David Bock on Recovery, Outreach, and the Power of Lived Experience

David Bock on Recovery, Outreach, and the Power of Lived Experience

What can we learn from those who have battled addiction? This conversation between host Christin Day and guest David Bock offers a raw, funny and moving look at how chaos, music and faith can shape someone’s path into – and out of – addiction.

David talks about a childhood filled with instability, abuse and unspoken pain, the kind where “you don't feel that stuff… you know, put your feelings away, sweep it under the rug.” As a teenager, he finds punk rock and the party scene, saying that’s when “the party started being taken too far.” Drugs, alcohol and violence become an outlet for his anger and trauma. You’ll hear how music also becomes his passport to a different life.

David works security for major bands like Social Distortion and Green Day, living on tour buses, chasing adrenaline and running from his reality back home. Yet even in that glamorous chaos, pills, meth and cocaine are never far away. The heart of the conversation centres on recovery: early rehab attempts done “for the family”, the moment his brother tells him bluntly, “dude, you need God”, and the final decision to commit to long‑term recovery.

He talks honestly about using methadone and Suboxone, stressing that medication can help some people but only if they’re being honest about why they’re taking it. Today, David works in outreach for a medication-assisted treatment provider, spending his days “at the blade… in those washes, under the bridges,” meeting people who use drugs with respect instead of judgement. One person thanks him “for not yelling at us,” a simple moment that sums up his approach.

His message lands squarely with anyone in recovery or supporting someone who is: “because you come into chaos, doesn't mean you have to leave with it.” If you’re wondering whether lived experience really matters in this field, this conversation might have you rethinking everything.