Chasing Heroine: Addiction Recovery and Sobriety

This episode of Chasing Heroin features John Nettles, host of Recovery Refined and a team member at Refine Recovery in LA. Adopted at four days old and raised in St. Louis, John started using young. Weed at 13, blackout drinking by 15, and a benzo prescription at 16 that fueled an addiction lasting well over a decade. He got into the rave and EDM scene, became a DJ, and started a promotion company, all while his drug use kept escalating into cocaine, Xanax, and eventually a move to Chico, CA to grow weed and "start over," which didn't work.
He cycled through multiple treatment stints starting at 24, including two trips to Sierra Tucson, each one followed by a relapse. A DUI, other legal trouble, and a series of increasingly dangerous blackouts (including one at his grandmother's house in Rhode Island) finally pushed him to call a sober coach who leveled with him bluntly: he'd never actually been sober, only abstinent. That call led him to Refine Recovery at 29, where, for the first time, treatment stuck. He talks candidly about getting a sponsor, doing the steps, and rebuilding his life from the ground up, plus how he stumbled into working in treatment and later launching his own podcast.
He also opens up about finding his birth mother through an AncestryDNA test in his mid twenties, and the surprisingly close relationship they've built since, including meeting his half brother and starting a new family Thanksgiving tradition.
Today's episode is brought to you by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Seasons ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠in Malibu. For over 18 years, Seasons has been a sanctuary for individuals seeking to reclaim their lives from addiction and mental health challenges. Our story began with a simple but profound vision: To create a luxurious sanctuary for individuals struggling with addiction or mental health issues, where they can receive the finest, evidence-based treatment in the world.
Built on Compassion, Driven by Excellence
What started as a small number of compassionate professionals has grown into one of the nation’s most respected luxury treatment centers. But growth has never meant losing sight of what matters most—the individual engaging with our therapists, one-on-one, taking the courageous first step toward healing.From the beginning, we understood that truly transformative treatment requires more than clinical protocols. It demands a personalized approach, led by the most qualified professionals, in an environment that nurtures the whole person. That’s why we’ve assembled a team where every primary therapist holds a Doctorate in Psychology - a distinction virtually unmatched in our field.Check out ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Seasons Malibu⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ online or call 1-866-314-5160 for more information.
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Email me chasingheroine@gmail.com

Elisa Saunders looked like she had it all figured out. A successful teacher, put together, dependable. Nobody saw the drinking that started long before she ever stepped into a classroom, rooted in childhood trauma that set the stage for what came next.
For years she functioned. She showed up, she performed, she kept the mask on. Until two DUIs threatened the career she'd built her identity around, and the gap between who she appeared to be and who she actually was became impossible to ignore.
Getting sober wasn't the fix she thought it would be. She quit drinking but didn't work a program, and ended up suicidal while dry, proof that just removing the alcohol isn't the same as recovery. It wasn't until she started working the steps that things actually changed.
In this episode, Elisa talks about that turning point, and the deeper work that came after: learning to reparent herself and give herself the love she never got as a kid. She now works in treatment, helping others find their way through the same wreckage she climbed out of.
This is a conversation about the distance between appearing fine and actually being fine, and what it takes to close that gap for good.
Today's episode is brought to you by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Seasons ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠in Malibu. For over 18 years, Seasons has been a sanctuary for individuals seeking to reclaim their lives from addiction and mental health challenges. Our story began with a simple but profound vision: To create a luxurious sanctuary for individuals struggling with addiction or mental health issues, where they can receive the finest, evidence-based treatment in the world.
Built on Compassion, Driven by Excellence
What started as a small number of compassionate professionals has grown into one of the nation’s most respected luxury treatment centers. But growth has never meant losing sight of what matters most—the individual engaging with our therapists, one-on-one, taking the courageous first step toward healing.From the beginning, we understood that truly transformative treatment requires more than clinical protocols. It demands a personalized approach, led by the most qualified professionals, in an environment that nurtures the whole person. That’s why we’ve assembled a team where every primary therapist holds a Doctorate in Psychology - a distinction virtually unmatched in our field.Check out ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Seasons Malibu⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ online or call 1-866-314-5160 for more information.
Connect with Seasons on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
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Email me chasingheroine@gmail.com
See you next week!

