Kristianna

Guide Team Lead
Nashville, TN

Kristianna is celebrating 16 years of recovery in 2022. Along with substance abuse, she has lived with co-occuring mental health and chronic pain issues. Kristianna has struggled with receiving proper health and mental health care, at times without insurance, and has seen how navigating these already difficult systems is exacerbated by being uninsured. 

While trying to receive mental healthcare, Kristianna found herself in unhelpful and retraumatizing situations. She happened upon a phone number, not knowing where to go for the right kind of help, and an intake specialist was able to connect her to a therapist, which finally put her on a healing path. Kristianna is most proud of her recovery and survival, and her courage to submit and ask for help when she needed it most. 

Before firsthand, Kristianna worked as a peer support specialist in a drug and alcohol recovery program. She found out about firsthand through a friend, and though she did not fully understand the role at the time, she felt compelled to pursue  it. She is one month into the job and learning more about it each day- it is complex! 

One of her favorite parts about her job so far is the ability to bring her whole self to her role, and that her experiences are valued and validated. Her moments of navigating the darkest parts of her life empower her and equip her to help others navigate toward the light.