Rise Above with Kevin Lanning

Elisa Nicole Saunders was a Palm Beach County schoolteacher, standing in front of classrooms every day — and quietly drinking and drugging her way through 30 years of addiction. Two DUIs. A five-car pile-up. Crashing drunk into a tow truck while two people had to run for their lives. Sitting in a jail cell staring at her wrist, wondering how it got this bad.

She never wanted to get sober. A judge gave her the nudge.

Now, coming up on 15 years of sobriety, Elisa has rebuilt her life from the ground up — from losing her teaching certificate, to borrowing gas money to attend an addiction conference, to becoming a respected professional in the drug and alcohol rehabilitation industry in Los Angeles.

In this honest and deeply moving episode of Rise Above, Elisa shares:

Teaching school hungover and in active alcoholism for over a decade

Two DUIs — including a drunk driving crash that nearly killed two people

What it really means to be "dry" versus truly sober — and why she was more miserable without drinking than with it

Relapsing after treatment and spending years "white-knuckling" without a program

Why financial amends took her 14 years to complete — and why she finally did it

Losing both parents in sobriety and navigating grief without picking up

How a deep spiritual connection became the foundation everything else was built on

Going from Hurricane Liza — the woman who wrecked every room she walked into — to a woman who gives back without expecting anything in return

This one is for anyone who thinks they're functioning just fine — and for anyone who's been sober a while but still feels like something's missing.

🔔 Subscribe for new episodes every week 📲 Follow Elisa: @elisansaunders (Instagram & Facebook) | linkedin.com/in/elisansaunders

If you or someone you love is struggling with addiction or mental health, you don’t have to do it alone. Reach out to my partners at Compassion Behavioral Health. They offer individualized care and a full continuum of treatment.
Call or Text: 844-443-5669
Visit: https://compassionbehavioralhealth.com/?utm_source=rise%20above%20with%20kevin%20lanning&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=may

#RiseAbove #FunctioningAlcoholic #AlcoholRecovery #SoberLife #15YearsSober #DUIStory #TeacherInRecovery#AddictionRecovery #RecoveryIsPossible #SpiritualAwakening #WomenInRecovery #SobrietyJourney#MentalHealth #GriefAndRecovery #TwelveStepper #RiseAbovePodcast #KevinLanning #ElisaSaunders#DrinkingAndDriving #OneMoreDay
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Jordan Freeman had everything going for him — loving parents, a spot at one of the top business schools in the country, varsity baseball, and a bright future. But behind closed doors, he was ordering Xanax off the dark web, gambling with money he didn't have, blacking out and not remembering a single thing from the night before — and calling it normal.

By his sophomore year at Indiana University, Jordan was locked in his apartment alone, blinds down, friends knocking on the door, completely lost. He didn't want to die. He just couldn't see any hope left.

Now, coming up on 5 years clean from drugs and gambling and nearly 3 years alcohol-free, Jordan is finishing his Masters in Social Work at NYU and helping others find the path he fought so hard to find himself.

In this raw and honest episode of Rise Above, Jordan shares:

Ordering fentanyl-laced Xanax off the dark web in high school and college

How gambling consumed every dollar, every thought, and every relationship

The day he sat his parents down and finally said "I can't stop — I need help"

Three months in treatment in Orange County and what actually changed

Why he relapsed on alcohol nine months in — and how he came back stronger

What it really looks like to get sober in your early twenties

How he's now guiding families and individuals through the recovery process

If you're a young person who thinks addiction could never happen to you — this episode is for you.

🔔 Subscribe for new episodes every week 📲 Follow Jordan Freeman: @blueprintbyjordan (TikTok & Instagram)

If you or someone you love is struggling with addiction or mental health, you don’t have to do it alone. Reach out to my partners at Compassion Behavioral Health. They offer individualized care and a full continuum of treatment.
Call or Text: 844-443-5669
Visit: https://compassionbehavioralhealth.com/?utm_source=rise%20above%20with%20kevin%20lanning&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=may

#RiseAbove #CollegeAddiction #GamblingAddiction #SoberLife #XanaxAddiction #DarkWeb #RecoveryIsPossible#GenZSober #AddictionRecovery #YoungAndSober #GamblersAnonymous #SobrietyJourney #MentalHealth#RecoveryCoach #SocialWork #RiseAbovePodcast #KevinLanning #JordanFreeman #FentanylAwareness#OneMoreDay
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I went inside Compassion Behavioral Health (CBH) headquarters in Fort Lauderdale, Florida to experience neurofeedback firsthand — and I vlogged the whole thing.

In this episode, I go through my first two sessions:
🧠 Session 1 — Brain Mapping: Reading my actual brainwave patterns, identifying high-stress areas, mood fluctuations, and self-regulation challenges.
⚡ Session 2 — Brain Training: Wearing sensors while my brain learns to regulate itself in real time — watching a screen dim and brighten based on my own brainwave activity.

