The Recovery Tool Belt: Addiction Vs. Physical Dependence And Medication Myths

Today, I sit down with Trent Carter, a nurse practitioner, entrepreneur, and founder of Renew Health—an addiction and mental health clinic network dedicated to changing how we treat substance abuse. Mr. Carter saw a massive gap in addiction care across rural New Mexico and decided to do something about it. What began with a vision and a leap of faith has now grown into a statewide system offering individualized, science-based recovery without the red tape of traditional rehab.

We talk about how Mr. Carter’s medical background and clinical experiences shaped his approach to recovery. He addresses the idea—myth—that using medication means you’re “replacing one addiction with another,” and explains how addiction is a chronic disease that deserves real treatment, just like diabetes or hypertension. We also dig into the crucial difference between addiction and physical dependence, and why understanding that distinction can help save lives and reduce shame.

Mr. Carter also opens up about the launch of his book, The Recovery Tool Belt—a self-help resource built for individuals, loved ones, and even clinicians looking for real-world tools for recovery. It’s not a one-size-fits-all step program, but a collection of strategies that meet people where they’re at.

https://www.thetrentcarter.com/

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*Couple O' Nukes LLC and Mr. Whiskey are not licensed medical entities, nor do they take responsibility for any advice or information put forth by guests. Take all advice at your own risk.

Transcript

 Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to another episode of Couple O' Nukes. As always, I'm your host, Mr. Whiskey, and I'm excited for today's episode because you know, today's guest has done something that not many people do, but a lot of great people do, which is they saw an issue and instead of just complaining about it, wallowing about it.

They went and made a solution for it. I've had guests on the show that have done that for stuff from breathing and EFT, tapping to fitness and coaching, and today we're gonna be talking about a gap he saw in the world of addiction treatment and what he has done successfully between opening up clinics to writing a book, to helping other people what that looks like.

Mr. Trent Carter, great to have you here. Hey, thank you so much for having me on. I'm excited for this conversation. Yeah. So I kind of hinted there that you saw a problem in addiction treatment, but obviously that's not where you, you didn't come out of the womb and say, oh wow. Addiction treatment is not going too well.

Tell us a little bit about your journey to how you got to that point. Sure. So, yeah, you're exactly right. I kinda stumbled into this not knowing that it was gonna be my calling. I'm thankful that I did because at this point we've helped so many people and it's something that's truly passionate to me.

But yeah, you know, so I went to school to become a registered nurse and so I did nursing for many years and then went back to school to become a nurse practitioner, and that's really where I first got a little hint of treating patients that were struggling with opioid abuse. I was doing clinical rotations with a, with a family practice doctor.

He had a private practice. And he had just a few patients that he was treating that had struggled with opioid abuse. He wasn't doing a fantastic job at it, but nonetheless, he was helping these folks out and it was changing their lives. And I thought that that was incredible to see how quickly they could make a change, how quickly they could turn around, how appreciative they were, and then, you know, finding themselves.

Transforming into the person that they used to be or that they knew they could be, but they were gripped by this addiction. And so fast forward a little bit, I ended up opening my own practice, renew Health to do that very thing. So we treat substance abuse, we treat mental health, and we're located in New Mexico.

And at this point we're statewide. We have multiple locations and we help thousands of folks out. Right. So I'd like to focus in on what was the gap you were seeing? What kind of were the flaws, or not even necessarily flaws, but things that could be done better. Yeah. So in New Mexico the gap is that there's hardly any help at all.

There's no resources really. So my first location that I opened was in Roswell, New Mexico, which many folks have probably heard of 'cause the alien crash and whatnot. Yeah. Back in, you know, many years ago there was hardly. Any help at all that's, especially that is truly dedicated for substance abuse.

Not somebody like that doctor that I had mentioned. You know, he's treating diabetes and cholesterol and you know, someone that's, ill put 'em on antibiotics, things like that. And then he just had a few patients that he was trying to help out because they had been his patients and they're coming in and he sees that they're struggling.

So he took that on himself. Hey, I can maybe help them out. And so that's gonna be most common to what was happening around here. Whereas Renew Health we're dedicated solely to that. I don't treat diabetes and blood pressure. We treat substance abuse, we treat mental health. And so that alone is a major difference.

