Jessica Tanir shares her journey from the nightlife and bartending culture of New York City to finding sobriety and clarity in Florida. What started as casual drinking slowly turned into blackouts, toxic relationships, and nights she couldn’t remember—including the moment she woke up covered in sand after passing out on the beach.

In this episode of Rise Above with Kevin Lanning, Jessica opens up about the hidden side of alcohol misuse, the hospitality industry’s drinking culture, and how spiritual healing, retreats, and deep self-reflection helped her walk away from alcohol for good.

Now over two years sober, Jessica helps others explore sobriety through mocktails, wellness practices, and mindful living.

Her story is a powerful reminder that alcoholism doesn’t always look the way people expect—and that real transformation is possible.

#sobriety #addictionrecovery #riseabovepodcast #alcoholism #recoveryjourney #mentalhealth #soberlife #selfhealing #mocktails #podcast

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you or someone you love is struggling with addiction or mental health, Compassion Behavioral Health offers personalized treatment and a full continuum of care, including detox, residential, and outpatient services. Their team is available 24/7 and works with most major insurance providers. Call or text 844-443-5566 or visit compassionbehavioralhealth.com.

Kristine Bowers lived through things most people could never imagine.

As a teenager, she was pulled into escorting through her mother’s boyfriend, entering a dark world of exploitation, drugs, and survival. What started with partying and pills eventually spiraled into heroin addiction.

At one point, Kristine was using heroin while pregnant.

Her life became a cycle of trafficking, abusive relationships, overdoses, and near-death experiences. She even survived a terrifying medical crisis where her organs began shutting down.

But Kristine’s story didn’t end there.

After hitting rock bottom and nearly losing everything, she entered treatment and began rebuilding her life through sobriety, faith, and helping others struggling with addiction.

Today she works in recovery and speaks openly about trauma, addiction, shame, and redemption.

This is a powerful story of survival, accountability, and transformation.

#AddictionRecovery #HeroinAddiction #HumanTrafficking #SobrietyJourney #RiseAbove

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ava Fox opens up about the dark reality behind the modeling industry and the pressure to drink, party, and use drugs just to survive in the entertainment world.

In this episode of Rise Above with Kevin Lanning, Ava shares how she grew up largely on her own, started drinking at just 12 years old, and fell into a lifestyle surrounded by drugs, older crowds, and a reckless party culture. As she entered the modeling industry, she saw firsthand how alcohol, cocaine, and networking culture were deeply embedded in the business.

After years of chaos, health scares, and watching others lose themselves to addiction, Ava made a life-changing decision to walk away from it all. She quit drinking, changed her entire lifestyle, strengthened her faith, and has now been sober for 11 years.

This is a powerful conversation about independence, addiction, boundaries, healing, and what it takes to choose a different path when the entire industry pushes you in the opposite direction.

#sobriety #addictionrecovery #modelingindustry #recoveryjourney #riseabovepodcast

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nicky Santora grew up in Staten Island surrounded by addiction, chaos, and loss. When he was just 15 years old, he found his mother dead after an overdose from Percocet and OxyContin.

What followed was years of destruction.

He started with weed and cocaine as a kid… then moved to Roxy blues, Xanax, and eventually heroin. Within months he was shooting heroin, robbing houses, stealing air conditioners out of windows, and overdosing.

At his lowest point, Nicky was homeless, facing multiple arrests, and eventually landed inside Rikers Island, where violence and drugs were everywhere.

But somehow, he made it out.

Today Nicky is over 10 years sober, a father of three, and a rising comedian who uses his brutally honest story to help others battling addiction.

This is a raw conversation about addiction, recovery, prison, and rebuilding a life when everyone thinks you're finished.

If you or someone you love is struggling with addiction, stories like this prove that recovery is possible.

#addictionrecovery #heroinaddiction #soberstory #recoveryjourney #rikersisland #opioidcrisis #recoverypodcast #riseabove

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kira looked like the “good kid.”
3.8 GPA. Band. Job. Involved in everything.

Behind the scenes, she was self-harming at 12, drinking at 12, snorting ketamine in the school bathroom, selling alcohol through her locker, and attempting suicide multiple times.

At 18, she shaved her head, stopped showering, lived with strangers, and drove 12 hours to Georgia to move in with a man she met online… before barely escaping.

Her true rock bottom?
A little kid knocking on a drug dealer’s bedroom door asking for his dad.

That moment changed everything.

Today, Kira is 6+ years clean and sober, graduated from Michigan State, worked in Child Protective Services, and is now pursuing her Master’s in Social Work.

This episode is about addiction that doesn’t look “broken,” mental health, grooming, suicide attempts, recovery at 18, and how contentment—not happiness—is the real goal.

If you’re struggling, there is hope. Stay.

#AddictionRecovery #MentalHealthAwareness #SobrietyJourney #SuicidePrevention #YoungPeopleInRecovery #KetamineAbuse #RecoveryStory #AARecovery

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices