Addiction & Faith Journey With Matthew Demoulin (Episode 1)

Addiction & Faith Journey With Matthew Demoulin (Episode 1)

What remarkable journeys have people faced head-on against addiction? This first episode of Relational Recovery introduces Matthew Demoulin, a proud alumnus of The Refuge and now its residential director, whose story brings that question to life. Matthew shares how he spent roughly eight years "sitting in the seat of the addict" before entering The Refuge in 2017 with nothing but a bag of clothes and a bank account sitting at negative $43.

He talks about addiction as a kind of "dichotomy" – the same intensity that once destroyed his life has matched the depth of change he’s seen in recovery: "however bad it was, it can be as equally good and transformative on the other end." You’ll hear him describe the sadness of devaluing his own life, the pain and trauma that so often sit behind self-destructive behaviour, and the wide circle of casualties that addiction creates, both inside and outside the home.

From there, his path into recovery and leadership gives a unique view from both sides of addiction: the chaos of using and the slow rebuilding afterwards. Matthew weaves in ideas he teaches in community health worker classes, including a striking line he often uses about self-destruction being an attempt to kill something inside that doesn’t belong. He links this to trauma and broken relationships, without sugar-coating the reality of what addiction costs.

On the other side, he talks about joy, peace, and restoration, especially grounded in knowing who you are in Christ. For anyone curious about how faith, psychology, and lived experience can all meet in recovery, this conversation sets the tone for an honest, hopeful series. If you’ve ever wondered whether anything good can come out of years lost to addiction, this story might give you a fresh angle to think about your own journey.