The Hopeaholics

In this episode of The Hopeaholics Podcast, we sit down with Dave Marquess, creator of Relapse vs Recovery, a recovery-based card game, to discuss his extraordinary journey through addiction, incarceration, and ultimately finding purpose in sobriety.
Growing up in Philadelphia's Kensington neighborhood, Dave was surrounded by addiction from an early age. With both parents struggling with substance abuse, his childhood was marked by instability, chaos, and exposure to drugs. By his early teens, Dave was already experimenting with PCP, eventually spiraling into years of heroin and cocaine addiction, drug dealing, incarceration, and life-threatening experiences.
From smoking PCP before school to calling his own mother to learn how to inject heroin, Dave opens up about the devastating realities of addiction and the environment that shaped his early life. After enduring brutal withdrawals, repeated encounters with the law, and countless rock-bottom moments, he eventually reached a turning point that changed the course of his life.
Today, approaching a decade of sobriety, Dave has transformed his experiences into something meaningful. As the creator of Relapse vs Recovery, a satirical card game inspired by the realities of addiction and recovery, he's using humor, creativity, and shared experiences to bring people together and make sober living more engaging.
Throughout this conversation, we explore generational addiction, the psychological toll of substance abuse, the challenges of rebuilding a life in recovery, and how Dave turned some of his darkest experiences into a creative outlet that helps others connect, laugh, and heal.
Dave's story is a powerful reminder that no matter how far addiction takes someone, recovery is possible, and sometimes finding purpose means learning to laugh along the way.
Connect with Dave Marquess:
Instagram: @relapsevsrecoverygame
Follow The Hopeaholics Podcast:
Instagram: @thehopeaholics
Subscribe for more conversations about addiction, recovery, mental health, and stories of hope.
#TheHopeaholics #DaveMarquess #RelapseVsRecovery #AddictionRecovery #HeroinAddiction #Sobriety #RecoveryIsPossible #MentalHealthAwareness

Follow the Hopeaholics on our Socials:
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Go to www.Wolfpak.com today and support our sponsors. Don't forget to use code: HOPEAHOLICSPODCAST for 10% off!

Visit our Treatment Centers: https://www.hopebythesea.com
If you or a loved one needs help, please call or text 949-615-8588. We have the resources to treat mental health and addiction. 

Sponsored by the Infiniti Group LLC:
https://www.infinitigroupllc.com 

Join our patreon to get access to an EXTRA EPISODE every week of ‘Off the Record’, exclusive content, a thriving recovery community, and opportunities to be featured on the podcast. https://patreon.com/TheHopeaholics 

Our Merch: 
https://thehopeaholics.myshopify.com

#TheHopeaholics #redemption #recovery #AlcoholAddiction #AddictionRecovery #wedorecover #SobrietyJourney #MyStory #Hope #wedorecover #treatmentcenter #natalieevamarie

At the height of her addiction, Abbey Fickley lost custody of her daughter to her own parents. Then, in one of the most painful turning points of her life, her father pressed felony charges against her. What followed was a journey through addiction, motherhood, sobriety, and the difficult reality of rebuilding a life in recovery.

In this powerful episode of The Hopeaholics Podcast, we sit down with Abbey Fickley, a mother and recovery advocate, to discuss the devastating impact of substance abuse on her family, the heartbreak of losing custody of her daughter, and the life-changing decisions that ultimately pushed her toward sobriety.

Abbey opens up about navigating addiction as a single mother, the consequences of substance use disorder, and the complicated role of tough love in addiction recovery. When her parents stepped in to protect her daughter, Abbey was forced to confront the reality of her addiction and the damage it was causing to the people she loved most.

She also reflects on her father's decision to press felony charges against her, a painful experience that became a pivotal moment in her recovery journey. Through accountability, healing, and a commitment to change, Abbey began rebuilding her life and repairing the relationships that addiction had impacted.

This conversation goes beyond addiction and sobriety. It's about motherhood, family intervention, generational healing, forgiveness, and what it truly takes to break free from the cycle of addiction.

For anyone struggling with addiction, navigating recovery as a parent, or loving someone battling substance abuse, Abbey's story is a reminder that even when everything feels lost, recovery and a different future are possible.

Watch this powerful conversation with Abbey Fickley on The Hopeaholics Podcast.

Subscribe for more real conversations about addiction recovery, mental health, sobriety, family relationships, and second chances.

#AbbeyFickley #AddictionRecovery #TheHopeaholics

Follow the Hopeaholics on our Socials:
https://www.instagram.com/thehopeaholics 
https://linktr.ee/thehopeaholics

Go to www.Wolfpak.com today and support our sponsors. Don't forget to use code: HOPEAHOLICSPODCAST for 10% off!

Visit our Treatment Centers: https://www.hopebythesea.com
If you or a loved one needs help, please call or text 949-615-8588. We have the resources to treat mental health and addiction. 

Sponsored by the Infiniti Group LLC:
https://www.infinitigroupllc.com 

Join our patreon to get access to an EXTRA EPISODE every week of ‘Off the Record’, exclusive content, a thriving recovery community, and opportunities to be featured on the podcast. https://patreon.com/TheHopeaholics 

Our Merch: 
https://thehopeaholics.myshopify.com

At 18 years old, Ian Bick was running a nightclub and booking major artists. Just a few years later, everything came crashing down — leaving him facing massive debt, federal charges, and ultimately three years in federal prison.

In this episode of The Hopeaholics Podcast, Ian Bick shares the unbelievable rise, fall, and comeback that completely changed the course of his life.

Ian opens up about the pressure of finding success so young, the decisions that led to his federal conviction, what life was really like behind bars, solitary confinement, and the reality of rebuilding your life after prison. But Ian’s story didn’t end there.

