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Rising Above Hell - We want to Hear from YOU!
Two words can be the difference between giving up and making it to tomorrow: please stay. That message sits at the heart of a raw, compassionate conversation with Sherry Anderson, a mom and grandma from Saskatchewan who’s turning a lifetime of trauma, addiction, and grief into a mission to advocate for mental health and recovery.
We talk about what it’s like to grow up in chaos, to learn people-pleasing and masking as survival skills, and to carry anger that turns inward when nobody feels safe enough to trust. Sherry shares how early exposure to drugs and alcohol shaped her family, how she started using as a teenager to cope with what waited at home, and why sobriety isn’t just about quitting. We dig into the harder part: healing the wounds that made the bottle or the drug feel like the only relief.
Sherry also tells the story of her brother Alan, his cycles of sobriety and relapse, and the devastating day she found out he was gone. We sit with the “what if” spiral, the guilt that can crush you, and the reality that boundaries can be both necessary and heartbreaking. Along the way, we talk about grief counseling, medication, trauma recovery, and why being believed matters, especially for survivors of childhood sexual abuse.
You’ll leave with hope that feels earned, not forced, plus a reminder that recovery is not linear and you don’t have to do it alone. If this story hits close to home, share it with someone who needs it, subscribe for more honest conversations, and leave a review so more people can find a reason to stay.
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Rising Above Hell - We want to Hear from YOU!
When addiction takes someone you love, the grief comes with questions no one can answer, and a silence no one should have to carry alone
Join me LIVE for Episode 8 of Rising Above Hell as I sit down with Sherry Anderson, a mom, grandma and mental health and addiction advocate from Saskatchewan.
Sherry lost her brother to addiction. One week later, her granddaughter was born, and in the space between those two moments, something in her woke up.
This summer, I lost my daughter Racheal to addiction. So this isn't just an interview. It's two people sitting together in the same kind of grief, and making room for anyone who has lost someone too.
Together we'll talk about:
If you've lost someone to addiction, come sit with us. Bring their name. We'll hold it together.
Please note: this conversation includes discussion of grief, addiction, trauma and loss. Please watch in a way that feels safe for you.
#RisingAboveHell #GriefAndAddiction #AddictionRecovery #MentalHealthMatters #YouAreNotAlone #PleaseStay #RachealsLight #PassTheLight
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Rising Above Hell - We want to Hear from YOU!
Here we talk with Tony Rabachuk on EGO and ADDICTION talking about childhood sexual trauma and what it took for him to continue to keep RISING ABOVE HELL.
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Rising Above Hell - We want to Hear from YOU!
Featuring special guest Victoria Cuore in this incredible podcast talking about what domestic violence cost her and the multitude of surgeries she had to endure and the strength it took for her to keep RISING ABOVE HELL
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Rising Above Hell - We want to Hear from YOU!
July 7, 2026 I buried my daughter to the same monster that almost took me. I am not standing down and I am coming after that monster now - gloves off!!
Your audience doesn't need another motivational speech, although they are nice. They need proof that transformation is possible — not in theory, but in real, messy, imperfect, beautiful life.
I am that proof.
I show up to every interview the same way I show up to life — raw, real, direct, and completely unafraid of the hard conversations. I will not give your audience safe answers. I will give them the truth. And the truth, told honestly, changes lives.
Nobody's coming to save you. But you can save yourself.
I'll show you how.
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Rising Above Hell - We want to Hear from YOU!
With special guest Mesha Paul episode 2 had a few technical difficulties but Mesha was finally able to join us. Talking about addiction, domestic violence and how everything plays a part in our destruction.
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From the publisher's feed
Rising Above Hell — In Your Darkest Moments Is When You Will Find The Light
Rising Above Hell is a raw, real conversation about addiction, loss, and finding your way back to the light.…
Each episode dives into the realities of addiction and recovery, childhood trauma, grief, and the long road of rebuilding — sharing Jessie's own story alongside conversations with others who have survived addiction, loss, and trauma. This isn't polished or filtered. It's the space where saying the hard things out loud becomes the turning point.
If you're in the middle of it right now, still trying to survive one more day, this show is for you too. You're not alone in this.
Find more from Jessie, including Racheal's Light — a program created in memory of her daughter Racheal — at jessie-williams.com.
New episodes released bi-weekly.