We talk about how neurofeedback is being used to address:
✔️ PTSD & Trauma
✔️ Anxiety & Depression
✔️ ADHD
✔️ Addiction (drugs, alcohol, gambling, sex addiction)
✔️ Emotional dysregulation & mood swings

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🏥 ABOUT COMPASSION BEHAVIORAL HEALTH
Compassion Behavioral Health (CBH) is a leading treatment center based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, dedicated to helping people heal from addiction, mental health challenges, and co-occurring disorders. CBH offers a full spectrum of evidence-based and innovative therapies — including neurofeedback — tailored to each person's unique brain mapping results.

Their team doesn't believe in a one-size-fits-all approach. Every client's brain is mapped individually so that training targets *their* specific areas of dysregulation. I saw firsthand how genuinely passionate the CBH team is about seeing people recover and re-enter the world with more confidence.

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📞 If you or someone you love is struggling, reach out to Compassion Behavioral Health:
📱 Call or Text: 844-443-5669
🌐 Visit: https://compassionbehavioralhealth.com/?utm_source=rise%20above%20with%20kevin%20lanning&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=may

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This is not a quick fix — it's a process. And that's exactly why I'm documenting mine.

Drop a comment below if you've ever tried neurofeedback or if you have questions. Let's rise above, together. 🙏

#RiseAbove #KevinLanning #Neurofeedback
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Kevin Parker had everything stripped from him — his health, his freedom, his leg, and nearly his life. After a night that started with a family intervention and ended with him face-down in his own vomit, Kevin flatlined three times, spent three weeks in a coma, developed sepsis, gangrene in all four limbs, multi-organ failure, and woke up an amputee.

The doctors said he'd be brain dead. They said he'd never walk. They said he'd never use his hand again.

He proved every single one of them wrong.

In this raw and powerful episode of Rise Above, Kevin shares:

The morning of his overdose and what led up to it

Waking from a coma to find out he'd lost his left leg

How he went from atheist to finding God in that hospital bed

Learning to walk again in 2 months (doctors said 2 years)

How he regained nerve-damaged hand function through sheer will

His journey from concrete laborer and drug dealer to certified recovery coach and motivational speaker

Why he believes addiction is a spiritual search — not a moral failure

If you're in your first 90 days, deep in it, or loving someone who is — this episode is for you.

🔔 Subscribe for new episodes every week 📲 Follow Kevin Parker: @thekevinjparker (Instagram) | Recovery Warrior 33 (TikTok) 📩 Email: [email protected]

If you or someone you love is struggling with addiction or mental health, you don’t have to do it alone. Reach out to my partners at Compassion Behavioral Health. They offer individualized care and a full continuum of treatment.
Call or Text: 844-443-5669
Visit: https: https://compassionbehavioralhealth.com/?utm_source=rise%20above%20with%20kevin%20lanning&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=may

#RiseAbove #AddictionRecovery #SoberLife #RecoveryCoach #OverdoseSurvivor #14YearsSober #Amputee#SecondChance #SobrietyStory #HeroinRecovery #OpioidCrisis #TrueWarrior #RecoveryIsPossible#MentalHealth #SpiritualAwakening #PodcastInterview #RiseAbovePodcast #KevinLanning #KevinParker#OneMoreDay

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In this powerful episode, I sit down with Rachel Pappert Docekal, a recovery advocate and executive at the Hanley Center in West Palm Beach. Rachel opens up about her own 30-year recovery journey — starting with an eating disorder in college, the friends who loved her enough to intervene, and the layers of childhood trauma she's worked through over decades of therapy, including EMDR.

We also get into:

Why addiction is a brain disease — and why removing the substance alone isn't enough

How process addictions (gambling, food, phones) hijack the same dopamine system as drugs

The danger of high-THC cannabis and marijuana-induced psychosis

Medication-assisted treatment (MAT) — what it is, when it helps, and how to think about it

Hanley's groundbreaking 5-day family program and why family support is the #1 relapse prevention tool

Kratom, 7-OH, and the next addiction crisis coming for our kids

What life in long-term recovery actually looks like

Whether you're in recovery, supporting a loved one, or just curious — this one is not to be missed.

If you or someone you love is struggling with addiction or mental health, you don’t have to do it alone. Reach out to my partners at Compassion Behavioral Health. They offer individualized care and a full continuum of treatment.
Call or Text: 844-443-5669
Visit: https://compassionbehavioralhealth.com/?utm_source=rise%20above%20with%20kevin%20lanning&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=may

#RecoveryPodcast #AddictionRecovery #RiseAbove #EatingDisorderRecovery #TraumaHealing #EMDR#HanleyCenter #MentalHealth #SubstanceUseDisorder #SoberLife #SoberCurious #FamilyRecovery#MATtreatment #AddictionAwareness #RecoveryIsPossible
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