And then, you know, again, the fact that oftentimes people who may be treating someone that's struggling with substance abuse addiction. They're not necessarily always gonna be specialized or certified in it. It's just something where maybe they've got a patient that they care for and they decided, Hey, I can try to help them out, which I think is admirable and fantastic, but if you can find someone like all our providers here at Renew Health that truly specialized in, it's all they do.

It's just gonna make a big difference. Right. I completely agree. Fortunately, the aliens didn't land and set up a, you know, a clinic or a center for addiction treatment. But I hear what you're saying a lot because it's one of my biggest critiques of the military actually, especially in the mental health provision resources and, and in general.

So something I've shared before on the show is, you know, there isn't like a dedicated financial expert. What happens is the command kind of says, all right, who here is good with finances? Petty officer, so and so, you seem like you're kind of good with finances, you know you got a nice car, you're in charge of everyone's financial responsibilities and budgeting and stuff like that.

And so yeah, you what? What we need is someone who's dedicated and certified financial expert, that is their sole job in the military. They're not also a nuclear operator who's. Working on a reactor stand and watch. And then in their free time they get jabbed with, Hey, now you gotta meet with someone and help them with their finances.

So we see that a lot in the military. Also, medical side with, Hey, there's not enough individualized care and mental health care. We have a few providers who can only see so many people, and it's a very surface level thing. It's very. Checkbox, like on a scale of one to 10, how are you feeling today?

Yesterday, this sucked. There's no specialized care. There's not enough people with degrees in certifications, in psychology, in mental health. You know, they're just, like you said, just doctors. They're just general, you know, practitioners who. Like you said or treating and then, oh, now we have to deal with this.

So I agree that that specialized, individualized care is so important for people to have. And I think, like you said, there are gaps because America is just a huge place. The world is just a huge place. And you know, we'll see, oh, there's a lot of addiction treatment stuff going on, but that doesn't mean it's in every location.

It's not readily available. And I just did an episode actually on public education and awareness about these resources, about these clinics, about how public schools should have a section. Dedicated to that where children, you know, our, our, our children, our youth that we, we care about and who are gonna take over, that they can find these resources for suicidal ideation, for getting help with alcohol or substance abuse and not worry about.

Confronting their parents or having that conversation with a teacher or a guidance counselor. So I think it's so important that people know about these resources and that they're established. So tell us a little bit about that whole process of opening up your own clinic, being an entrepreneur. Like you said, it was something you kind of stumbled upon.

So I was as a huge endeavor. Yeah, definitely. So real quick, man, I'll touch on something you said though. You know, fortunately there are people that are still willing to do something even though they're not gonna be an expert in it, right? Like you said, for sure, officer helping with finance, it is better than nothing, man.

Another thought is, hey look, if you've got a buddy that's not a mechanic, but he's able to do a couple things on your vehicle and come help you out, we appreciate that, but as soon as it gets too complex. What's the answer? You go to the mechanic that knows what to do. Right. And it's the same thing here.

So I just wanted to touch on that process for opening my own clinic. Man, it was a huge endeavor. So actually I was living in Texas whenever I was doing these clinical rotations, and I was working with that doctor where I first got exposed and we moved to New Mexico. The rationale there is I'm a nurse practitioner.

In the state of Texas, a nurse practitioner to to practice, to have a practice, you've got to be underneath a doctor, whether it's medical doctor or do, and I just didn't wanna do that. I didn't wanna be attached to a doctor when I didn't think it was necessary. And so we moved to New Mexico where I opened a practice, and I'm proud to say, look, I've got nothing against doctors.

Doctors are fantastic. I have many that are friends, many I collaborate with, that I support, they support me. But I don't have a single doctor on payroll. I only hire nurse practitioners. Because we don't have to practice under a doctor here in New Mexico. And so that was a big reason why we came to New Mexico.

Plus my wife is from New Mexico. We had family here. We didn't just throw a dart at the map and land, but it's right. A little more strategic than that. But anyways you know, I didn't really have any formal business experience prior to, and so it was a risk. There was a lot of unknown. There was absolutely zero guarantee.

