Saving Lives Through Music: The Untold Story of Recovery Unplugged

Summary

Saving Lives Through Music: The Untold Story of Recovery Unplugged

In this compelling episode of The Determined Society Podcast, host Shawn French delves deep into the transformative power of music in addiction recovery and mental health therapy. Featuring renowned singer-songwriter Richie Supa and Andrew Sosin, the founder of Recovery Unplugged, this episode uncovers the heartfelt journey, innovative approaches, and profound impacts of integrating music into therapeutic practices.

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Founding Recovery Unplugged

Andrew Sosin shares the inception story of Recovery Unplugged, highlighting the dire need for effective addiction treatment methods. Faced with numerous family members and friends struggling with substance abuse, Sosin sought a novel approach to aid their recovery.

Andrew Sosin [03:55]: "What started with us helping a couple of family members here in Fort Lauderdale in 2013 has now turned into 12 facilities in six states, positively impacting over 18,000 individuals."

The collaboration between Sosin and Richie Supa emerged serendipitously at a Tony Robbins event, where Sosin was inspired by Supa's existing concept, leading to the official partnership that has since revolutionized addiction treatment.

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Richie Supa’s Journey: From Rock Star to Recovery Advocate

Richie Supa, a Grammy-winning songwriter with accolades including three Prism Awards, recounts his personal battle with addiction and the pivotal moment that redirected his life.

Richie Supa [08:32]: "Addiction is a mental disease. My problem wasn't drugs. My problem was me. And I had to learn to change my thinking."

Supa details his transition from writing chart-topping hits for legends like Aerosmith and Tom Jones to performing "Recovery Unplugged," a one-man show aimed at inspiring and healing others through music. His dedication is epitomized by his decision to pause his professional songwriting career to fully commit to Recovery Unplugged.

Richie Supa [10:26]: "There is no greater reward than having a parent hug me, crying, saying thank you for saving my child's life."

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Integrating Music with Evidence-Based Therapy

The core philosophy of Recovery Unplugged lies in using music as a catalyst to enhance traditional therapeutic methods. Andrew Sosin emphasizes that their approach is not merely music therapy but a fusion of music with evidence-based treatments.

Andrew Sosin [00:36]: "We use music as a catalyst for evidence-based therapy. 98% of our clients are regular people facing substance abuse and mental health challenges."

The program serves a diverse clientele, ranging from individuals battling substance abuse to those dealing with anxiety, depression, PTSD, and trauma, especially heightened in the post-COVID era.

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Impactful Personal Stories

The episode features touching narratives illustrating the program's effectiveness. One standout story is that of Adam David, who transformed from a closed-off individual to a successful contestant on a popular singing competition, thanks to the supportive environment of Recovery Unplugged.

Richie Supa [13:00]: "Adam actually sat in my groups with his arms crossed and head down. Through open mic sessions and one-on-one encouragement, he discovered his gift and is now thriving."

These stories underscore the profound impact of creating a sense of community and connectivity among participants, fostering an environment where individuals feel seen, heard, and valued.

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Building a Supportive Community

Recovery Unplugged doesn't stop at residential treatment; it extends its support through an extensive alumni network. With over 18,000 alumni, the program organizes weekly events, concerts, and social gatherings to maintain a strong sense of community and ongoing support.

Andrew Sosin [34:06]: "When we get people into our program, we focus on connecting them with others who understand their journey, building a foundation of mutual support and encouragement."

These initiatives ensure that individuals continue to thrive long after completing the initial treatment phases, promoting sustained recovery and personal growth.

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Embracing Technology for Broader Reach

Looking ahead, Recovery Unplugged is expanding its reach by incorporating virtual services and leveraging technology to assist more individuals nationwide. Partnerships with platforms like Good Thoughts introduce augmented and virtual reality therapy, enabling avatar-based sessions that reduce feelings of shame and guilt often associated with seeking help.

Andrew Sosin [38:46]: "We're leveraging technology to help more people, ensuring that even those who can't physically attend our facilities can benefit from our programs."

Despite technological advancements, the program maintains its commitment to human connection, ensuring that technology supplements rather than replaces personal interactions.

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Future Endeavors and Continuous Growth

As Recovery Unplugged continues to expand with new locations and services, both Richie Supa and Andrew Sosin remain focused on their mission of transforming lives through music and community support.

Richie Supa [42:17]: "We're working on another recovery album with big rock stars who are also in recovery. It's about spreading the message and making recovery fun and accessible."

Their relentless dedication ensures that Recovery Unplugged remains at the forefront of innovative and compassionate addiction and mental health treatment.

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Notable Quotes

• Richie Supa [00:29]: "Addiction is a mental disease. My problem wasn't drugs. My problem was me. And I had to learn to change my thinking."

• Andrew Sosin [00:36]: "We use music as a catalyst for evidence-based therapy."

• Richie Supa [08:32]: "Addiction is a mental disease. My problem wasn't drugs. My problem was me."

• Richie Supa [10:26]: "There is no greater reward than having a parent hug me, crying, saying thank you for saving my child's life."

• Andrew Sosin [34:06]: "When we get people into our program, we focus on connecting them with others who understand their journey."

• Richie Supa [42:17]: "We're working on another recovery album with big rock stars who are also in recovery."

• Andrew Sosin [38:46]: "We're leveraging technology to help more people."

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Conclusion

This episode serves as an inspiring testament to the power of music in healing and recovery. Richie Supa and Andrew Sosin illustrate how combining passion, innovation, and genuine care can create lasting positive change in individuals' lives. Whether you're personally affected by addiction or supporting someone who is, Recovery Unplugged offers a beacon of hope and a blueprint for meaningful recovery.

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Stay tuned to The Determined Society Podcast for more impactful conversations on personal development, business, and entrepreneurship.

Transcript

[Shawn French]

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[Richie Supa]

Addiction is a mental disease. My problem wasn't drugs. My problem was me. And I had to learn to change my thinking.

