Chico West SHARES his 32 years of sobriety and explains how he was raised in a family where alcohol was part of the fabric of his life as a young person. The death of his father and aunt in separate alcohol related automobile accidents created fear and anger in him as a young boy. Chico started to drink regularly soon after his fathers accident and it helped ease the pain and sadness. Chico began to act like a wild child when he drank during the teen years of his life. His alcoholism escalated quickly and blackouts soon became a problem. After he assaulted a peace officer in Texas he knew it was time to ask for help, he was scared. Chico ended up at a treatment center called Sierra Tucson and then was transferred to a sober living facility in Atlanta, GA. This were he was introduced to twelve step AA recovery and began his journey to long term sobriety. Chico grew up with a strong belief in God, but he did not believe that he would be forgiven for his sins. As he gained traction in recovery and learned about forgiveness via the AA program his understanding of the Bible opened up in a whole new way and his life took off in a positive direction. Mr West has owned sober living houses, Drug and Alcohol treatment centers and provided assistance to facilitate interventions on loved ones. Addiction counselor Chico and his wife Shannon host a podcast called FILTER OPTIONAL that lends their years of experience to offer a unique perspective from both the filter (Shannon) and the no filter (Chico). Mr West no longer lives on the corer of fear and insecurity, he has indeed changed locations to the corner of Hope and Serenity.