I mean, we sold our house in Fort Worth, Texas, and I had two little children and my wife and we packed up and we came here. With nothing more than a vision, a dream, and some hope, right? And so it took a lot of persistence. It took a lot of work. There was a lot of uncertainty. There was doubts. You know, I, there was that rollercoaster ride of things that were going right, and then something would happen and it's like, oh my gosh, man, how am I gonna, whatever, how am I gonna make payroll for my employees?

How am I gonna do this? How am I gonna do that? And I think that oftentimes that's where folks wanna quit. That's why they fail at whatever it is they're trying to do. Obviously in this case, we're talking a new business, a small business startup, and if you can find a way to persevere and push through that success lies on the other side of that.

And that's exactly what we did. So yeah, I ha I wore a lot of hats. At first. I was the guy. For everything. You wanna talk about it, you wanna talk about doing the books, the hiring, the firing. Obviously I'm the medical provider, I'm the the outreach guy, I am the sales rep. I'm doing every bit of that. And now we've got teams for all of that.

And you know, I, I've got the infrastructure, the systems in place, but it took time to get there. And so. I actually think that's really important because I know every facet of the company, and so whenever I have these meetings and these conversations with whoever's leading whatever team, I know what should happen and I can have that intelligent conversation and be able to realize that something's not growing right, because hey, I used to be the guy doing that a couple years ago or whatever.

So for someone that's starting a new business that's getting into it, I do think that's really important. Look, there's certain things that you can outsource and delegate, but I would encourage at first for you to do it yourself to at least have some kind of foundation of knowledge there. I think it's really important.

I completely agree. You know, like a any company or any business having done it yourself, right? Like even. Having your managers be people who worked at the lower level and, and have gone through everything and know everything inside and out, and they're not coming in and learning that stuff from, from a new, and you documented this success in your book, the Recovery Tool Belt.

So can you tell us a little bit about that? Is this a book that I would read if I wanna start my own clinic? Is this just, if I'm a loved one of someone who is struggling with addiction, what kind of book is this and who should read it? Thank you for bringing that up. Yeah. The Recovery tool belt, it's, it's essentially a self-help book, so it's not so much about, it's not for someone that's wanting to start a business or, or run a business.

That's not what this is geared towards. This is for someone who is struggling with addiction, substance abuse. This is for a loved one, right for them that they themselves are not the ones struggling, but someone that they care about. Or that's near them is struggling. Even if someone that, you know, they themselves are not struggling, they really don't have anybody close to 'em, but they're seeing it in the community.

They're seeing it on the news, they're hearing about it, and they wanna better educate themselves. Absolutely. This book is for you. If you're one of these clinicians that we've already touched on we're, Hey, you don't really treat these patients, but you see it from time to time, and you again wanna better educate yourself on it, this book would be for you as well.

For sure. I, I think that's really important and I know. Do you plan on writing any other books about like how you, you know, business wise, how you did it all or more stuff as you continue to expand your business and see more in the world of addiction treatment? Or do you think the recovery tool belt is the only belt you're gonna wear for the time?

Yeah, man. Hopefully this is the first of many. You know, I gotta get some more traction going on. This one, we just released it, I guess we're going on almost two weeks now, so it's very precious. Oh, wow. Okay. Very fresh. Yeah, so I'm newly a published author, so right now we're trying to get more traction on it, but I do have more in the pipeline that I want to do.

I think that my second book is gonna be. Building off of this tool belt series that said, yeah, you know, I would love to say something about business and help folks out. There's so many books that are already out there and so I would have to have my take on that. Right. Something that's different. Yeah, that's what I did for the Recovery Tool Belt.

To my knowledge, there's no other book quite like it out there. I will say, guys, you know, if you're interested in reading it, it's a very easy read. There's not a bunch of huge words in there, A lot of medical jargon. It's not a dry read. There's some humor in there that's intentional. So if people would actually get through the book and gain right?

What's in the book? Look, if it's hard to read, you're just gonna put it down, right? So. Yeah, we'll see man. If people decide that, you know, they, they care about my insight and my experience in business and the success that's followed that, and they seem to show interest in that. I would love to put a book out there about that.

