In this raw, honest, and deeply courageous episode, we explore addiction, generational trauma, shame, recovery, and what it truly means to reclaim your life without abandoning the complexity of your story.
In this episode of Broken Beautiful Me, Kelly sits down with Jennifer Chase — life coach, addict in recovery, childhood sexual abuse survivor, daughter of an alcoholic, and mother of a recovering addict. Jennifer's work is rooted in lived experience and a profound understanding of how unprocessed pain moves through family systems across generations. She helps individuals, families, and loved ones impacted by addiction move out of survival mode and into grounded self-leadership.
Jennifer's story begins before she ever took a substance. Raised in a home where addiction ran four generations deep on both sides of her family, she watched her parents and grandparents struggle and swore it would never be her. Then, at 29, she was diagnosed with a hemorrhaging brain tumor and given twelve hours to live. The surgery left her with chronic pain — and a prescription for opiates that would change the course of everything.
What followed was fifteen years of addiction, a marriage held together by enabling and silence, and the devastating discovery that she had inadvertently become her own son's drug dealer. It took losing almost everything — and finally speaking her truth out loud in a treatment facility — for Jennifer to understand that substance was never the problem. It was the solution to the problem.
Today, eight and a half years sober, she is one of the most important voices in this conversation.
In this episode, Jennifer shares:
🧬 How addiction ran four generations deep on both sides of her family — and why she thought she'd be the one to break it
💊 The brain tumor diagnosis at 29 that introduced her to opiates and began a fifteen year journey into addiction
😶 Why she carried her childhood sexual abuse in silence for decades — and the moment she finally said it out loud
👦 The heartbreaking discovery that she had inadvertently become her son's drug dealer — and what that night felt like
💃 The waltz and the tango — her powerful metaphor for how families unknowingly contribute to the addiction dynamic
🔗 Why substance is never the problem — it is the solution to the problem
🧱 What boundaries actually are — and why you must only set ones you can hold 100% of the time
👨👩👧 What families and loved ones of addicts need to hear about enabling, shame, and finding their people
🧶 The real work of recovery — untangling the generational knots that made substance feel necessary in the first place
✨ Why shame thrives in silence — and what happens the moment you speak your truth out loud
Jennifer also reflects on the narratives she had to let go of, the long road of rebuilding trust with her family, and why connection — not willpower — is the true cure.
Her message is clear: addiction is not a life sentence. It is a detour that, with intentional redirection, can lead you to your truest self.
A fierce, compassionate, and unflinching conversation about addiction, family systems, generational trauma, and the daily courage it takes to choose recovery.
Follow Jennifer Chase
🌐 Website: www.riseaddictionllc.com
📱 Instagram & Facebook: Rise Addiction Life Coaching
About Your Host
Kelly Buckley is a trauma life coach, speaker, and the heart behind Broken Beautiful Me — a podcast dedicated to stories of hope, gratitude, and resilience.
🌐 https://www.kellybuckley.com