[Andrew Sosin]

We use music as a catalyst for evidence based therapy. 98% of our clients are regular people that are facing substance abuse issues, alcohol issues. Last year we had opened our first residential mental health facility for people that aren't abusing drugs and alcohol, but have anxiety, depression, PTSD and trauma. Because what we realized after Covid, you have this huge crisis where they stop the supply of ox, but the supply of fentanyl went up 100 fold. But then you also have people that are just battling life.

[Richie Supa]

You know, I won a Grammy. I won three Prism Awards. There is no greater reward than having a parent saying thank you for saving my child's life.

[Unknown]

Sharp French what up?

[Richie Supa]

Sharp French.

[Unknown]

This one. Luck. I let the pain inspire me I put my all in Everything I'm doing up until it's done, I'm me for the entirety. I put it in Novaton. I'll be working Just know I'mma go for mine cuz I earned it. They watch and I know it's time I confirmed it A whole society Determined.

[Andrew Sosin]

Determine.

[Unknown]

What'S up, everybody? Welcome back to another episode of the Determined Society. I'm your host, Shawn French. Before I introduce today's guest, please hit subscribe on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts and let us know what you love about the show. So today I have singer, songwriter Richie Supa, who his resume is very, very large, but I'm gonna drop a couple names here with Aerosmith and Steven Tyler Pink Air Supply, an amazing, amazing professional in the music industry. And I have the founder of Recovery Unplugged, Andrew Sosin with us today. We're gonna get into it right now. Gentlemen, welcome to the show.

[Andrew Sosin]

Great to be here.

[Richie Supa]

Thank you, thank you. Love it.

[Unknown]

Yeah, man, you guys are all close and personal over there. You guys are rubbing elbows. Look at you guys. Beautiful, no? So again, thank you so much for taking time to meet with me today and discuss Recovery Unplug and what it means to society, the world, and the work that you guys are doing. So before we get into it, for the audience that isn't familiar with Recovery Unplugged, can you guys give a little brief description of what it is that you guys are doing and how it. And how it was founded?

[Andrew Sosin]

Sure. So the Backstory was over 13 years ago. I had several family members and friends in and out of treatment centers, and I was just lost in how to help them correctly. The revolving door culminated in one of my family members being arrested, another one ODing on the teacher's lounge and living, and a friend of mine, I was at a Tony Robbins event, and I said it would be cheaper for me to open up my own treatment center than keep paying for other ones. And he said, well, I know some people that are interested in doing that with music. And I said, I'm not a musician. I'm not a therapist. I know nothing about it. And Marshall Geyser introduced me to Paul Pellinger, and Paul introduced me to Richie. And Richie had this concept already called Recovery Unplugged. And the second I met Richie, I knew that's what we were. What started with us helping a couple of family members here in Fort Lauderdale in 2013 has now turned into 12 facilities in six states, with us just helping positively impact our 18,000 individual.

[Unknown]

18,000?

[Richie Supa]

Yeah.

[Unknown]

In 12 years.

[Andrew Sosin]

Yes.

[Richie Supa]

Yeah.

[Andrew Sosin]

And it started with, you know, 20, 20 to 30 people a month at the beginning, and now we have almost a little under 500amonth that we're treating.

[Unknown]

Wow, that's. That's amazing. Richie, what's been your. Your journey in this with Andrew? Because, I mean, I know you play a big part in it, and you're taking your own personal experience and. And bringing it into this. This. This venture. I mean, it's. It's very interesting.

[Richie Supa]

Well, I. After I wrote the big Aerosmith hit, amazing, the response I got from people who were. Had addiction problems captured my heart. And I started to write songs about. This is prior to getting together with Andrew. I started writing songs about this disease. And I wrote a song called. There was a website, which is the largest website for recovery called in the Rooms. And I wrote. They asked me to write their theme song. I wrote the theme song. We went to, and they submitted the song to the PRISM Awards in Los Angeles. And I was up against, you know, Eric Clapton and a bunch of people, great songwriters. And I won Song of the year in 2009, and the response was just unbelievable. And then in 2011, I wrote a song called what the hell was. No, not.

[Unknown]

You've done so many. It's hard for you to remember how the block.

[Andrew Sosin]

Yeah.

[Richie Supa]

And I. And I won again. And my heart was captured. I wanted to do something. So I started to go around with my guitar and play at detoxes and treatment centers. My one man show called Recovery Unplugged.

[Unknown]

Love it.

[Richie Supa]

And I did that for a year and a half. And then the timing was such that I got to meet Andrew through Paul Pellinger and other people. And I think the treatment center was called Harmony at the time. Right?

[Andrew Sosin]

Yeah. When we first started, we opened up as Harmony Treatment center for about two months. And then we met Richie. And when Richie came in one day and he did his Recovery Unplugged, they said, no, we're recovering unplugged. 24 hours later, Richie was our partner. And we've been recovering unplugged since that moment.

[Richie Supa]

It was just like that, literally. They wanted to think outside the box. And I said, well, why don't we call it Recovery Unplugged instead of Harmony, which is very vanilla.

[Unknown]

Right.

[Richie Supa]

And Andrew just. I saw. I remember him going like this. I like that. That's how it started.

[Andrew Sosin]

Yeah, I. I have zero musical ability. If I sang, the windows would break. And what I saw, bro.

[Unknown]

Same.

[Andrew Sosin]

But what I saw the first time I saw Richie perform in front of people is people with their arms crossed. People that were angry, people that were detoxing, people that were just not in a good place. I watched them physically in that moment. They didn't radically change and they didn't wake up sober the next day. But there was a shift. And when I saw that, that moment, I knew we had something. And just for everybody out there, because there was a confusion, there still is. We don't do music therapy. We use music as a catalyst for evidence based therapy. So 99, 98% of our clients are regular people. They're just like, you know, anybody else. Doctors, lawyers, teachers, mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, cousins. They're regular people now, you know, because of Richie, we do help people through the Grammy foundation and Music Cares and the Sims foundation and so on. A given, you know, Thursday we may have a rock star or the roadie in one of our facilities that we're helping. But for the most part, the people are regular people like everybody else that are facing, you know, substance abuse issues, alcohol issues. And very recently, where Richie and I are sitting right now, last year, we had opened our first residential mental health facility for people that aren't abusing drugs and alcohol but have anxiety, depression, PTSD and trauma. Because what we realized after Covid was that, you know, you have this huge crisis with people drinking too much. You have this huge crisis where they stop the supply, especially in Florida of oxy, but the supply of fentanyl went up, you know, 100 fold. But then you also have people that are just battling life and those people also need, you know, the same help. We realize the modalities that we use with music, they, they work, they work across the spectrum. And so that's where we've encompassed it all together to try and help as many people as possible.

