Kimberly Van Raay is a U.S. Army Veteran and registered nurse with professional experience. Yet, despite having years of experience as a combat medic training and even more in the specialty area of cardiac stress testing, she never felt prepared to help those who struggled with the cunning and baffling disease of addiction.
At age 40, Van Raay fell victim to the disease of addiction, a process she so aptly describes as “bankrupting my soul.” Today, she serves as the lead RN at Soul Surgery and attributes her professional success to the experience and strength she found through her recovery.
Gaining Compassion, Professional Integrity, Resilience, and Strength
Van Raay’s passion for helping people was her inspiration for attending nursing school. Her nursing education at the Jacobs School of Medicine, one of the nation’s most comprehensive academic health centers, and Biomedical Sciences at the University of Buffalo taught her the foundation of becoming a registered nurse emphasizing compassion and professional integrity.
Kimberly Van Raay is the lead registered nurse at Soul Surgery. Kim attributes her professional success to the experience and strength she found through her own recovery
During her time in the Army, Van Raay learned the importance of resilience, strength, and leadership skills as she endured rigorous combat medic training that tested her will. However, these experiences were not enough. Van Raay did not yet learn what it was like to need a nurse or to be a nurse who could impact the lives of her patients on both the physical and spiritual levels. So, when she hit rock bottom in her 40s, she truly learned the value of life and health.
The Education of Addiction
She turned to alcoholism when she was trapped in a loveless marriage and hit rock bottom when she experienced a seizure while withdrawing from alcohol. Van Raay checked into the hospital under an assumed name and was sent home without any meaningful tools or education on how to stay “recovered.”
Her abusive drinking continued until she ended up involved in an extreme DUI accident in Arizona and almost lost her arm. After that accident, Van Raay found the strength she needed to educate herself about the tools required for a recovered life. Finally, after feeling isolated in her struggles with addiction, she was ready to live a clean and sober life.
Van Raay devoted herself to educating herself about everything addiction-related. Her nursing background served her well as she poured through the academic literature. She joined the team at Soul Surgery, an outpatient clinic in Scottsdale to help people who are in the very same position she once found herself in and now she wakes up each day with one mission – to bring education and some degree of understanding to those struggling with the disease of addiction.
Overcoming Addiction and Living a Recovered Life
If telling her story helps just one person, Van Raay believes that all of her struggles and her education path are worth it.
She works with many coworkers at Soul Surgery, also coming from a background of addiction struggles and living a recovered life. The clinic’s mission aligns with Van Raay’s purpose, to provide evidence-based client care and holistic therapies to treat the body, mind, and spirit. She approaches her practice with an integrated approach to care, relying on evidence-based modalities serving clients throughout their rehabilitation process and even after discharge.
While Van Raay’s nursing school education brought her into healthcare, she says it was ultimately her process of recovering from the depths of despair and addiction that taught her all she knows today. Working as a sober life coach and showing others unconditional love, she is a sought-after recovery advocate and speaker. She recently shared her story on the Escaping Rock Bottom podcast by former journalist Brandon Lee.
