Garrett Gomez had been through treatment before. He knew the language, the rules, and even what people wanted to hear.

What he did not yet know was how to change. In this candid conversation with biographer Rodolfo Alvarado, Garrett recalls jail, his arrival at Impact House—the rehabilitation center he called “the last house on the hill”—and the sometimes absurd, uncomfortable experiences that began breaking through his defenses. Along the way, Garrett confronts a harder truth: knowing how to talk about recovery was very different from becoming willing to do the work.