[Richie Supa]

I mean, addiction, you know, is a mental disease. My problem wasn't drugs. My problem was me.

[Unknown]

Yeah.

[Richie Supa]

And I had to learn to change my thinking. And the mute. Our approach with the music is it, it helps, like Andrew said, it opens them up. It's. It's non threatening.

[Unknown]

Yeah. And they were talking, we were talking a little bit off air and I told you how my wife and I, we, when we want to connect, we listen to music together. And then you mentioned, you know, music is about connectivity and it connects people, right, from, you know, different paths. And you know, everybody has a, has a story and you're able to connect really well through music. And like you mentioned, it disarms you, right? It disarms. And I want to go back real quick. You talked about when you wrote Amazing, right, that big hit, like I was, I'm, you know, I was watching some of that stuff, you know, prior to the interview, and just you and Steven Tyler you know, on set singing that song. And I'm listening to his words and you know, the overarching theme is life is not about the destination, it's about the journey, right? And I love this because I'm getting goosebumps, like, no joke, guys, because a lot of my platform I talk about, hey, you know, do the small steps every day. Forget about what that macro result is you want, but let's focus on the journey and who you become within that, you know, every single day. And you know, you're out there for a year and a half doing recovery unplugged just by yourself. And then all of a sudden you're, you're doing that every single day. And Andrew, you guys have harmony, right? And you're doing what you do every single day. And all of a sudden, when the time is right, connectivity. And because of music, now you guys are working on your 18,000th patient. This is incredible. This is about doing the work every day with purpose and it opening up to something so much greater.

[Richie Supa]

I. I just want to say for me, you know, I won a Grammy. I won three Prism Awards. There is no greater reward than having a parent hug me, crying, saying, thank you for saving my child's life. There's no comparison. And I was taken. I literally stopped as a professional songwriter and started this journey because I can't keep what I have unless I give it away. And God blessed me with the gift of writing songs, and how could I turn my back on that?

[Andrew Sosin]

I would also, you know, take that and say for my own family, my kids have a grandmother, aunts, cousins that have all been through our program, and they're alive today because of it and everybody else. And, you know, it's interesting, you know, because we didn't share. I didn't tell you this part of the story, but you brought those words up. So 22 years ago, I was at. I've done work with Tony Robbins, Jack Canfield, Esther Hicks over my life. I was in Fiji at a Tony Robbins seminar. And Marshall, who introduced me to Paul and Richie, was with me at that seminar, and I was young. And he literally said to me, andrew, life is a journey, not a destination. I wrote those words on a piece of paper, put them on my desk next to my bed, and. And I looked at those words every single day of my life for the next 10 years. And then I randomly or not, whether you believe in the law of attraction, the universe of God, love it. End up with Richie, who wrote a song with that as its chorus. So, you know, I. I believe that this was more than chance. It's a God, you know, and then even going forward now to see what happened over just the last two weeks, about six. A little over six and a half years ago, Richie got a call from some people in the music world. There was a gentleman that needed help that we needed to help, and partially scholarship, which we did. Richie took him under his wing and he became part of our band. And he was on the Voice last week and was chosen by Michael Buble and is now currently a contestant on the Voice. And that's a testament to what we are, what we do. But really, Richie in. In taking, you know, Adam and. And helping to build him back up with music in our process.

[Unknown]

And. You're referring to Adam David, correct?

[Andrew Sosin]

That's. Yeah, yeah.

[Richie Supa]

He actually, I. He actually, on day one, sat in my groups with his arms crossed.

[Unknown]

Wow.

[Richie Supa]

Head down, total walls around him. And it was. And I heard him, you know, I started a thing called open mic on Wednesdays and I heard him sing and I sat him down one on one. I said, you have a gift. You have a gift. I'm telling you as a professional in the music industry that you have a gift that you don't want to destroy with drugs. Wow. And I'm going to work with you. And I, and I, I stayed with him and on him and encouraging him to play some song ideas. I played him some of my songs and, and it, it was like, it inspired him. And again, it was connectivity.

[Unknown]

Sure.

[Richie Supa]

We connected through the music and my journey because I had a lot of years clean and I was part of the. Part of recovery unplugged and, and look where he is today now.

[Andrew Sosin]

Incredible.

[Richie Supa]

Glory is today. That's the magic.

[Unknown]

Yeah, it sure is. You know, it's funny, you're talking about. We keep going back to the word connectivity and there's a reason, right? So when I look at your, your little, Your concerts, right, Whether it was you and Steven Tyler, Flo Rida, I'm looking at the crowd, I'm looking at the residents within the facility, and I'm seeing some super open and, you know, and just flown with it. And there was this one, right? I believe it was the Flow Rider video. I saw her in the front with her arms crossed, kind of looking around, wanting to come out. But I can see in her eyes that she was wanting to, but wasn't comfortable yet. But then as the video continued, you can see her facial expression changing to a little bit more joy because there was so much love and fun going on around her. And again, the connectivity of the music, having someone big like Flo ride on the stage right, right there in your little room was pretty dang cool. It was, but. But it gave them a chance to just be and connect and that, you.