Barbara Jean Carey is a certified hypnotherapist whose private practice spans both Malibu and Seasons Recovery Center, where she works with everyone from NFL players to CEOs using tools like NLP, guided imagery, past-life regression, and hypnosis. She's been featured on Dr. Phil, TLC, Bravo, Discovery, and The History Channel.
In this episode, Barbara breaks down something most of us have never considered. The age we are when we experience something determines what level of consciousness we're operating from, and the programming we pick up in childhood doesn't just fade. It runs in the background, quietly directing choices we think we're making freely.
We get into what maladaptive programming actually is, how it gets installed when we're young, and more importantly how to recognize it in your own life. Barbara also walks us through exactly how she guides clients through a hypnotherapy session to locate what's holding them back at the subconscious level and replace it with something that actually serves them.
If you've ever wondered why you keep repeating the same patterns no matter how hard you try, this one's worth a listen.
Today's episode is brought to you by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Seasons ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠in Malibu. For over 18 years, Seasons has been a sanctuary for individuals seeking to reclaim their lives from addiction and mental health challenges. Our story began with a simple but profound vision: To create a luxurious sanctuary for individuals struggling with addiction or mental health issues, where they can receive the finest, evidence-based treatment in the world.
Built on Compassion, Driven by Excellence
What started as a small number of compassionate professionals has grown into one of the nation’s most respected luxury treatment centers. But growth has never meant losing sight of what matters most—the individual engaging with our therapists, one-on-one, taking the courageous first step toward healing.From the beginning, we understood that truly transformative treatment requires more than clinical protocols. It demands a personalized approach, led by the most qualified professionals, in an environment that nurtures the whole person. That’s why we’ve assembled a team where every primary therapist holds a Doctorate in Psychology - a distinction virtually unmatched in our field.Check out ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Seasons Malibu⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ online or call 1-866-314-5160 for more information.
Connect with Seasons on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
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Email me chasingheroine@gmail.com
See you next week!

At 8 and 9 years old, Brandon was a fixture on Hollywood sets - a child actor with credits on Bad News Bears and The Courtship of Eddie's Father - and somehow, that was the tame part.
What followed was decades of living at full volume. Lead singer of the Dead Kennedys. Smuggling cocaine out of Bali. Shooting acid and landing in a psych ward. A heroin addiction that stretched on for years, fueled by a life that had never once asked him to slow down.
The moment that finally cracked him open wasn't a near-death experience or a legal consequence. It was a letter. His wife left it in a hotel room in Santa Barbara. Simple message: get sober, or lose his son.
He got sober.
Nearly 30 years later, Brandon has surfed the world clean, worked as a sober companion, and spent years as an editor for South Park. He came up in Twelve Step and eventually added Refuge Recovery.to his program.
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Email me chasingheroine@gmail.com
See you next week!

Jenny Leone didn't plan any of it.
She left Canada at 19 with a TV deal and ended up somewhere she never expected. What started as magazine covers became films. What started as a way to cope became a full-blown addiction to benzos, alcohol, and Norcos. And what started in childhood, when she was three years old, set the stage for all of it.
Jenny is a former adult film star who has been sober since 2016. In this episode, she talks openly about the sexual abuse she survived from age three to twelve, how substances became her way of managing pain she had no other language for, and how the adult industry didn't create her addiction but absolutely accelerated it.
At 27, an assault in Las Vegas became a turning point she couldn't ignore. She stepped back from films after that, continuing to model while slowly distancing herself from that world. When her son was born in 2009, she retired completely. But the addiction didn't retire with her. She continued using for seven more years before finally getting sober in 2016.
She had a son. She had a life she wanted to actually be present for. Getting sober wasn't a straight line, but she got there.
Jenny now works in treatment, helping people who are sitting in the same darkness she once lived in. She built something real on the other side. This conversation is proof that it's possible.
Today's episode is brought to you by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Seasons ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠in Malibu. For over 18 years, Seasons has been a sanctuary for individuals seeking to reclaim their lives from addiction and mental health challenges. Our story began with a simple but profound vision: To create a luxurious sanctuary for individuals struggling with addiction or mental health issues, where they can receive the finest, evidence-based treatment in the world.
Built on Compassion, Driven by Excellence
What started as a small number of compassionate professionals has grown into one of the nation’s most respected luxury treatment centers. But growth has never meant losing sight of what matters most—the individual engaging with our therapists, one-on-one, taking the courageous first step toward healing.From the beginning, we understood that truly transformative treatment requires more than clinical protocols. It demands a personalized approach, led by the most qualified professionals, in an environment that nurtures the whole person. That’s why we’ve assembled a team where every primary therapist holds a Doctorate in Psychology - a distinction virtually unmatched in our field.Check out ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Seasons Malibu⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ online or call 1-866-314-5160 for more information.
Connect with Seasons on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
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See you next week!