In the meantime, I'm actually interested in starting my own podcast. Beyond Limits is what it's gonna be called right now. We're getting everything set up. I have not started yet, but we will talk a lot about that on the podcast for sure, and that will be an addiction recovery centered podcast. Well, more than just that, we're gonna talk about business, we're gonna talk about mindset, we're gonna talk about breaking free of whatever your limits are.

That's why it's called Beyond Limits. You know, if you're this person, but you wanna become this person, what does it take to get there? Obviously we'll talk about addiction and everything in there too, but, you know, I'm more than just addiction specialist. I'm an entrepreneur. I own multiple businesses.

I'm nurse practitioner. Many things. So we'll talk about all of those on that podcast. We'll have a lot of different types of guests on that podcast for sure. So you could say it's a self-improvement and, and kind of guiding show for people to go to it and improve some part of their life, whether that's business, health or whatever it may be.

Mindset. Exactly. Exactly. Awesome. And what separates your clinics from just. Going to rehab or going to aa, what is that kind of extra touch and, and what is your style of doing things? Yeah. Yeah. I'm glad you asked that question. So oftentimes I've noticed when people say rehab. Typically they're referring to inpatient, like residential.

You go and stay there for a month or six months or something like that. We are outpatient, which means we don't do any overnight stays. We're very different from aa 'cause AA is abstinence-based, meaning they don't use medications. I use medications because it's. Science backed, it's proven, it's evidence-based.

We've got plenty of, plenty of very rigorous studies and science to back it up that shows that it works. And again, in my experience. It does work. And so that right there is gonna be where we separate from those examples. But another is, man, first and foremost, we meet you where you're at. So if you're somebody that's struggling, you're somebody that's hurting, there is no one size fits all.

Yeah, of course there's a playbook to go off of, but we're gonna take that time, get to know you right off the bat, and we're literally gonna tailor treatment to you that's struggling. And I think that that is what truly makes a difference. And unfortunately that's not the norm, but it is the norm for us at Renew Health and we've got the success stories to to back it up.

Right. I like how you said that individualized care, and so you mentioned medication and I know for a lot of people, especially skeptics, they're like, oh, so you're replacing one addiction with another. Now you. Reliant on medication. So I do wanna dive into that. I've done episodes on puce and naltrexone and it was the same kind of concerns about, oh, are you just relying on medication now?

What does this actually look like and what should, what would you say to those people who, you know, kind of get alarmed when they hear the word medication when it comes to alcohol recovery? I am so glad you brought this up. It's one of my favorite myths to talk about. 'cause to me it truly is a myth.

You're just replacing one thing with another. Well, I think we need to look at what addiction is, which is a chronic disease in my mind and in the, you know, medical community. That's how we address, it's a chronic disease. So what are some other chronic diseases? Hypertension, which is gonna be elevated blood pressure.

High cholesterol, diabetes, glaucoma, you name it. Okay? These are all chronic conditions that we treat. How do we treat 'em? Well, first and foremost, it should be lifestyle changes, meaning, okay, let's use the blood pressure. When are diabetes, any of these change your habits, change your routines. So what are you eating?

What kind of exercise do you get? Right? If you're not exercising, start exercise. If you eat crap and you eat terrible, stop doing that. Start eating better. And ideally, you're gonna see your numbers improve. If the numbers don't improve enough or if you're not able to stay consistent or even make those changes, what do we do?

We add medications on. Right, or even, you know, if those numbers are high enough, we'll add medications on as well as implement the lifestyle changes. And then over time, if these lifestyle changes, you've actually done it and stayed consistent and they improve, then what do we do? We go down on the dose of the medications.

Ultimately, you could work your way off, or you're not on medications and all, but you've got to maintain those lifestyle changes. Again, in this example we're talking change in nutrition, change in diet, exercise, physical habits, you know, so. Why wouldn't it be the same for addiction? Mm. It's a chronic disease.

We treat all these other chronic diseases with medication. Why would we not do the same? It's exactly what we do in western medicine, right? That's how we treat things here in America and, and in many parts of the world. So why is it any different? Or is it just because there's a stigma associated with addiction, right?

That fear factor that if you're an addict, you have an addictive personality, therefore anything will become an addiction to you. So what can you say on, on that? You know, I mean, that sounds like a myth in its own, that you know because you're an addict, you'll get addicted to anything. So now medication is an addiction because you liked alcohol or because you used, or opioids.

