INTERNATIONAL CHAMPION OF RECOVERY RUSSELL BRAND BRINGS INSPIRING MESSAGE OF HOPE TO SUNRISE DETOX IN ALPHARETTA, GEORGIA

Patients at Sunrise Detox in Georgia received a powerful boost to their recovery journey when international celebrity and recovery advocate Russell Brand visited the Alpharetta facility last week. Known for his outspoken support for sobriety, Brand took time away from filming near Atlanta to see recovery in action at one of the area’s leading detox centers.

The visit was sparked by a chance encounter at a local AA meeting, where a patient’s mother mentioned Sunrise Detox with admiration for its programs. Inspired by her story, Brand decided to drop by, arriving at the facility around 10 AM. Clinical Director Nicole Aussin and Nursing Director Karen Stansell greeted him warmly and provided a tour of the state-of-the-art facility.

Engaging with Patients

Brand’s interactions in the hallways with patients were personal and engaging. He took time to ask them about their detox experiences, their struggles with addiction, and the challenges they face in maintaining sobriety.

Sharing Hope and Recovery

The group session lasted over two hours, with patients openly sharing their
experiences. Brand listened, offered insights, and challenged participants to confront their struggles. He also took time to sign books, write personal notes, and take pictures with those who attended.
"As I walked him out," said Ms. Aussin, "Russell shared his appreciation for our facility and expressed a strong interest in returning to Alpharetta. He’s always ready to support those on their lifelong journey to sobriety." (Brand seen below with Ms. Aussin, Karen Stansell, Director of Nursing, and Teresa Graham, Executive Director, along with Sunrise Alpharetta patients.)

A Champion of the 12 Steps

Russell Brand’s life has been a testament to the power of the 12-Step program. From his tumultuous childhood in England to becoming a celebrated comedian, actor, and activist, Brand’s most significant achievement has been his 20-year journey of sobriety.

He attributes much of his recovery to the principles of the 12 Steps, which he broke down during the group session, making them more accessible to patients.

“The 12-Step program, which has saved my life, will change the lives of anyone who embraces it. I have seen it work many times with people with addiction issues of every hue,” Brand wrote in one of the books he shared with the patients.

Lessons from Experience

During his visit, Brand spoke about the brain’s response to substances, the role of dopamine, and the heightened risks for teenagers whose brains are still developing. He described his early attempts to quit and the challenges of detox, acknowledging that the twelve steps used by almost all mutual help groups provided him with a path to recovery that he continues to follow today.

“What this program asks us to consider is the possibility of hope. Hope that a different perspective is possible. Hope that there is a different way,” said Brand in his Sunrise group session. He took the time to analyze each of the 12 Steps, with some patient pushback, in a way that only someone who has truly been lost to self-destructive behavior and substance use disorders can do. 

1. We admitted that we were powerless over our addiction, that our lives had become unmanageable.

2. We came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.

3. We made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.

4. We made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.

5. We admitted to God, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.

6. We were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.

7. We humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.

8. We made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all.

9. We made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.

10. We continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.

11. We sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.

12. Having had a spiritual awakening as a result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to addicts, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

But like many of those with substance use disorders who attempt the Steps for the first time, Brand did not quite connect with them at first, adding, “The reason I worked the 12 Steps was because I was desperate. The reason I continue is because they have awakened me," a welcome message for all the patients in attendance.

Brand wants to give back by sharing his message of recovery with others who are still where he once was in early recovery, like so many of the detox-ing Georgia patients, so it was a fortuitous visit for those still trying to find recovery pathways at: Drug & Alcohol Detox Atlanta | Sunrise Detox Alpharetta, GA

An Inspiring Message of Hope in Georgia

“For all of his celebrity, our clients saw that he holds himself accountable,” said Teresa Graham, Executive Director of Praesum Healthcare’s Georgia operations. “By shining a light on his own struggles and triumphs, Russell Brand has robbed the disease of much of its power. It was such an inspiring visit for our men and women struggling with early recovery.”

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