Recovery Lab

The Yana Club has been the heart of recovery in Jackson, Mississippi for nearly 50 years, providing thousands of alcoholics and addicts with a safe place to attend meetings, find sponsors, build friendships, and begin a new way of life.
In Episode 147 of The Recovery Lab Podcast, Daniel Anderson and David Sugg welcome Emma Johnson, Walter Boon, and Vernon Jones for an important conversation about the past, present, and future of the Yana Club.
The guests discuss the devastating fire that damaged the clubhouse earlier this year, the unexpected challenges that followed, including asbestos remediation, structural repairs, roofing, flooring, accessibility improvements, and other expenses not covered by insurance. They also explain why preserving Yana is about much more than restoring a building. It’s about protecting one of the most important recovery resources in Central Mississippi.
You’ll hear how the newly formed Yana Finance Committee is working alongside the Board of Directors to create long-term financial stability through a monthly membership program, community partnerships, fundraising efforts, and a vision that will allow the clubhouse to serve future generations.
The conversation also explores why service work is essential to long-term recovery, the importance of helping newcomers, the unique role clubhouses play within the recovery community, and how every person who has ever benefited from Yana has an opportunity to help ensure its doors remain open.
Whether Yana played a role in your recovery or you simply believe everyone deserves a safe place to find hope, this episode is a reminder that recovery is strongest when a community comes together to give back.
To learn more about the Yana Club, become a monthly member, or support their mission, visit www.yanaclubms.com⁠.
Produced by Daniel Anderson at Audio Alchemy Productions. 

On this powerful episode of Recovery Lab, Brynn, Daniel, and David sit down with Cordie Rodenbaugh and Renee Clements, two mothers carrying unimaginable grief and turning it into action.
 
Cordie shares the story of her son, Parker, whose death led to the creation of Parker’s Law, legislation designed to hold drug dealers accountable when their actions lead to death. Renee shares the heartbreaking story of her son, Mason, who died at just 18 years old after fentanyl changed the course of his life and devastated everyone who loved him.
 
Together, they discuss grief, stigma, fentanyl poisoning, Narcan, justice, motherhood, and the upcoming Walk for Lives event in Madison, Mississippi. This community event honors lives lost, educates families, provides free Narcan, connects people with recovery resources, and reminds us that this crisis can impact any family.
 
Join the Walk for Lives on Saturday, July 11, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at 100 Liberty Park Drive in Madison, Mississippi. Bring your family, hear powerful stories, connect with local resources, and help raise awareness about the dangers of fentanyl and synthetic drugs.
 
This episode is heavy, honest, and deeply important. It is a call to show up, say their names, support grieving families, and help save lives.
 
No shame. No judgment. Just truth, grace, and hope.
 
Produced by Daniel Anderson at Audio Alchemy Productions.

In Episode #143 of the Recovery Lab Podcast, Brynn Knox, David Sugg, and Daniel Anderson welcome Stephanie Hathorne, a therapist with The Shepherd’s Staff and founder of Broken Branch Equine Assisted Psychotherapy in Mount Olive, Mississippi.
Stephanie shares her personal journey through anxiety, panic, depression, therapy, faith, and healing, and how those experiences eventually led her into the counseling field. She also opens up about the impact of Ruth Glaze, the sacred work being done at The Shepherd’s Staff, and the importance of therapists doing their own healing work.
The conversation then moves into the world of equine assisted psychotherapy, where horses become powerful mirrors for honesty, boundaries, trust, regulation, and emotional awareness. Stephanie explains why horses are uniquely able to sense misalignment, respond to anxiety, reveal hidden patterns, and help clients work through trauma, addiction recovery, neurodiversity, family dynamics, and emotional blocks in a way traditional talk therapy sometimes cannot reach.
This episode explores therapy, recovery, nature, faith, vulnerability, and the healing power of being fully present.
Topics include:
Equine assisted psychotherapy • Addiction recovery and emotional healing • Anxiety, panic, and depression • The role of horses in trauma work • Boundaries, trust, and self-awareness • Neurodiversity, ADHD, autism, and family support • The importance of nature, grounding, and regulation • Why healing sometimes happens without words
Sometimes the truth we need most is revealed in silence.

