265 Odyssey House Journals - Lani & Kelly265 Odyssey House Journals - Lani & Kelly
Odyssey House Journals
Kelly shares her journey through meth addiction, grief, jail, homelessness and bipolar disorder, and how treatment, housing and therapy with Lani support her sobriety. The conversation highlights women’s unique risks on the streets, the power of structure and the importance of positive people, places and things in long‑term recovery.
29:58•9 Oct 2026
Kelly & Lani on Sobriety, Severe Mental Illness and Finding Safety
Episode Overview
- Structure in treatment, housing and daily routines helps many people stay sober and stable with serious mental illness.
- Substance use often starts as an attempted escape from underlying pain but eventually worsens problems instead of solving them.
- Women on the streets face specific risks and practical challenges that make trauma‑informed, gender‑aware care essential.
- Positive people, places and things – such as supportive housing, sober friends and therapy – are as important as avoiding triggers.
- Serious mental health conditions and addiction are long‑term issues that require ongoing support, medication management and honest planning around relapse risk.
“In that moment when you're using drugs, you believe that you're escaping something that you can't deal with. But no matter what, you'll have to face it sooner or later.”
Get ready to be moved by real‑life accounts of recovery as Odyssey House Journals brings together Kelly, a woman in sobriety, and her therapist, Lani Gailey, for a 30‑minute conversation that’s equal parts tough, tender and funny. This is aimed at anyone juggling addiction, serious mental illness, grief or trauma – and the people who support them. Hosted by TV news veteran Randall Carlisle, the chat has a relaxed, honest feel.
Kelly talks about losing her son, an abusive relationship, a suicide attempt, jail, homelessness and meth addiction, and how residential treatment at Odyssey’s women’s mental health programme gave her the structure and kindness she’d been missing. As she puts it, drugs once felt like an escape: “In that moment when you're using drugs, you believe that you're escaping something that you can't deal with.
But no matter what, you'll have to face it sooner or later.” You’ll hear how permanent supportive housing, daily medication support and sober living have helped her stay stable, and why she still relies heavily on routine and positive “people, places and things” to protect her sobriety. Kelly is very open that she’s “still not strong” around triggers and needs to avoid old circles to stay clean.
Lani, meanwhile, talks about joining the ACT team and having Kelly as her very first client, sharing how women with serious mental illness on the streets face specific risks that many systems and assessments ignore. She explains trauma‑informed care, seasonal patterns in mood disorders, and the dangers of mixing prescribed meds with illicit substances. The tone is raw but hopeful, with plenty of warmth and humour as Kelly and Lani’s “love fest” unfolds.
If you’re dealing with co‑occurring conditions, or supporting someone who is, this conversation might leave you asking: what structures and people could make your own recovery feel this safe and possible?
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