Meet PATRICK POTTER

We had the good fortune of connecting with PATRICK POTTER and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi PATRICK, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
“Honestly? I got tired of watching the system fail people and then pretend it worked. After decades in the field—intervention, crisis management, working directly with families and addicts—I saw the same pattern over and over: short-term fixes, insurance-driven care, and a total disconnect from what actually produces long-term recovery.

So I stopped playing by their rules and built something real.

Bunkhouse Behavioral Health came out of necessity. It’s a response to the polished but ineffective treatment industry—an industry more focused on paperwork than people, on liability over transformation. I wanted to build something that combined clinical structure with street-tested truth. Something grounded in experience, not theory.

It’s spiritual. It’s structured. It’s brutally honest. And it’s designed for one thing: to actually help people get better—not just check a box, not just complete a program, but actually transform their lives.

And yeah, I make a living doing it. But I sleep at night knowing no one walks through my door and gets lied to.”

What should our readers know about your business?
Bunkhouse Behavioral Health didn’t start because I wanted to run a business—it started because I had no choice.
After three decades in the recovery world, I got tired of watching people get run through a broken system: overpriced, overmedicated, overhyped—and completely disconnected from what real recovery looks like.

I’ve been clean since 1994. I’ve worked in the field since 1995. I’ve done over 400 successful interventions. I hold a Bachelor’s in Psychology, a Master’s in Criminology, a Master’s in Business, and a Juris Doctorate. I’m also a certified drug and alcohol counselor. And I use my private investigator licenses across multiple states to support my intervention and crisis management work at a level of legal and ethical accountability that this field frankly doesn’t offer anywhere else.

But that’s not what makes Bunkhouse different.

What makes us different is the way we do the work.

We don’t take insurance.
We don’t sell 28-day miracle cures.
And we don’t pretend that “stability” is the same as freedom.

Bunkhouse Behavioral Health is built on truth: 12 Steps, 12 Traditions, 12 Concepts—the 36 principles that give people a design for living. We pair that with real structure, purpose-based recovery, and direct work with families who are in the fire right now. It’s honest, spiritual, disciplined, and designed to actually work.

And no—it hasn’t been easy. I’ve had to fight towns to open sober homes. I’ve been in legal battles for trying to build recovery spaces in communities that wanted addicts to stay hidden. I’ve had the recovery industry side-eye me for not toeing the party line.

But I’m still here. Bunkhouse is still here. And the results speak for themselves.

What I want people to know is this: there’s a better way.
Recovery is possible. Full, lasting recovery—not just management.
But it requires surrender, structure, and truth.
And that’s what we deliver—every single time.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
The Bunkhouse Reset Week (L.A. Edition)

A seven-day recalibration for people who’ve been living too fast, too numb, or too disconnected.

Day 1 – Land Soft
No black car service, no Hollywood flex. I’ll pick you up at LAX myself.

First stop: In-N-Out. Because that’s how we bless someone into California—grease, salt, and truth in a paper wrapper.

We skip the tourist traps. Dinner is simple, cooked at home, probably grilled. Ribeyes and roasted Brussels sprouts with hot honey.
We sit on the porch and talk. Not small talk. Maybe a cigar. Real talk. About what hurts, what’s working, and what you forgot you cared about.

Day 2 – Sweat + Simplicity
Sunrise hike—Griffith Park or Temescal Canyon. Just enough to get your lungs working again. Then breakfast at a no-frills diner. No activated charcoal. No golden milk. Just eggs, potatoes, and coffee poured without asking.

We spend the afternoon unplugging—not spiritually, digitally. Phones down. Walls down. A little silence, maybe a little laughter. Already, something’s shifting.

Day 3 & 4 – The Great Unplug
We pack a cooler, some rods, cast iron and hit the road like it’s 1996. Kern or Kings River—depending on what your soul needs more: riverwater or stillness.

This is the 36-Hour Unplug, Bunkhouse-style. No cell service. No agenda. Just the sound of water, stars overhead, and that rare feeling of actually being here.

We eat fireside meals, talk without distraction, and wake up to the sound of something other than notifications.

By the end of Day 4, your nervous system’s been reacquainted with something it forgot: peace.

Day 5 – Arrowhead Alignment
On the drive back, we stop in Lake Arrowhead. We hike the rim. Breathe real pine air. Maybe catch a bar with live music and good people who don’t give a damn about social media followers.

You’ll talk to strangers. You’ll say real things. And somewhere in the middle of it, you’ll remember who you are.

Day 6 – Ground Down
This is our chill day. Mornings at the barn. Animals that don’t ask for anything but your presence. We ride, we rest, we reset.

We cook together. We laugh. We don’t fix anything—we just let it be.

That night, maybe you sit by the fire, maybe you say something you didn’t think you’d ever say out loud. That’s what stillness does.

Day 7 – Go Home New
Sunrise coffee. One last deep talk.
We drive slow back to LAX—not because we’re stalling, but because there’s nothing left to rush.

You board the plane lighter.
No new trauma unpacked. No 10-step plans. Just a soul that’s quieter. A mind that’s clearer. A heart that got reintroduced to truth.

That’s the Bunkhouse Reset.
Not a retreat. Not a program.
Just the real you—unfiltered, unburdened, and finally back in your own body.

Not curated. Not clinical.
Just real life—with a little road dust and a lot of peace.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
“Yeah—this isn’t a one-man show. Recovery never is.

First shoutout goes to the men who walked me through the fire when I was brand new. The ones who didn’t coddle me, didn’t sugarcoat it, and didn’t let me lie to myself.
Guys like Johnny Segal, Ray Grossa, two of the founding members of Cocaine Anonymous—they didn’t just sponsor me, they taught me how to live like a man with integrity. They’re both gone now, but their fingerprints are all over my work.

I also owe a massive debt to every family who’s trusted me in their darkest hour. That kind of faith sharpens you. It demands that you show up—calm, clear, and ready to carry weight that most people don’t even want to look at. They’ve taught me as much as I’ve ever given them.

And I’ll be real: the 12-step community saved my life.
Not the literature. Not the slogans. The people.
One addict helping another, no paycheck, no agenda—just truth, service, and grace.

So yeah. I built Bunkhouse. But I didn’t build myself. That credit goes to the mentors, misfits, old-timers, and higher power moments that got me here alive.”

Website: https://www.bunkhouserecovery.com/

Instagram: @bunkhouserecovery

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pat-potter-jd-mba-ms-bs-cadc-5035312a5/

Facebook: @bunkhouserecovery

Image Credits
Bunkhouse Behavioral Health and Patrick Potter