On episode 142 of the Recovery Lab Podcast, David Sugg, Brynn Knox, and Daniel Anderson welcome Darryl Brown into the Audio Alchemy Studios from Dallas, Texas for an honest and deeply inspiring conversation about addiction, recovery, leadership, and transformation.
Darryl Brown is a strategic advisor, activist, speaker, consultant, and former Executive Vice-President of ABC Radio Networks who has spent decades helping organizations, universities, and communities create meaningful change through compassion, equity, and leadership. He currently serves on the Board of Trustees at Fordham University, is a leader within the First Unitarian Church of Dallas, cohosts the Compassionate Leaders Circle podcast.
But today’s conversation goes far beyond titles and accomplishments.
Darryl opens up about what life used to look like before sobriety, the struggles and turning points that changed everything, and what life looks like today living in recovery. He shares powerful insight into identity, healing, leadership, accountability, and the importance of connection and purpose.
The conversation also explores: • Addiction and recovery in high performance environments • Leadership through compassion and service • The connection between athletics, discipline, and recovery • Race, equity, and creating opportunities for others • Spiritual growth and personal transformation • What true success really looks like after recovery
This is a raw, thoughtful, and hope-filled episode from a man who has experienced both professional success and personal redemption, and who now dedicates his life to helping others grow, heal, and lead with purpose.
 
Produced by Daniel Anderson at Audio Alchemy Productions.

In Episode 141 of the Recovery Lab Podcast, Brynn Knox, David Sugg, and Daniel Anderson welcome Jordan Butler for an honest and powerful conversation about addiction, relationship with food challenges, recovery, community, and what it looks like when survival turns into service.
 
Jordan shares how her struggle began in high school with food, exercise, control, and the need to change the way she felt. Over time, that pattern shifted into alcohol, drugs, isolation, and a life that looked functional on the outside while everything was falling apart underneath.
 
This episode walks through Jordan’s journey from Jackson to college, New Orleans, the Arkansas Delta, and back home again, where she finally found recovery, connection, and a new way to live. Her story is a reminder that healing often begins when we stop trying to hold everything together alone.
 
Jordan also shares about the First Annual McCoy House Recovery Classic, an alcohol-free charity golf tournament supporting The McCoy House Extended Care for Women’s mission to provide a safe, supportive space for women in recovery.
 
McCoy House Recovery Classic Tournament 2026
Date: Friday, May 8, 2026
Location: Live Oaks Golf Club, 11200 US 49 N, Jackson, MS 39209
Format: Four-person scramble
Cost: $1,000 per team or $250 per player
Grand prizes include:
4 days and 3 nights at a Gulf Shores beach house, golf equipment valued at $2,500, a $1,000 Koestler Prime gift card, and a hole-in-one prize for a new Honda from Patty Peck.
 
For more information, email denise@themccoyhouse.com or visit www.themccoyhouse.com.
 
Produced by Daniel Anderson at Audio Alchemy Productions.
 
#RecoveryLabPodcast #RecoveryLab #JordanButler #McCoyHouse #McCoyHouseRecoveryClassic #AddictionRecovery #EatingDisorderRecovery #Sobriety #RecoveryJourney #JacksonMS #MississippiRecovery #SoberCommunity #WomenInRecovery #HopeInRecovery #AudioAlchemyProductions

