On this episode of Success is Subjective, Joanna brings you another story from our special former participant series where she extends the opportunity for former participants to share their journey with others.

Growing up in a small Arizona town, Alex Carey “had good grades and a ton of friends,” but by her mid-teens the party culture and a move to the Phoenix Valley accelerated risky choices that culminated in an adolescent placement at a residential treatment program—an experience she describes as shame-based and traumatizing, leaving her more wounded than helped. After returning home, Alex spiraled: a DUI at 17, mounting alcohol use, surgeries that introduced her to opioids, and several “summer vacation” trips to adult treatment that didn’t stick because she was still performing rather than telling the truth. Everything changed in 2017—after a relapse, an overdose, and waking up from life support—when Alex walked into treatment committed to radical honesty about her pain and needs. That honesty became the turning point: she embraced recovery, rebuilt from nothing, and later sought deeper healing through intensive trauma work, including EMDR. Today, approaching eight years sober at the time of recording, Alex is a married mom to a two-year-old, a photographer at heart, and a treatment professional connecting people to trauma-informed care at Pinnacle Peak Recovery. In this conversation, she contrasts coercive adolescent models with adult treatment that respects autonomy, shares grounded advice for parents and inspires hope in young adults who fear treatment will always look like it did when they were kids. Alex’s story is a testament to what becomes possible when recovery is honest, individualized, and trauma-informed.

NOTE: The podcasts in this series can include sensitive subjects such as suicide, self-harm, substance abuse, hospitalizations, psychotic episodes, and other traumatic experiences which include parts of the treatment journey. No topic is off limits and not all stories are positive but they are real, raw, and transparent.
*Listener discretion is advised*

Alex’s Resources:
Pinnacle Peak Recovery 

Instagram: @pinnacle.peak.recovery 

Facebook: Pinnacle Peak Recovery

TikTok: Pinnacle Peak Recovery

Connect with Joanna Lilley  

Therapeutic Consulting Association

Lilley Consulting Website

Lilley Consulting on Facebook 

Lilley Consulting on YouTube
Email joanna@lilleyconsulting.com

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