[Andrew Sosin]

Know, that's one of the things that I saw very early on. So you could go to our facility in Austin, Nashville, Charleston, D.C. now Jersey or Florida, any of them. And what you'll see, because again, people don't come for a day. People are with us for three weeks, four weeks, six weeks, eight weeks. It depends on the situation. But you'll see somebody's first couple days on their first feel Good Friday, for the most part, they got their arms crossed. They're sitting in the back and maybe they're tapping their foot. And then by the second week, they're in the next row and they're moving their arms. And by the last week, they don't want to leave, they're in the first row, they're singing along they're jumping up and down and it's, it's. And I saw that from day one, which is why I stopped everything else I was doing to do this and have been because I realized that you don't have to be musically inclined. Right? You can feel that, you know, from the moment you are there, regardless of the music. Right. We've had, you know, hip hop, we've had country, we've had rock, we've had classical musicians. We have, you know, Carl, who's a Juilliard trained violinist. You know, even in our, in our detox facilities for people that are coming off of, you know, heavy, heavy situation, we have sound and frequency rooms now where people will. We still believe. Just so we're clear, we believe in mat and mat. What do I mean by that? Medication assisted treatment and music assisted treatment. So somebody will still get their 10 milligrams of Ativan or Valium, but packs instead of 20. And we'll use the sound and frequency to calm their body down so they're less out of it and more able to work on themselves.

[Unknown]

The one thing that I admire most with, with you gentlemen is again, very successful past. You know, as you mentioned, Richie, you left the music industry to do this solely. And Andrew, you left some things that you were doing to focus on this. It is, it is an energy. But what it mostly is is two people leading with a purpose and something that's so fulfilling. And I think that more. I know that more people need to adopt living in purpose and making impact over income or fame or anything like that. And because you guys have done that so consistently, you're changing lives and you're saving lives.

[Richie Supa]

That's. That's true. You know. You know, I, you know, Andrew has a purpose. I felt it from him and Andrew. And Andrew felt my purpose. I was there because I, I had to be there. I wanted to be there, but I, I have to do what I have to do. And the power of a song written correctly is priceless. And Andrew knows because he, he's seen me a few times. I don't tolerate too many people going like this. I will actually go to them. And some of them are a little, you know, afraid of my celebrity, you know what I mean? And so I open them up. I want, can I get a hug from you? And it's like, you want a hug from me? And you know, because I know how this disease operates.

[Unknown]

Yeah.

[Richie Supa]

It's cunning and insidious and the people.

[Andrew Sosin]

Don'T feel worthy as well. And that's the the true, you know, testament to what we do in building people's self worth back.

[Richie Supa]

Yes.

[Andrew Sosin]

Which is why, you know, when Richie created open mic, again, 98% of our people have no musical ability, no writing ability, but the therapeutic process of writing the lyrics of their life, that they get up and perform. And when I say perform, they speak them. Yeah, but now they're speaking in front of a room of 20 or 30 people, and every one of those people, they feel seen, they feel heard, and what they say matters, which for the most part, whether they're in our substance abuse facility or mental health facility, they haven't felt that in maybe ever or at least in a long time. And so because we use that sense of purpose and connectivity, it builds the person up. And then from there we use the evidence based, traditional therapy.

[Unknown]

You know, it's interesting, guys, because, you know, I, I look at this. You know, obviously music is art, and what I do is an art in its own right, interviewing people and things like that. And when I started, right when I started this show, I started it with an iPhone in a car and I was just venting, and for me it was getting things out.

[Andrew Sosin]

And.

[Unknown]

But also when what I noticed is, you know, I had that imposter syndrome earlier, who the heck am I to, you know, to. To start a podcast? No one cares what I have to say. So it was that self worth, right? And I continued to do the work. And what I found was even when I would go on a rant, it resonated with somebody and it helped somebody heal. And I'm like, wait a second, this could be so much bigger. So I doubled down on it and I kept working and I kept working, and then all of a sudden now this massive team behind me and we're able to get this message and have conversations with you two legends on the show to talk about your impact. And I'm, I'm making impact by delivering it.

[Andrew Sosin]

I also believe that, that what you just said is because you're genuine and you're not afraid to use your voice for something that matters. And you said rant. Last night, I was with Michael Rappaport, and people could think, whatever, you know, he's out there. But I love the fact that he is genuine. I love the fact that he says what he means and he has a following because of it. And I agree with some of what he says. But when he was talking about podcasts, somebody asked him last night about podcasts. He said, if you're genuine and you're not afraid to use your voice for what you believe in. That's what makes the difference. You're not trying to be somebody you're not. And when I watched some of what you've done, it's incredible because you did start, you know, in the car, and you are having, you know, last week, the big actors, and you. You have people that, that, that, you know are who they are, that want to be part of this because your message means something. And I believe today people are craving for meaning. They're craving for purpose. Right. You know, you can sit on Instagram all day and see the fake world, or you could tune in to what you're doing and some others that actually have a meaning and a purpose, which is what people are searching for.

[Unknown]

Yeah. I mean, you know, and thank you for that, because to me, I always, when people meet me in person, like when, when we meet, you're like, you're the same guy. And, and to your point, social media does, you know, highlight some of the. Well, most of the highlight reels of things. And. And when you meet somebody, sometimes the energies don't match and that. And to me, that's scary and that's dangerous. Right. And so for me to use my voice, I had to get very comfortable with me in order to do that. And as I progress, I'm bringing more of me, more of my opinions and not worrying about how it's going to be, I guess, viewed or received by people that aren't my people. Like, there's gonna be people that. There's people out there, I'm sure hate my show. Cool. You have that. You. You have that right. But what we're doing here is I'm never going to speak untruthfully. I'm going to be genuine. I'm be authentic. I know these are buzzwords, but here it's real. Right. And. And that's why, to your point, I've been able to grow at a rapid pace, and that's why you guys have grown at such a rapid pace, because it's real.

[Andrew Sosin]

Well, and it's also, you know, when I first met Richie, I didn't understand at first what this could become. Right. I still, in the beginning especially, was, you know, this was not an inexpensive thing to start. There's a lot of risk, you know, that I took for this to be here. But I knew that the moment I met Richie, whether he was performing and who he was performing with and he was sitting next to me and there's cameras around or no cameras around, he's the same person. And when that Person walks through the door that needs help, Richie drops what he's doing day or night to potentially save their life. And when I saw that, I said, all right, you know, he's all in. I'm coming all in. And, you know, see, I came.

