RFK Jr. Was A Prosecutor Hiding This For Years

RFK Jr. Was A Prosecutor Hiding This For Years

What drives someone to seek a life without alcohol? This live conversation at Camelback Recovery brings together Tim Westbrook and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for an unusually raw look at addiction, faith, and the kind of recovery that actually lasts. You’ll hear Kennedy describe his rapid slide from a strict Irish Catholic childhood to shooting heroin by the end of one summer, even while working as a district attorney.

He captures the heartbreak of addiction in one line: “For me, the most demoralizing feature of this disease was my incapacity to keep contracts with myself.” From there, he explains how reading Carl Jung on synchronicity nudged him towards a simple but radical decision: to “act as if” God existed and live life as a series of small moral choices, from making his bed to putting the shopping trolley back. The episode digs into relapse too.

After 25 years sober, Kennedy went back out briefly, and he’s blunt about the lesson: “The message I would say is it's always easier to stay sober than to get sober.” Getting back into recovery meant two years of “dry” meetings and practising faith even when it felt absent, like the classic “dark night of the soul”. For anyone interested in systems change, you’ll hear his critique of a fragmented treatment landscape that profits from repeat relapses.

He argues for outcome-based care where rehabs are responsible for a full year and have a financial reason to keep people well, not just admit them again. Throughout, service and gratitude come up as non-negotiables. Kennedy talks about going to a meeting every day, treating service as “the secret sauce”, and even giving up complaining for Lent and never starting again.

If you’re wondering what “real recovery” might look like beyond simply stopping substances, this conversation offers plenty to think about and a challenge: how are you practising surrender, service, and gratitude in your own sober life?