Making Space for Your Own HealingMaking Space for Your Own Healing
Recovery On-Air
Kristen Day talks with Jaclyn Brown about losing her brother to overdose, the guilt and grief that followed, and how advocacy and long‑term therapy shaped her healing. Their conversation touches on harm reduction, EMDR, suicidal ideation and the importance of finally making space for your own needs.
1:02:06•23 Oct 2026
Making Space for Healing After Loss, Trauma and Addiction
Episode Overview
- Grief after overdose is messy and long‑term; it can’t be scheduled or rushed, even if life and social media try to force a timeline.
- Trying to control a loved one’s recovery often fuels guilt; meeting people where they are and understanding harm reduction can shift that dynamic.
- Binge drinking and other substance use may be tied to trauma and abusive relationships, making mental health treatment a crucial part of change.
- Therapies like EMDR, parts work and grief counselling can help unlock long‑buried emotions, but progress is slow and doesn’t follow a neat finish line.
- Community work, such as Narcan distribution and advocacy, can reconnect people to purpose, but it still has to sit alongside personal boundaries and self‑care.
“I had to look at myself and go, I'm the fucking problem. This is me, because I'm the one who keeps fighting the feelings.”
How do people find strength in their journey to sobriety? This conversation between Kristen Day and guest Jaclyn Brown pulls back the curtain on what healing really looks like when loss, addiction, and mental health all collide. Jaclyn talks through the story of her brother Seth, whose painkiller prescription after a car crash spiralled into heroin use and, eventually, a fatal overdose.
She’s brutally honest about the guilt that followed, joking that she once tried to stage an “Intervention”‑style moment after binge‑watching the TV show, then quietly admitting, “I think my biggest regret was not taking the time to meet him where he was.” From there, she explains how his death pushed her into advocacy, starting with his eulogy and leading into her work with Mobilize Recovery and Narcan at Night. You’ll hear plenty about grief being anything but linear.
Jaclyn shares how she literally tried to “schedule” her grief for Saturday mornings, only to learn that pain doesn’t respect calendars. She opens up about her own binge drinking as a coping mechanism, the role therapy played in changing that pattern, and how she now understands harm reduction in hindsight. The episode also digs into EMDR, complex trauma, inner‑child work and those scary moments of suicidal ideation that can show up years into recovery.
Jaclyn and Kristen swap stories about therapy fatigue, boundary guilt, and what it means to finally admit, “I’m the problem,” in order to start healing. If you’re grieving, supporting someone in active addiction, or quietly wondering where your own needs fit in, this conversation offers companionship more than quick fixes. It asks a simple but important question: when was the last time you made real space for your own healing?
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