What are the 12 steps, really, and why do people in recovery talk about them like their lives depend on them?
In Episode #140 of Recovery Lab, Brynn Knox, David Sugg, and Daniel Anderson break down the 12 steps in plain language for people who may not be in addiction recovery themselves, but want to understand what this process actually is and why it matters so much.
This episode walks step by step through the spiritual principles, personal honesty, surrender, accountability, amends, and daily maintenance that make long-term recovery possible. Along the way, the conversation gets deeply personal as the hosts share their own experiences with powerlessness, rock bottom moments, resentment, character defects, sponsorship, making amends, and learning how to live differently.
This is an honest, practical, and hope-filled conversation for anyone curious about recovery, whether you are in it yourself, love someone who is, or have heard about the 12 steps and never fully understood what they mean.
Recovery is not about perfection. It is about honesty, action, growth, and learning how to live free.
#RecoveryLab #AddictionRecovery #12Steps #Sobriety #AlcoholicsAnonymous #RecoveryPodcast #Healing #MentalHealth #SpiritualGrowth #SoberLiving
 
Produced by Daniel Anderson at Audio Alchemy Productions. 

In Episode 139 of The Recovery Lab Podcast, David Sugg and Brynn Knox welcome back Kirk Hartley for part 2 of his powerful story. If you missed part 1, go back and listen to Episode 136 first.
In this deeply moving conversation, Kirk shares what it looked like to walk through unimaginable loss while staying sober. He opens up about the death of his son, the healing and reconciliation he experienced with his father before his passing, the ups and downs of marriage in recovery, and the hard lessons that came from anger, grief, and surrender.
Kirk also shares the heartbreaking journey of walking alongside his wife Joanne through Lewy body dementia, honoring her with unwavering love and care until her final breath. Through every season, loss, parenthood, marriage, recovery, and service, Kirk’s story points back to one truth: staying connected to God, the program, and the fellowship is what keeps us ready for life’s hardest moments.
This episode is full of wisdom for anyone in recovery, anyone grieving, and anyone wondering whether long-term sobriety is really worth it. Kirk’s answer is clear: absolutely.
 
#RecoveryLabPodcast #RecoveryLab #AddictionRecovery #Sobriety #LongTermSobriety #Healing #GriefAndRecovery #HopeAfterLoss #AARecovery #TwelveStepRecovery #RecoveryJourney #MentalHealth #FaithAndRecovery #Inspiration #Podcast
This episode is produced by Daniel Anderson at Audio Alchemy Productions. 
 

In Episode 138 of Recovery Lab, David Sugg sits down with Dedria Black, Executive Director of Harbor House Chemical Dependency Services, Jacqueline Lampley, Assistant Executive Director, and Chris Bates for a powerful conversation about the real work of recovery in Mississippi.
With Brynn at home caring for a sick family this week, the discussion dives deep into the mission of Harbor House, a long-standing treatment organization that has been serving individuals battling substance use disorders for more than 50 years. The conversation explores how Harbor House supports men and women in recovery through residential treatment, co-occurring disorder care, MAT support, veteran services, peer support, and transitional programming.
This episode also takes an honest look at the growing challenges facing people in recovery today, including homelessness, trauma, re-entry after incarceration, lack of permanent housing, and the stigma surrounding addiction treatment. Dedria and Jacqueline share how Harbor House is working to become a fully trauma-informed organization, not only for clients, but also for the staff who carry the weight of this work every day.
Chris Bates offers insight from the board level, while David shares a deeply personal connection to Harbor House and the life-changing impact it had on his own family.
This is a moving conversation about dignity, hope, recovery, and what it means to truly meet people where they are.
 
#RecoveryLab #AddictionRecovery #HarborHouse #SubstanceAbuseRecovery #MentalHealth #TraumaInformedCare #MAT #Sobriety #RecoveryPodcast #MississippiRecovery #AddictionTreatment #HopeInRecovery #CoOccurringDisorders #VeteranRecovery #SoberLiving
 
This episode is produced by Daniel Anderson at Audio Alchemy Productions. 

