Adversity to Strength is a story-led podcast hosted by psychotherapist and brand founder Lee Freeman, featuring raw, no-punches-pulled conversations with guests who share how they got through some of the most difficult times in their lives.
Each episode explores how those experiences affected their lives, their mental health, and the inner strength they found to keep going. Through honest, powerful storytelling, guests open up about what they faced, how it changed them, and what it means to move forward after life gets hard.
A podcast about real people, real resilience, and real strength.
Caron Grossman: Losing Her Mother, Surviving a Heart Attack and Starting Again
In this episode of Adversity to Strength, Caron Grossman shares a deeply personal journey shaped by grief, addiction, recovery and survival.
Caron lost her mother suddenly to a heart attack when she was just 13. Decades later, at the age of 58, she experienced a heart attack of her own, forcing her to confront the reality of women’s heart health and the importance of recognising that symptoms can present very differently from those typically associated with men.
What began as an article about women’s heart health eventually became her memoir, Listen to Your Heart Song: Navigating the Unexpected. But Caron’s story reaches far beyond the heart attack itself.
We explore the lasting impact of losing her mother at a young age, food and alcohol addiction, recovery, resilience, self-advocacy and the importance of learning to trust the signals we often ignore — from the body, the gut and our own inner sense that something is wrong.
Caron also reflects on how adversity reshaped her life, why listening to yourself can be lifesaving, and what it means to rebuild with greater awareness, honesty and purpose.
This is an open and powerful conversation about grief, recovery, women’s health, self-trust and finding strength after life changes unexpectedly.
1 Sept 2026
Colleen Clifford: Alcohol, Grief and the Turning Point That Changed Everything
In this episode of Adversity to Strength, Colleen Clifford shares her deeply personal journey through grief, alcohol misuse, loss and recovery after losing her husband to alcohol-related suicide.
Colleen reflects on her own relationship with binge drinking, the ways grief and trauma affected her behaviour, and the moment she realised that one reckless decision could have changed her life forever. That wake-up call became the beginning of a much deeper process of self-awareness, responsibility and change.
We discuss the difference between alcohol dependence and binge drinking, the hidden risks of unhealthy drinking patterns, the impact of suicide on those left behind, and how loss can force us to re-examine the way we are living.
Colleen also speaks about healing, personal responsibility, resilience, hope and why sharing painful experiences honestly can help others recognise patterns in their own lives before it is too late.
This is an open and reflective conversation about grief, recovery, transformation and finding a way forward after profound loss.
27 Aug 2026
Hollyanna Vellichor : Losing Everything and Rebuilding from the Ground Up
In this episode of Adversity to Strength, Hollyanna Fisher shares her extraordinary journey of leaving the high-control religious cult she was born into and rebuilding her life after losing almost everything that had once defined her.
Hollyanna opens up about the psychological impact of growing up within a tightly controlled belief system, the process of questioning authority, and the enormous personal cost of leaving. We explore identity, trauma, gaslighting, parental alienation, self-trust and what happens when the world you were raised to believe in suddenly falls away.
We also discuss Hollyanna’s experiences with chronic pain and complex trauma, and how those experiences led her to explore the relationship between the body, movement, memory and recovery. She explains why she believes the body can communicate what the conscious mind has not yet understood, and how small, patient changes can help rebuild resilience over time.
This is a deeply personal and thought-provoking conversation about freedom, identity, trauma recovery, self-discovery and learning to trust yourself again after years of being told who you were supposed to be.
Inside a recent episode
Ralph Brewer: The Power of Brotherhood in Men's Healing
Published 10 Feb 2026 · Transcript excerpt
[…] Don't think you can just be, I can just tough it out and do it myself. Why not raise your hand and go, anybody been through this? What have you done? And if you got 10 guys racing their hand and go, I'll tell you exactly what I did. Whatever you do, don't waste your time doing this. That's invaluable. But it is, and that for whatever reason just hasn't gotten across to the mainstream, I guess you can say, no, because it's like the mental health, as you know, it's getting better. Guys, mainly guys, but you know, obviously women as well, but guys I find worried that it's weakness asking for help. […]
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