Grief and Addiction (Part 2)

In Part 2 of Grief and Addiction, the conversation deepens—and so does the truth.

Yvette shares the moment her grief was fundamentally reshaped: learning that addiction played a direct role in her son Dasan’s death. With compassion and courage, she reflects on the question that changed everything—What would life have looked like if addiction had continued?—and how that reckoning opened a path toward forgiveness, faith, and self-compassion.

Joined again by licensed professional counselor and addiction specialist Jill Mackey, Dionne and Yvette explore the emotional complexity of addiction-related loss: guilt and relief existing side by side, survivor’s guilt, generational trauma, and the quiet exhaustion of waiting for “that call.” They unpack why grief can increase vulnerability to addiction, how numbing behaviors show up in everyday life, and what it means to truly let go of the “why.”

This episode is about learning to hold love and loss in the same body.

About releasing blame without erasing truth.

About forgiving yourself so you don’t lose what you still have to what you’ve already lost.

As always, this is a space for honesty, breath, and remembrance. Take your time with this one. You may want to listen more than once.

Aché.

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