Acquire The Fire Ep. 2: The Circle...Acquire The Fire Ep. 2: The Circle...
The MY House Podcast Network
Host Ramon Rodriguez talks with case manager Eric Farnsworth about his journey from addiction and loss to working in recovery. They focus on full-circle moments, community support, faith, and the importance of having personal recovery separate from work.
32:27•2 Jul 2026
Full Circle Recovery: Eric Farnsworth on Sobriety, Service and Staying Sane
Episode Overview
- Addiction often starts as emotional escape, but leads to broken relationships, legal trouble and deep emptiness.
- Key turning points in recovery can come from a series of small moments, not just one dramatic event.
- Telling people you’re going to treatment or into recovery work can create helpful accountability.
- Working in the recovery field is not a substitute for having your own programme, support network and spiritual practices.
- Honest feedback from mentors, sponsors, colleagues and loved ones is crucial to prevent burnout and keep growth going.
“Work won’t keep you sober. If it would, then you don’t need to go to treatment.”
How do people find strength in their journey to sobriety? Acquire The Fire brings that question to life through an honest, down‑to‑earth chat between host Ramon Rodriguez and his guest, clinical case manager Eric Farnsworth. Aimed at people in recovery, those working in the field, and anyone feeling close to burnout, this conversation looks at what Eric calls his life “before recovery” – a time he says wasn’t really living at all, just survival.
He talks about starting alcohol and drug use at 15, losing relationships, custody of his children, and cycling through jail, homelessness and anger, all while insisting he could still “figure it out”. Eric shares the slow series of moments that pushed him towards treatment, including a powerful scene in an abandoned trailer where he felt thankful his kids weren’t there to witness the chaos.
That spark, which he credits to God, eventually led him to detox, treatment at Vida Nova / True North, and a growing commitment to full abstinence rather than “California sober”. You’ll hear how recovery peers and staff helped him see that his past could become “our greatest asset”, inspiring him to move into peer support and then case management.
A big theme is coming full circle: Eric once supported Ramon as a peer specialist in treatment, and now they’re colleagues talking about burnout prevention on air. He also tackles a common trap in the field – thinking that helping others counts as your own recovery. As Eric puts it, “Work won’t keep you sober.
If it would, then you don’t need to go to treatment.” He stresses having a separate programme, genuine community, spiritual connection, and people who will say, “Hey, you’re slipping.” If you’ve ever doubted that your story is worth anything, this conversation suggests it might be exactly what someone else needs to hear. What could your own “full circle” moment look like?
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