Welcome back to The Recovery Lab, where we dive deep into the struggles, victories, and hope that stem from recovery: no shame, no judgment, just truth, grace, and inspiration.
On Episode 137, it’s just Brynn and Daniel in the studio today, as David Sugg is out sick. Feel better soon, brother.
Today’s guest is Daniel Phyfer, a man who has told his story publicly, felt the weight of that vulnerability, and kept showing up anyway. Daniel grew up in Jackson, went to Prep, and came up in what he calls the “Northeast Jackson bubble”, a world full of pressure, image management, and the exhausting need to be somebody for everybody else. Underneath the humor and the “cool kid” persona was fear, insecurity, perfectionism, and a deep discomfort in his own skin.
Daniel walks us through how early drinking, daily marijuana use, and eventually pills became the way he learned to cope, until addiction took everything. He opens up about grief he never processed, including the overdose death of his college roommate, the shame spiral that followed, and the moment his life hit a terrifying breaking point: flipping his truck on I-55 after a night out and realizing his first thought was finding his pills before the cops arrived.
From there, Daniel shares what it looked like to go to treatment, relapse, and finally surrender in long term recovery. He talks about the work that changed him: high accountability, mirror work, learning how to accept unconditional love, processing grief, and building real relationships for the first time. He also shares how returning home and immersing himself in the recovery community became the foundation for everything that followed.
Now, years sober, Daniel works in the treatment field at Defining Wellness, and he gets brutally honest about the reality: working in treatment can be consuming, even dangerous for your own recovery, if you stop doing the things that got you well. You’ll hear a powerful conversation on boundaries, delegation, honesty in recovery, what treatment centers get wrong, why transparency matters, and why “people trust people” more than brands.
The episode closes with one of the realest parts of the whole conversation: parenting in recovery, learning how to communicate in a way he never could as a kid, and the hope that his boys will grow up knowing they can talk about what they feel without shame.
If you’re struggling, if someone you love is struggling, or if you’re sober and quietly exhausted trying to hold it all together, this episode is for you.
Guest contact: Daniel Phyfer is on social platforms under his name, and you can reach him by email at daniel@definingwellness.com 
#RecoveryLabPodcast #Recovery #AddictionRecovery #Sobriety #TwelveSteps #AA #NA #RecoveryCommunity #Surrender #Healing #TraumaRecovery #GriefInRecovery #MentalHealth #Treatment #DefiningWellness #ParentingInRecovery #MississippiRecovery #JacksonMS #Hope #OneDayAtATime
 
This episode is produced by Daniel Anderson at Audio Alchemy Productions. 

On part 1 of episode 136 of the Recovery Lab Podcast, David Sugg, Brynn Knox, and Daniel Anderson welcome Kirk Hartley to the Audio Alchemy studios for a heartfelt and honest conversation about long term sobriety and service.
Kirk humbly describes himself as “just an ole garden variety drunk and junkie,” but his story tells a much deeper story of transformation and purpose. Sober since July 6, 1986, Kirk shares the journey that carried him from the early days of recovery into decades of meaningful work helping others find their way.
Kirk began his career at COPAC in 1988 as a therapist, later becoming the Adventurer Based Therapy Ropes Course Director in 1989. He moved into marketing in 1993 and served as Marketing Director from 1995 through July 2012. After a wide range of experiences in the years that followed, Kirk retired in October 2022.
Retirement has not slowed him down. Today, Kirk remains deeply committed to the recovery community through active involvement with the Madison Ridgeland Group and by reaching out to men who are seeking freedom from addiction.
This episode is a powerful reminder that long term recovery is built on gratitude, humility, and consistent service to others.
We couldn’t carry the message without the support of our community. Today’s podcast is brought to you by Fondren Recovery Homes in Jackson, Mississippi. 
#RecoveryLabPodcast #AddictionRecovery #SobrietyJourney #RecoveryCommunity #AARecovery #SoberLife #MadisonRidgeland #HopeInRecovery #AudioAlchemy #DoTheWork
 
This episode is produced by Daniel Anderson at Audio Alchemy Productions.