So what can you say to that degree? So, you know, for alcohol specifically, and you had mentioned naltrexone already you know, good luck being addicted to Naltrexone, right? There's, right. Who's gonna abuse naltrexone? So it's a non-addictive sub medication. I mean, it's just, right. It's only going. To help you, and I would say, well, there's a couple things I could say to it.

One, what do you have to lose? Why would you not try it? There's the potential upside is just astronomical. I mean, let's say your life, that's a pretty big one, right? If not, it at least changes your life potentially. Or worst case scenario, I don't know, maybe you had a side effect, it made you nauseous or something like that.

You didn't like it, so you just stop using it and you go right back to what you're already doing. You just were uncomfortable for a few days or a couple weeks or however long you tried it. That's one thing I would say to it, but again, addicted to the medication. Well, are we gonna say that you're addicted to your blood pressure medicine because you wanna lower that?

You know, I, I don't think so. I think that it's the way, it's that mindset. It's the way that we view it, the way that we approach it, the way that we talk about it now is it, once an addict, always an addict. You have an addictive personality. You're gonna be addicted to everything. You know, everybody's different.

And there's a lot of factors to talk about here. Some folks, I mean, man, you hear the stories all the time. They quit cold Turkey. They put it down and they never picked it up, and it's been four years later. Yeah, I've got a grandfather that could attest to that. He never took medication for it. He knew it got outta hand.

He started acting out and doing things that he didn't want to do. He put it down and never picked it up, and now the man's 95 years old. Right? So that's, that's one way about it. Another is, yeah, there's a lot of environmental factors. There's genetic factors, there's, you know, if there's trauma associated, if there's there's mental disorders, right?

If you're bipolar, schizophrenic, things like that, right? And so, again, I think you address these things. So again, maybe it's medication, maybe it's counseling, maybe it's changing the folks that you're hanging around. If it's an environmental influence because your friends are doing things right, well stop hanging out with those folks.

And then it's like, well, those are my friends. Yeah, but are they really, you know, do they really, if they're just getting you in trouble, if they're using you to better themselves and it's not really going both ways, are they really your friends? Is it really the people you wanna be around? Because my friends make me better.

My friends support me, my friends build me up, my friends help me out when I need help. Those are my friends and I do the same for them. So I don't know if I answered your question more than just rambled there, but I think it's a no. I like everything you said. You know, it aligns with a lot of my show, which is I've had people who were doing cocaine and alcohol and boom, one day quit and never went back.

I have had people share stories about addicts who. If you put a line of coke in front of 'em, they'll jump on it. Even though they've been sober for 40 years, they just can't be in the same room as it. Mm-hmm. Like you said, we've talked about genetics, we've talked about environment, we've talked about peer pressure, we've talked about, you know, nurture versus nature and all of that.

And I think, like you said I know for me, my friends, you know, respect my decision if I don't want to drink. Or do drugs. And I've had episodes just on the social stigmas around that, around how it's expected of you, especially when you're a young man or woman to drink or drugs or do one or the other, you know?

And so we talk a lot about the societal factors and the influences. So what can we do to help kind of break down this idea that. Addicts will be addicted to whatever you give them. I mean, is it just kind of having conversations like this spreading awareness and understanding that's not true and I really like what you said, which is something I've always said.

For example, I had a episode on red light therapy in low liver radiation combination to cure addiction based on endorphin levels. And I, one of the things I said is. What? What else do you have to lose? Especially if you're in a person whose life has been ruined by addiction, right? Same thing with the medication, like whether it's anti-US or Naltrexone or something else.

I mean, let's say, let's say worst case scenario, you're addicted to this medication. Well, what are the effects? Because we know what the effects of your alcoholism was. You lost your wife, you lost your kids, you lost your job. Or maybe you're high functioning, right? But there's still physical effects, organ failure at some point, liver disease, right?

Again, everyone is different, not only in why they're an addict, but also how they're affected as an addict. You know, like my father for example he was never physically affected. It was, it was socially and emotional and all that, but it took. Decades to catch up to this body. Whereas I've seen other people who after just one year of alcoholism, their body has deteriorated.

