Episode Details

What happens when the person you love is struggling with addiction, and the life you thought you understood changes forever?

Katie Rizzo joins Travis White to share the story of her son Nicholas, his battle with addiction, and the traumatic grief that followed his accidental overdose. This conversation is honest, tender, and deeply human. It is about the way addiction affects an entire family, the shame so many families carry in silence, and the difficult work of learning how to live with grief instead of trying to escape it.

In this episode of Overcome with Travis White, Katie talks about Nicholas beyond his addiction: his love for soccer, his close friendships, his anxiety, his humor, his love for his brothers, and the beautiful life that grief could never erase. She also shares what Al-Anon taught her, why addiction is not solved by willpower alone, and why families need community, grace, and support when they are trying to keep someone they love alive.

Katie also opens up about losing Nicholas, the support groups, therapy, EMDR, journaling, exercise, and community that helped her and her husband survive the earliest waves of grief, and the framework behind her book The Trimesters of Grief. She describes grief as something that changed her body, her identity, and her way of seeing the world, while also teaching her how to be brave, present, and connected to Nicholas in a new way.

If you have lost someone to addiction, love someone who is struggling, or are carrying grief that other people do not understand, this episode is a reminder that you are not alone, your love still matters, and healing does not mean getting over the person you lost.

What We Discussed

• Katie Rizzo's life before addiction changed her family
• How Nicholas became addicted to prescription painkillers after sports injuries
• The anxiety, injuries, college transition, and pain that shaped Nicholas's story
• Why addiction affects the entire family, not just the person using
• What Al-Anon taught Katie about the three Cs: you did not cause it, you cannot cure it, and you cannot control it
• The shame and isolation families often feel around substance abuse
• Why people struggling with addiction are not defined by their addiction
• The limits of willpower, tough love, rehab, and one-size-fits-all advice
• How Katie and her husband tried to keep Nicholas alive while navigating impossible choices
• The day Katie lost Nicholas to an accidental overdose
• Why grieving parents may need to talk about the hardest parts of their loss
• How support groups, therapy, EMDR, journaling, exercise, and community helped Katie survive traumatic grief
• The idea behind Katie's memoir, The Trimesters of Grief
• How grief can mirror pregnancy, change over time, and become something you learn to carry differently
• The stigma around addiction and what it means to say, "my son is an addict and I love him"
• Favorite memories of Nicholas, including soccer, his humor, his recklessness, and his love for his brothers
• What Nicholas continues to teach Katie about bravery, presence, music, love, and being a loving witness
• What Katie wishes people understood about talking to grieving parents

Chapter Markers

• 00:00 - Intro: addiction, grief, and Katie Rizzo's story
• 00:44 - Katie's family, Nicholas's injuries, addiction, and journaling through grief
• 06:55 - Remembering Nicholas beyond addiction
• 10:17 - What people misunderstand about substance abuse
• 16:14 - Advice for families loving someone with addiction
• 22:50 - The day Katie lost Nicholas
• 28:56 - Support groups, therapy, EMDR, exercise, and community
• 34:01 - The Trimesters of Grief and lea