Inspire By Example

18/07/2025

Season 2 of Surviving Addiction is now live!

This week’s episode features Max—a small-town youth whose search for belonging led him through substance use, isolation, and a near-fatal crisis. Through candid reflection, Max reveals how addiction masked deeper struggles with identity and self-worth. Everything changed with one unexpected act of compassion.

His story is one of rebuilding, resilience, and the pursuit of purpose. For anyone navigating their own path—or supporting someone who is—Max’s story offers hope, honesty, and perspective.

Surviving Addiction is an interview series that highlights the real people impacted by addiction through the many lenses it touches: the healthcare professional, the community leader, the family member, and the individual who has lived with a substance use disorder.

Special thank you to the CAMH Foundation, Canadian Centre on Substance Use, Durham College, The Social Impact Hub at Durham College, Lakeridge Health, Unsinkable, The Mattew Perry House and the Canadian Society of Addiction Medicine for all of their support in making this season possible!

Surviving Addiction: Season 2 | Episode 1 | The Resilient Youth | Max Valvasori This week’s episode features Max, a small-town youth whose search for belongi...

17/07/2025

New episode drops this Friday July 18th at noon!

Max’s story is a powerful reflection on identity, belonging, and recovery. What began as
a search for connection became a near-fatal struggle with addiction—until one moment
of compassion changed the course of everything.

Watch Max’s episode “The Resilient Youth” this Friday, July 18 at 12PM EST

Surviving Addiction Show: YouTube.com/

Special thank you to the Foundation , Canadian Society Of Addiction Medicine, Canadian Centre on Substance Use, Durham College, The Social Impact Hub at Durham College, Mitacs, Inspire By Example, Unsinkable and the Matthew Perry House for helping make the second season of series into a reality.

15/07/2025

The official trailer for Surviving Addiction: Season 2 is here!

Real stories. Lived experience. Hope and healing.

This season dives deeper than ever into the human side of addiction and the supports available to help those in need.Help us amplify these powerful voices. You are not alone.

Watch, share and subscribe to catch the first episode of season 2 which drops next Friday July 18th @ 12pm EST: YouTube.com/

Subscribe. Share. Start the conversation.

Follow us on IG:

Special thank you to everyone who helped support in sharing these stories:

CAMH Foundation, CAMH, Mitacs, Durham College, The Social Impact Hub at Durham College, Inspire By Example, Canadian Society Of Addiction Medicine, Canadian Centre on Substance Use, Lakeridge Health, Unsinkable and the Matthew Perry House

06/04/2025

After years of working a way at it and taking a long break while trying to figure out where exactly I wanted to go with the story and what lessons to share that have been the most impactful to me throughout my journey, I can finally say I have finished the first draft of my book.

Writing a book is, without question, one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. It took a lot of time and discipline, which makes this one of those rare times I can lay back and enjoy the sense of accomplishment. Although I still have a long way to go, the hardest part of the work is done 🙂

Chris

21/10/2024

A special thank you to Harvard University for inviting me to be interviewed as part of a new course they are developing on leadership, which will be delivered in 2025. Im honoured and flattered by the invitation.

09/09/2024

Honoured to be one of the faces of the CAMH Foundation ‘No One Left Behind’ campaign!

Learn more: https://www.camh.ca/en/no-one-left-behind

29/08/2024

Super excited to be presenting a global webinar on healthy and effective advocacy which will be moderated by the former Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy under President Obama and Chair of the Global Recovery Network Michael Botticelli on September 12th @ 9am

Registration link in comments👇

07/08/2024

Honoured and flattered to be nominated for the 2024 Premier’s Award for contributions to the Health Sciences field in the province.

Full disclosure, I did graduate from school, just not for any of the work I currently do. However, I was informed that if one’s contributions are significant enough, they could be nominated.

Even if I don’t receive it, I am perfectly content with the honour of being nominated by my former school for this award. It means a lot.

Excited for the future!

02/08/2024

Got to do some fun work on some cool stuff with some awesome people this week!

Super excited for what’s to come with the CAMH Foundation, stay tuned!

17/06/2024

It was one of the greatest honours of my life to be invited to be the Convocation Speaker for Faculty of Health Sciences and Faculty of Media, Arts and Design graduation at Durham College

I was a student there when my dad passed away and I fell to my lowest over the next several years. To go from that low point to being invited to pass along the lessons that have led to places beyond what I ever thought was possible to new graduates gave me the feeling that I had come full circle and graduated in my life.

It was a very surreal experience that will always be up there as one of my proudest achievements.

A very special congratulations to Simran Deb and Clayton DeMaine on receiving their hard earned diplomas. Simran and Clayton were two of the people behind the scenes who were instrumental in the making of Surviving Addiction. It was an honour to shake their hands as they crossed the stage to receive their diplomas.

My biggest congratulations to all of the students on grinding it out and reaching the remarkable achievement that was earned today!

18/05/2024

Trauma To Triumph | Morgan Zack | Episode 9

I would like to give Morgan Zack my deepest thank you for sitting down with me and sharing her personal journey. Sharing your personal journey and some of the darkest experiences for the world to see is not easy. However, those who choose to do so come from a place where what they have went through had such a profound impact on their life and they want others to learn from their experiences. I wanted to open the series with lived experience and end the season with lived experience. In the season finale, Morgan shares her journey through addiction and how she turned her trauma into triumph.

WARNING - This video series discusses mental health, addiction, substance use and su***de among other challenging topics. Some viewers may find the content e...

16/05/2024

10 years ago today, I began a journey across Canada that would change my life forever. I didn’t know what or if anything would come from it, but going all in on something I truly believed in was the best decision I’ve made in my life and I wouldn’t trade it for the world.