So I think it's so different in how it's implemented in everyone's life. But you know, I think it's so important that we, like you said, one, you have nothing to lose. But also I think. Research versus skepticism is so important. Unfortunately, a lot of people who are addicted are, I think, more skeptical than people who are not addicted to a degree, and especially when they're actively using and abusing.

So I think it's important for us as the loved ones to get the information and presented to them in a way that they can understand and digest. Yeah, very important man. Education is never gonna be a bad thing, right? I think that you've got to educate yourself. There's so many resources that are free that are available now.

Not everything is credible, so it comes down to that individual, and this is you cross-reference and maybe look at a few differences. Right? Right. I mean, hell, even if you're looking at the news and politics, right? I think you should get it from both sides and kind of draw your own instead of just listening to one or the other.

I really think that the recovery tool belt in my book is a great source of that, but. Yeah, to get back to, you know, what you were initially saying on that is, I, I do think we have to bring awareness. We have to work on de-stigmatizing this. We have to educate. And then one important thing here too that I think that needs to be differentiated is.

The term addiction being used versus physical dependence. So like earlier we were talking about being addicted to that medicine. You know, you said Naltrexone, you said Antabuse. I can guarantee you there ain't nobody addicted to Antabuse, man. You know, for folks that know what ant abuse does to you, you're not gonna get addicted to that.

But the difference here is. Addiction versus physical dependence. And so I'm actually gonna pull up the definition, 'cause I won't say it word for word. I like to use the as a m definition of addiction, which is the American Society of Addiction Medicine. I think that they have the best, it's actually really hard thing to define what is addiction, right?

So according to them, a definition of addiction is, addiction is a treatable. Chronic medical condition involving complex interaction among brain circuits, genetics environment, and an individual's life experiences. We've already touched on a lot of that, but the second sense is the real kicker here, where the point that I'm gonna make people with an addiction use substances or engage in behaviors that become compulsive and often continue despite harmful consequences.

Mm-hmm. I think that's really important because. Hey, so I'm taking this medication that I have to take it because it's, it's helping me, right? If I don't take it, I may go, I may be uncomfortable. It may change my brain thoughts, whatever. So I must be addicted to it. Well, is that medication? Causing compulsive and harm, you know, compulsive behavior that's leading to harmful consequences, or is it something that you're just dependent upon?

Right? And so, that's the nature of, you know, opioids, right? You causes a physical dependence. I've had patients come in many times. I mean, right off the bat I've got one of my patients, he's an older gentleman that came in and he has never once abused opioids. What he's done is he's taken his prescription as prescribed.

By his doctor and he came in saying, Hey man, I'm addicted to this stuff. I said, well, no you're not. But you do have a physical dependence. Mm-hmm. Because that's the nature of how opioids work. You have a physical dependence to it 'cause you've been taking it for a long time 'cause you have chronic pain and your doctor's been prescribing to, but you're not an addict.

You don't fall into that category of addic, you know, of addiction and abusing this medication. So I think that's an important. Differentiation to distinguish. And I think that that comes down to, you know, educating yourself. And again, destigmatizing. I really appreciate you sharing that because it's very eye-opening.

Just like I had an episode with Dr. Brian Quinnan, we discussed the difference between sober. And dry and how so many people use the word sober but they're only dry. So I really liked that conversation and I think this is also very well aligned with that. I think there is a big difference between physical dependence and addiction, and I appreciate you sharing that.

And I think we need to focus on both, of course, but I think that helps a lot with people who are going through it because. This, this villainization of addiction. And so I think people, and I've actually had some guests who they don't like the way AA is because they're like, I'm not an alcoholic. I was, and now I'm not.

And there's a lot of debate over that. Some people like to keep reaffirming that you know, truth to themselves so that they don't relapse. And some people like to move on and have a new identity. So that's a whole conversation on its own. And I think like we're gonna say with everything here. Whatever is best for you.

If, if you're a person who's like, I need every day to wake up and tell myself I'm an addict, so I don't, you know, choose to go after that substance again, then do that. But if you're a person who needs to wake up and say, I'm not an addict. I'm living a new life. I'm a new person, then do that. I think, like you said, that's so important to have that individualized care, but I appreciate you sharing that definition and we're gonna have your.