[Richie Supa]

I come from a very large ego driven industry. And I have to admit that when I was touring with Aerosmith and writing all the big hits for Tom Jones and, and Glenn Campbell, and I had an image. I had an ego this big. But my disease took me down and I hit rock bottom. And recovery taught me how to separate who I was from what I was. Who I was, was the rock star ego guy. What I was, was, was a heroin addict. And it separated me. And today I can look myself in the mirror and say, I'm most humble person you're going to want to meet. You know, I don't change from day to day anymore. And this journey has so, so enriched my life. I get hundreds, thousands of texts from clients. Our treatment center, they don't want to leave, they just want to leave. I went through two treatment centers and I left both of them because somebody was shaking their finger at me going, let me tell you what you're doing to your life with the use of cocaine. I don't need that. We don't do that. Okay. And so we have a very low ama, you know, which is, you know, against medical advice because of, they, they, by the time they leave, they feel like it's family.

[Unknown]

Yeah.

[Richie Supa]

I started a thing called Lyric analysis, where I would set everybody up in a circle and I would hand out the lyrics to my songs and I would play it and I said, raise your hand if you relate to and a lyric. And all the hands kept going up around and they're facing each other and talk about the connectivity. They felt like family. I didn't feel alone anymore. Oh, wow, you did that too. Because the stuff that I wrote, I mean, have you heard anything off my. The CD Enemy?

[Unknown]

I don't think so.

[Richie Supa]

Then you would, you would understand what I'm saying.

[Unknown]

Okay.

[Richie Supa]

To this day, I was just telling Andrew, number six on the, on the Reverb Nation pop charts. Wow, after all these years, because.

[Andrew Sosin]

And all these songs. When Richie first came to me and I joked that I've now produced three different albums. Again, no musical ability. What's good or bad.

[Unknown]

It's about who you know, baby. It's about who you know.

[Andrew Sosin]

I learned that produce just means paid for. But I could call myself a producer. But I remember we were making the album and I went. We went to George's studio, and, you know, he's got pictures of the wall with Madonna and Lady Gaga. And when we were making this album, Richie was making it. I just sat there. But as it was being made, I knew. I knew what this was going to do, these songs. And we've now been using that how many years? Seven years ago, Eight years ago?

[Richie Supa]

Yeah.

[Andrew Sosin]

And we've been using, you know, that as the basis. You know, when people come into recovery unplugged and when they actually leave recovery unplugged, we have an entire medical team that decides the therapeutic process when they leave, the intensive outpatient therapy, the medication they may need, and the musical prescriptions. And again, the musical prescriptions. Just to be clear, that doesn't mean that somebody listens to a song and it stops them from doing something right. But what it does do is, is it reminds them to stay in the present, call their sponsor, go to a meeting. And we have now eight years of data from Nova Southeastern University on why what we're doing actually works. So we have an over 50.3% success rate, which is four times better than anything in America. Not because I say so. And let's just say there are certain west coast places that claim to be the cure. There is no cure. There is no silver bullet to the disease of addiction. But if we can increase the chances of people staying clean or sober and. Or reduce the time of relapse, which is also successful, then we know that we can make a positive change in people's lives.

[Richie Supa]

We make recovery fun. Yeah, I keep going to that word, connectivity, because it's magical. When they leave there, they feel family. They don't feel alone anymore. Addiction isolates people, causes them anxiety and depression. What we do, we bring everybody together. We create an energy, a positive, fun atmosphere. Recovery can be fun. A lot of the traditional recovery treatment centers didn't make it fun. Made it a bit. Made it scary. Made it scary. Yeah, we don't do that.

[Unknown]

Yeah, no, and that's great. And I'm glad the audience. And if you're. If you're listening right now and you have any type of mental illness and you struggle with something, or even addiction, like recovery unplugged, think about this. Go. Go look at it on the Internet and see if it's something for you. Because what you're talking about right now is when people go or when. When a family member sits another family member or friend down, says, hey, we think you have a problem. We need you to go to recovery. The only Thing I would imagine, I'm not an addict, right. But, but I can imagine the, the feelings of shame, the shame, the guilt.

[Andrew Sosin]

It's, it's, you know, it's the first thing that happens. And so, you know, that's one of the reasons why people don't end up doing anything. You know, when we, when we started this, the idea is how do you, how do you break that in the beginning? And so what's very interesting is that once we get. And at this point we have 24 hour life saving center, we have interventionists, you know, available at any given point in time. We have people that'll go do sober transport because we have places in six states now. But people come from all over the country. So somebody calls up and says that their mom or their, whoever, their family member, their kid needs help and they may not, you know, get on that plane to come over. We'll, you know, somebody will go help them, help them come. But the point of breaking down that first barrier is the key that we have our people do. And then on day one or day zero, we call it, somebody's coming into town or they're getting picked up from somewhere. In addition to finding out their name, their medications, their insurance, we find out the music they love, the music they hate, what they associate to happiness, sadness. And so the first moment of their interaction with us, we have a song playing. And I've seen this now thousands of times, literally where they'll go, oh, that's.

[Richie Supa]

You like that song too? Oh, wow, that's my favorite song. You know, I love that. Yeah. Little thing like that is so magical.

[Andrew Sosin]

That it builds the first piece of.

[Richie Supa]

Puts the first brick in the foundation of, of the process of recovery.

[Unknown]

I keep going back to impact in my mind, the only way you can make a true impact is if you care.

[Richie Supa]

Yes.

[Unknown]

And what you guys are doing is doing enough work up front to see what potentially might make that resident feel more comfortable immediately instead of walking into a scary moment. And I'm here now and it's meeting after meeting and I'm labeled this addict. And that could be scary, I would imagine.

[Richie Supa]

I mean, because most addicts, I just want to say most addicts, they don't see life without the use of drugs.

[Unknown]

Right, right.

[Richie Supa]

They see a dead end. What am I going to do now? And that's a very scary place to be.