After his release, he eventually turned his experiences into a platform for second chances, redemption, and conversations about the criminal justice system. Today, he is the host of Locked In with Ian Bick, where he sits down with former inmates, law enforcement, attorneys, victims, and others to tell stories from every side of the system.

This is a conversation about ambition, consequences, accountability, resilience, and what it takes to rebuild after losing everything.

$1.2 MILLION in Debt & Facing Federal Prison with Ian Bick | The Hopeaholics Rereleased

CHECK OUT IAN BICK HERE: https://www.youtube.com/@ianbickCT 

Follow the Hopeaholics on our Socials:
https://www.instagram.com/thehopeaholics 
https://linktr.ee/thehopeaholics

Go to www.Wolfpak.com today and support our sponsors. Don't forget to use code: PODCAST HOPEAHOLICS for 10% off!

Visit our Treatment Centers: https://www.hopebythesea.com
If you or a loved one needs help, please call or text 949-615-8588. We have the resources to treat mental health and addiction. 

Sponsored by the Infiniti Group LLC:
https://www.infinitigroupllc.com 

Join our patreon to get access to an EXTRA EPISODE every week of ‘Off the Record’, exclusive content, a thriving recovery community, and opportunities to be featured on the podcast. https://patreon.com/TheHopeaholics 

Our Merch: 
https://thehopeaholics.myshopify.com

#TheHopeaholics #redemption #recovery #AlcoholAddiction #AddictionRecovery #wedorecover #SobrietyJourney #MyStory #Hope #wedorecover #treatmentcenter #natalieevamarie

In this re-released episode of The Hopeaholics Podcast #109, Orange County Sheriff Don Barnes shares warnings about fentanyl, the rise of counterfeit pills and the programs his department developed as the crisis grew. Sheriff Don Barnes has spent more than 35 years in law enforcement and has been confronting the fentanyl crisis in Orange County since his department began seeing the drug in 2015. 

Barnes discusses naloxone deployment by deputies, medication-assisted treatment inside the jail, reentry programs, counterfeit pills sold as Xanax, Percocet and Adderall, social media drug sales, youth drug education, mental health crisis response and why he believes there is no single solution to fentanyl.

We Should Have Seen the Fentanyl Crisis Coming w/ Sheriff Don Barnes | Re-Release #109

Follow the Hopeaholics on our Socials:
https://www.instagram.com/thehopeaholics 
https://linktr.ee/thehopeaholics

Go to www.Wolfpak.com today and support our sponsors. Don't forget to use code: HOPEAHOLICSPODCAST for 10% off!

Visit our Treatment Centers: https://www.hopebythesea.com
If you or a loved one needs help, please call or text 949-615-8588. We have the resources to treat mental health and addiction. 

Sponsored by the Infiniti Group LLC:
https://www.infinitigroupllc.com 

Join our patreon to get access to an EXTRA EPISODE every week of ‘Off the Record’, exclusive content, a thriving recovery community, and opportunities to be featured on the podcast. https://patreon.com/TheHopeaholics 

Our Merch: 
https://thehopeaholics.myshopify.com

#TheHopeaholics #redemption #recovery #AlcoholAddiction #AddictionRecovery #wedorecover #SobrietyJourney #MyStory #Hope #wedorecover #treatmentcenter #natalieevamarie

0:00:00 Intro
0:05:54 Orange County starts seeing fentanyl in 2015
0:13:41 Addiction treatment inside the Orange County Jail
0:16:15 Prop 47, drug arrests and consequences for addiction
0:23:56 Marijuana, psychosis and the developing brain
0:29:19 Addiction, mental illness and homelessness
0:32:31 Why short insurance stays fail people in treatment
0:36:55 Reentry, relapse risk and counterfeit pills
0:41:35 "If it's not from a pharmacist, it's fentanyl"
0:50:02 Kids selling fentanyl and the changing drug market
0:52:39 Cartels, trafficking and border security
1:00:45 Overdose vs. poisoning
1:05:38 Fentanyl dealers, murder charges and criminal liability
1:12:13 Barnes recalls years of warnings about fentanyl
1:18:36 How Narcan races against fentanyl
1:25:59 What Orange County's death investigations show about addiction
1:36:20 Fentanyl deaths among teens and talking to your kids
1:52:51 The arrest Barnes says helped change one man's life
2:01:24 Mental health stigma and Orange County's Be Well centers
2:16:11 Chad: "This is a podcast that I wish never existed"
2:19:45 Chad thanks the deputies who helped save his life
2:22:43 Preventable deaths, education and final thoughts

Retired Long Beach Fire Captain James Owen spent his career running toward other people’s emergencies while addiction, trauma, and post-traumatic stress were building behind the badge.

In this episode of The Hopeaholics, James opens up about the murder of his close friend and fellow firefighter Captain Dave Rosa, surviving a motorcycle crash that broke his neck, losing and rebuilding his sobriety, and the realization that ultimately changed his life: after spending his career trying to save everyone else, the last patient he needed to save was himself.

James joined the Long Beach Fire Department and built the career he had dreamed about, eventually becoming a fire captain. But as the job became more of his identity, his recovery began to disappear. After years of sobriety, James found himself drinking again while dealing with divorce, overwhelming stress, internal investigations, traumatic calls, and the cumulative weight of life as a first responder.

James also discusses first responder PTSD and suicide, Alcoholics Anonymous, Adult Children of Alcoholics and Dysfunctional Families (ACA), nonlinear recovery, alternative recovery modalities, the importance of continuing to seek new ways to heal, and his book, The Last Patient.

Firefighter PTSD, Addiction & the Cost of Being "Tough" w/ James Owen | The Hopeaholics Podcast #363