Website and description below for people to check out, you know, everything that you have. And just, just in case I missed it do you do virtual appointments at all or is it all in person only? Yeah, definitely. So we absolutely do virtual appointments. We are statewide in the state of New Mexico. We're only within New Mexico.

Okay. But we do the telehealth statewide. Okay, is that, I just want to verify that for everyone. So, you know, you weren't getting phone calls from Alaska then saying, Hey, but yeah, thank, thanks for mentioning that. Yeah. We're only in the state of New Mexico, but hey, so that's a huge reason why I wrote this book actually because Right.

I only practice in New Mexico and I want to help. Folks out. Just because you're not in New Mexico doesn't mean that I don't want to help you. Right? And so this book has just broadened that reach. And so really, I mean, worldwide, it's gonna apply worldwide. This is not, you know, you mentioned AA and which is very systematic in that approach.

This book is not written that way because we've already talked about, I gotta meet you where you're at, right? Right. I gotta tailor this to you. Well, I'm not meeting you, you where you're at. And I'm not tailoring anything to you. If I say. Here's the book. It's one size fits all. Do it step by step. Mm-hmm.

And so that's not how this book is by any means. This book is called The Recovery Tool Belt. 'cause it's full of tools. That's all I do. That's all I do for my patients. I give you a tool. It's on you to use that tool. Right? If all you've got's a hammer, everything's a nail type deal. But if I give you the tools.

And then you don't actually put 'em into practice. If you don't take action and take those next steps, it doesn't do anything. So that's what this book is. It's full of tools and I truly think it's gonna change lives and save lives. Right. So ladies and gentlemen, if you like Mr. Carter, but you're not in, you know that area locally, you book is there as well as in the future, the podcast as, as of right now, you know, and so just.

Always go back and check for that whenever that comes out. But the book is out now, brand new, in fact. So go ahead and if you read it and enjoy it, leave a review to help spread that so we can reach more people with these tools, both the loved ones and the addicts. But Mr. Carter, before we leave here, what would be your final message, either to people who are addicted or physically dependent, or the loved ones, if not both.

Man, I'm gonna say there's so much help out there. I think we've already touched on this, but there's, there's so many resources available even in an area like what I said, Roswell, you know, a few years ago, back up, whenever I first started our new health, there was hardly anything available, but there's still resources out there.

We have the internet, we have Google, we have Chat, GPT, we have friends, we have support systems. There is so much out there, and again, this isn't just for, I don't care what it is, if it's wanting to start a business, if it's wanting to get back in shape, if it's wanting to repair your marriage. If it is, in fact, you know, you're abusing alcohol, let's say, and you wanna stop doing that, there's so much out there.

But that's only the first step. That's only the first part of the equation. Look, knowledge is not power. Knowledge is potential power. Meaning, so you go out, you start educating yourself, you find these resources. But if you don't take action, if you don't actually implement it, it didn't do anything. And I would say it's worse to have the knowledge, but then to not act on it.

So you've got to reach out to whoever it is, whatever it is, to try to better educate yourself, and then you've got to implement that into practice. And that's where change happens. Again, success lies on that other side. Right. And ladies and gentlemen, I want you to take this episode as not only are there so many resources out there nowadays, but if you find a gap anywhere in your research where you're not finding what you need, Mr.

Carter is an example of someone who went and filled that gap, right? He created those resources, the The Recovery Tool Belt, the clinics, right? So if you can't find in your local area, or wherever it may be, online or in person. Go ahead and make those resource provisions for others. Be an entrepreneur like, like not all of us expect that in life, right?

Usually it's unexpected, but all you have to do is, is have that good heart. You've got a lot of knowledge online about starting a business and resources and. Good people to support you, to figure out, all right, what can we do now with this gap? How can we fix it or set up the foundation to fix it and bring others along?

So Mr. Carter, thank you for doing that in your local area and then through your book and podcast, you know, around the globe. I really appreciate you taking the time today to come on this show and spread those resources even further. Sure thing. Thank you very much for having me on. And I love that you just said that, man.

That's where a, a successful business story starts, right? What's the void? Serve it. Supply and demand.