[Unknown]

How do they, how do you help them work through that? I mean, I know the traditional, the medications, the therapies, the music and everything, but like, but specifically that right there, that is a tough spot. Right. How does that work at recovery Unplugged and getting them through that, you know, initially or even, you know, quickly as possible?

[Richie Supa]

Well, like, I'm a power of example. Okay. My disease took me to jail. I mean, I. I wasn't going to mention this, but I was arrested. My journey is. Goes from Madison Square Garden to Rikers island to Sing Sing. And I spent a bunch of years sitting in a. In a. In a cell in what they call protective custody because I was famous. And I. My. I had a dead end. I was at a dead end, and it's a very scary place. So I. I use my. Myself as power of example and how I got my life back. That this journey is one day at a time. It's not an event, it's a journey. Okay. If you. If you use drugs for 15 years and you walked into the woods for 15 years, you can't turn around and walk out in 15 minutes.

[Unknown]

Yeah. Come on. Come on.

[Richie Supa]

Okay.

[Andrew Sosin]

Yeah.

[Richie Supa]

It takes. It takes a process.

[Unknown]

Yeah.

[Richie Supa]

And to have faith in the process and by us making the process fun and positive, they jump in on the wagon and they ride with us.

[Andrew Sosin]

And from that, when people. How do I say this? We take insurance, and most people have their insurance. Luckily, most people have insurance. And so a lot of insurance dictates that people get X amount of days of treatment. But recovery from alcohol, from substances, from mental health, it's a lifetime. Right. You know, we. We don't push that in the beginning of. Of thinking about a lifetime, but it is. So we have a process for the beginning, few weeks, the next few weeks. You know, the residential treatment, the php, partial hospitalization, the intensive outpatient. And one of the things that we also created was our alumni program. So when we first started, our alumni was a couple of people. Well, I have 18,000. Right. We're at 18,300 now. And every day there's more 18,000 alumni. So in every one of our cities, we have weekly events together. They go bowling together, they go to the movies together. We started a new thing last year called Sober Sessions, where we have concerts. In the first concert, we had 30 people, then 50 people. The last concert in Nashville, we ran out of space. 800 people showed up.

[Unknown]

Good Lord.

[Andrew Sosin]

Yeah. And so, you know, and now we have people from outside of our. Our own ecosystem. They're bringing their ecosystems in, but it builds the power of community. Because in day one, what do we do? We figure out how to connect to people, meet them where they're at. Right. Right. When they first get to us. They don't want to be there, they're not happy, whatever it may be. Let's take the first week of detox. No matter who you are, that's going to be rough. Now you're in a residential setting, you're not completely out of it anymore and you're getting that process going. So every morning, instead of people writing, I'm going to be happy today. You know, we don't do that, right? We don't do that. You know, we start with a pump up group. We start with where we get people physically moving.

[Unknown]

Love it, right?

[Andrew Sosin]

And. And not just our clients, our staff.

[Unknown]

There you go.

[Andrew Sosin]

Your point of recovery unplugged, you know, again, no musical ability. I have no dance ability. But when I'm here, you know, we are all moving, we are all singing, right? And we have different music. We have different music not just for our clients, but for our staff. Because we realized very early on was that when our nurses, when our doctors, when our therapists, when they feel better, they're better with the clients. So if you walk through nan recovery unplugs anywhere, you'll hear everything from, you know, Metallica to Kendrick Lamar, you know, to Aerosmith and everything in between because the staff is listening to what keeps them, you know, grounded as well.

[Unknown]

I love the leading by example aspect that you're talking about. Right? Movement. Right Movement. So whether you're, you're working out, running or dancing, it's still movement, right? You're breaking that inertia, right? As you know, that first movement that you make throughout the day, whether you're in recovery or just, you know, super tired from all the pizza y the night before or the sugar. Like that first move is hard, but once you get moving, you start, the juices start flowing. And it's always nice to see when the people in charge are also living examples of that. Right? And it all goes back, guys, to you're best equipped to help the person that you used to be.

[Richie Supa]

Yes, perhaps.

[Andrew Sosin]

I've been saying this myself and we say this here is you're not comparing yourself to anybody in this room. You're comparing yourself to who you were yesterday. And I believed with our staff, with my partners, with my friends, my family, my kids, can I constant, never ending improvement. I've done my best to live my life in that fashion. We first started, I remember sitting in our first conference room, which was literally the folding chairs and tables from my garage. Right? That's how we started. And then we were able to buy desks and Then, you know, old computers. And when we had 20 employees, you know, it's like, okay, how do we make sure that we keep their mindset correctly so that their mindset is correct for the clients? And then we had 30 employees. And I remember saying to Richie, we may have a hundred people, you know, working with us. And now we just hired our 501st team member.

[Unknown]

Come on.

[Andrew Sosin]

Which is incredible. What's more insane is that 75%, give or take, are in recovery. And if I look at the directors of our company Today, we have 22 leaders, executive leaders. Over half of them were clients. Were clients that were sitting in our detox, going through our program, you know, coming in literally off the street that now have 20, 30, 50, 80 people working for them. You know, that, you know, one in particular, you know, we helped her get custody back of our children and is living just. And so to me, not only seeing the clients, but now I get to see, you know, they sat in the back of Richie's first feel Good Friday and tried to leave. And now they're a leader of our company, leading other people. They're leaders. Leading leaders, you know, to make a positive impact and a change. And so that's what really, to me, is amazing and incredible from where we are, you know, where we were to where we are, and then going forward, you know, again, you know, we're now embarking on, you know, helping with residential mental health. We're now embarking on the recovery unplugged virtual services. So, you know, prior to two years ago, you know, we just did it here. Now we have over 200 people a day doing intensive outpatient after they finish our residential program from home, from their car, from their office.

[Unknown]

Amazing.

[Andrew Sosin]

And that's now growing to where I believe that by the end of this year, you know, we could potentially have a thousand people a day in that program. Hello.

[Unknown]

You know, it's one thing to help the individual that's in the program. It's one thing to help them get clean and to help them stay on the path after they graduate the program, but it's another to impact the generation below them, which is their children.

