David Elliott. God, blessing others, treatment centers, drugs, interventions, loss, and seeing the light come on in a new members eyes.David Elliott. God, blessing others, treatment centers, drugs, interventions, loss, and seeing the light come on in a new members eyes.
Sober Shares - Alcoholics Anonymous Interviews & Speakers.
David Elliott shares how years of addiction, arrests and near-prison led to a powerful prayer in treatment, long-term AA recovery and eventually founding treatment centres. The conversation spans step work, family loss, self-forgiveness and his views on today’s drug landscape, including fentanyl.
2:26:40•29 Sept 2026
From Crack Pipes to Burning Tree Ranch: David Elliott on Finding a New Life in Sobriety
Episode Overview
- A simple, honest prayer on his knees marked a clear spiritual shift and the beginning of real sobriety for David.
- Working all 12 steps, including thorough fear and sex inventories, helped him feel he truly belonged in Alcoholics Anonymous.
- Founding burning Tree Ranch and a second treatment centre allowed him to watch recovery unfold and “see the light come on” in others’ eyes.
- Self-forgiveness came from accepting guilt for harmful actions while rejecting the idea that he is inherently bad or beyond God’s mercy.
- David views fentanyl use as playing “Russian roulette” with far fewer empty chambers, highlighting the extreme danger of modern drug trends.
“God, this is too much for me. I can't handle this anymore. I'm willing to do whatever it takes to never pick up a drink or a drug again. God, please help me.”
Curious about how others navigate their sobriety journey? This long-form conversation on *Sober Shares* follows David Elliott as he looks back on more than three decades without a drink, after years of cigarettes, alcohol, marijuana, LSD, cocaine and crack shaped his life. You’ll hear David talk frankly about never feeling comfortable in his own skin, early nicotine as his “gateway drug”, and risky teenage drinking trips from Texas to Louisiana.
He shares wild smuggling stories, repeated arrests, and the terrifying reality of facing 20 years in a Texas prison. Yet the turning point comes in a tiny treatment centre bedroom, when he finally drops to his knees and says, “God, this is too much for me. I can't handle this anymore… God, please help me.” He describes standing up and feeling “the weight of the world… off my shoulders” as lying, stealing and hiding lose their grip.
The episode leans heavily into Alcoholics Anonymous: daily meetings, working all 12 steps, deep fourth- and fifth-step inventories, and sponsorship. David explains why he believes real change happens through the steps, including the often-avoided fear and sex inventories, and why he now prays on his knees every morning.
There’s humour too, from teenage schemes to push cars out of the garage, to AA’s line that “we absolutely insist upon enjoying life.” Later, David talks about founding burning Tree Ranch and a second treatment centre, watching “the light come on in a new member’s eyes,” and the brutal realities of fentanyl and long-term recovery.
Themes of family, loss, self-forgiveness and trusting God run throughout, offering a raw but hopeful look at what sobriety can grow into after the chaos of addiction. If you’re wondering whether recovery can rebuild a life after serious damage, this story might make you pause and ask: what would your own turning point look like?
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