[Richie Supa]

Yeah.

[Unknown]

I mean, I can't imagine being a child that is ripped away from their. Their mom or dad because of addiction, you know, and I can't imagine the parent losing that child because of the addiction. But for you guys being able to bring it full circle and. And get the custody or timeshare back, dude, that's a freaking moment, man.

[Andrew Sosin]

It's. It's why we do what we do with all of the challenges. And there are challenges 24, 7, 365, you know, trying to help people, dealing with insurance, dealing with people. But that's life. Whatever you do, I tell those people all the time, you know, if there were no problems, I'd be concerned because that means I'd be dead. And I choose not to be. I prefer not to be. So I know there's always going to be, there's always going to be challenges and problems, but we, you know, we're not making, you know, a widget here. We're not making, you know, building a table. We're building people. We're building people back up. And we get to see the result of somebody that literally comes in mentally, spiritually broken and what they can become, whether it's, you know, Adam David on the Voice, you know, or Erica who, you know, went from, and she's very public about her story, you know, where she was on the streets to, you know, raising her kids and, you know, being the director of our planet, a part of our company right now. And so that's what, you know, keeps us going here.

[Richie Supa]

Yeah.

[Unknown]

Yeah. I mean, that, that to me, like, do you guys ever take time, like, and I know it's, it's hard because, you know, when you have a purpose and the job's never done right. I'm sure you job's not, job's not finished. It's never finished. There's always someone else or someone, you know, there's someone in recovery has graduated, the alumni that you're working with that you're helping, that you're employing. Do you guys ever sit there and just look at each other and just smile and give yourself some, some serious love for what you guys are doing, or do you guys just stay focused on the price consistently?

[Richie Supa]

I mean, I, I, I, not only do I stay focused, but I'm so grateful that I'm in a position to do what I do. And I, I, I do. When clients leave, they met, they message me on Facebook. They find me, they find me. And I don't know how many messages I got. Thank you for saving my life. Now I go to meet, and on my way to the meetings, I play Last House on the Block or I play Busy Dying or I play whatever. They all, you know, because my, the album is all over the Internet and there's 93 million people in recovery.

[Andrew Sosin]

Yeah.

[Richie Supa]

So, you know, I can't get into it now, but, you know, a couple of my big rock stars who are friends of mine who Are in recovery, want to do maybe another recovery album, you know, together. It's like one Grammy.

[Unknown]

Come on now. Why not?

[Andrew Sosin]

Right?

[Richie Supa]

We're working, we're saying. Yeah, we're checking.

[Andrew Sosin]

I'm encouraging, subtly.

[Unknown]

I also encourage. I will also encourage.

[Andrew Sosin]

I will also, yeah, I will say this. You know, there's a lot to do still. So, so, you know, I wake up every morning and when I pray every morning, I, I'm grateful for what we have. I'm grateful for what we've done. I'm grateful for what we're going to do. So I wouldn't say we spend too much time reflecting at the moment because there's just, there's a lot to do. There's a lot to do. There's a lot to do. But I, I am cognizant. You know, we, I fly a lot to all of our facilities. Right. I'm always on a plane somewhere and so I always wear our shirts. Music is our medicine. Talk to your doctor about music. And I get stopped. I have not now got, I go to the airport once a week. I have not, I have now not been stopped. I think in the last three years, every time I fly by somebody that doesn't stop me and say my so, so, so, so, so or themselves was positively affected by recovery. Unplug. And so especially because now we're working with, now that we have the contracts with, with certain airlines, I have stewardesses, pilots, baggage handlers that literally come up to me and thank me or they're asking and I just tell them I work there, it makes it easier. And they all say something positive that we were able to do. So that's the, that's the reflection, I guess that those moments, you know, he gets, they reach out to him online. I see people in person, you know, weekly that we positively impacted.

[Unknown]

The reason I asked that question is because I have a very hard time reflecting and celebrating too. And so I always like to ask, you know, high level individuals like, are you taking the time to celebrate these, these wins along the journey? Because if we don't, you know, we can kind of lose sight of, of, of what it is that we're actually doing. Not, not the purpose, but, you know, am I making that impact? So I'm personally trying to do a little bit better in celebrating certain things, like all share things that we're doing really well here. And then people pop into the DMs. Congratulations. Go celebrate. I got my buddy today. You know, we, we showed up on number two on Spotify in business today. And, you know, and that's a. That's a big win. Thank you. Thank you.

[Andrew Sosin]

That's awesome.

[Unknown]

And. And it's been a grind, but it's been fun. But. But my response was, job's not done. I just heard Kobe Bryant, and I don't know if you remember this, when he was up 2 nothing, right? In the finals, he said. They said, are you. Are you happy? He's like, job's not finished. Job's not done. Did we win? Is it over? Job's not finished. So high performers always have that, okay, foot pedal down. But I also, you know, I'm going to acknowledge YouTube because you're not going to do it for yourselves, right. On a consistent basis. You guys are amazing, and you guys are changing lives and saving lives. So I think it's definitely something to celebrate.

[Andrew Sosin]

Look, I agree. And I've also followed Kobe, Michael, LeBron, Steph, and, you know, from football, basketball, baseball, which I watch, to be at that level, whatever you do. And if you look at these guys, you know, and women in their prime, right, The Williams sisters, like, they acknowledge after or when they're injured and they're forced, right? So three and a half years ago, I was in a explosion. I was on fire. First, three, secondary, third degree burns. Yeah. Barbecue explosion. And so I was forced. Lived in the burn unit, couldn't walk for months. I was forced not to move. I was forced to. I did a lot of reflection. So I felt like that, you know, those several months gave me, like, a decade's worth of time. And I think one of the best parts of that, looking back at trying to find the positives, was when I was in the hospital, I used what we do at Recovery Unplugged. In my own recovery, I asked every one of the nurses which songs they liked. And so the first nurse, she loved Enrique Iglesias. So every time. And my hands were burnt, so only my thumb was available. All my fingers were burnt, but I was able to use my thumb. And I had a speaker brought in, took up to my phone, and I had Enrico Iglesias playing. And then Javier, who I'm still in touch with, he loved Metallica.

[Unknown]

Okay?

[Andrew Sosin]

So literally. And if you. If anybody knows about burns, it's the hardest. It's painful.

[Unknown]

Yeah.

[Andrew Sosin]

When they had to change the bandages, I had their music playing, which made them feel better. And I literally used what we do at Recovery Unplugged. And my favorite part of that was one of the nights, two, three, in the morning burn unit. Everybody's in pain. I Realized everybody was up. I got a consensus of music and we're all in our beds, people that were missing limbs. And I've got everybody feeling good listening to some Bob Marley. And I had nurses coming in in the middle, like they got a club going on in the middle of the Ryder Byrne unit at Jackson Memorial. But it was a testament to just proving, you know, what we do works. It works in recovery. It works for people battling mental health. It works, people know, battling burns of the burn.

[Unknown]

I mean, listen, there's. There's certain go tos on the way to the studio for me. Oh, yeah, and it's usually Eminem, right? I mean, like, it's just. It is what it is. Like, you know, I have certain connections with certain bars or lyrics that he's. That he's. That he's spitting. That get me in a mind frame. It's time to lock in, you know, and. And it's a. And it's also a joyous event for me. So the time in my vehicle, it's almost like I'm like hoping nobody calls me. Right? Because, you know, for me, that's my. That's my. I call it active meditation. Just like it is in the gym in the morning. Right. I don't like talking to people at the gym. I like diving into music and I like that active meditation because I'm able to put my mind in a place and lock in on certain things that I can't, you know, I can't do otherwise. Right.

[Andrew Sosin]

So I have several friends that have asked for. We've given out over. I think I stopped counting. I think about 20,000 legitimate shirts at this point. And I have a couple friends that. They said they can't wear our recovery unplugged shirts to the gym because people stop them to talk to them about what we're doing every. Every set. So Richie's at the gym all the time, which is why he's looking so. And feels so good.

[Unknown]

He's looking so smelled.

[Andrew Sosin]

Yeah.

[Unknown]

You know, he's in his 80s and has more hair than I do. Good Lord, man, I'm worried about me.

[Richie Supa]

Don't worry about it.

[Unknown]

No, you look good. And so I'm a large, by the way, so when I come over. Yeah, I mean, I will sport that for sure as. As we land the plane here, guys. Like, it's been a great conversation about what you guys do. And I know the audience is. Is dialed in. And, you know, my audience loves this kind of stuff because either they're dealing with addiction or mental illness. Or someone in their family as you know, has been touched by it or friends. What's next for Recovery Unplugged?

[Andrew Sosin]

So you know, one of the things in addition to our growth. Right. We're opening our 12th location in Jersey next month and looking at some other locations as well. And one of the things we've recently done is on the virtual side, you know, being able to. Not everybody could get to us. And there are certain situations where somebody, you know, goes to a quick detox in their local area, but they still need intensive outpatient. So us growing the Recovery Unplugged intensive outpatient, as we still have all of our places I believe will exponentially be able to help people. And then we partnered with Good Thoughts, which is a new AR VR therapy platform for people to go to therapy as avatars where they have the shame and the guilt and they're not able to connect. And that would be step one in the goal there is to get people to get the therapy they need as an avatar and then do a zoom and then come in person. And so leveraging technology, you know, you'll never, I don't care what you know, AI robot comes around and I believe all of them are coming and that's fine. And that's great. You can't replace Richie Supa at this point. We can clone them, but you can't replace them and you can't replace at the moment, the human connection. So we use tech Recovery Unplug uses technology every day with our therapists. We have HIPAA compliant AI taking notes so the therapists can do better. We now have, you know, the partnership with Good Thoughts to do the avatar based therapy. But we're still using human beings, helping human beings and leveraging. Right. Five years ago we couldn't do this right. We'd have to get in the car, drive two hours, figure it out. We're leveraging technology to be able to help more people. And that's the future of doing it the right way.

[Unknown]

Love it.

[Richie Supa]

Love that you can't, you can't, you can't match human versus human connection. I don't care what, what technology it.

[Andrew Sosin]

No, there's no, it may come in a few decades.

[Richie Supa]

Yeah.

[Andrew Sosin]

But in, in, in our current lifetime and for the next, you know, while here. And again, I, I believe in technology. We use technology without, you know, without the, the, the, the advancement of medicine, I wouldn't be able to stand here right now after my, after the, the fire. But, but at this point we can leverage the technology to help the therapist. But we still use humans to help humans.

[Unknown]

Unbelievable. Guys, I, I've really enjoyed this and you guys are fascinating. What you guys are doing is, is groundbreaking and, and helping the world get better. And you know, I'm super happy we spent this afternoon together.

[Andrew Sosin]

Me too.

[Richie Supa]

Me too.

[Andrew Sosin]

Thank you. Look forward to delivering your. Your shirt in person.

[Unknown]

I can't wait to see you guys. I'm gonna come over. I'm gonna come over. You know, I'll probably come over in the next three, four weeks. I'm gonna be honest. Okay, so I'll be in touch with you guys.

[Andrew Sosin]

We have the feel Good Friday concerts which we now live stream.

[Unknown]

Okay.

[Andrew Sosin]

So if you're, if you're in one of our locations, let us know. You could come. We have a couple of seats in the back. And if not, you know, check out our live stream and, and watch for cheaper form on Friday afternoons.

[Richie Supa]

I'll. I'll be watching you smile.

[Unknown]

Yes, you will. Yes, you will. I'll be in touch with you guys. And for the audience, if this show touched you in any type of way, I'm. I'm sure it did. And you can share the show with somebody you know love and trust. Please go ahead and share with them. Give them the words of these two amazing men and the work that they're doing in the world. And until next time, guys, stay determined.

This one luck. I let the pain inspire me. I put my all in. Everything I'm doing up until it's done, I'm me for the entirety I put in over time I'll be working Just know I'mma go for mine cause I earned it. They watch and I know it's time I confirmed it. The whole society determined determination.