Conversation with Tate Gunning

5 min readAug 18, 2017

Tate Gunning has entered his life purpose with the creation of Inhouse Treatment. For over 10 years he suffered from addiction, while living homeless, in jail, and on the streets. Rehab didn’t work; he couldn’t get clean. Now three and a half years sober and completely transformed, he is ready to teach the enjoyment of recovery. This week, he appears in Liv’s Recovery Kitchen’s Conversations.

To read about the man behind InHouse Treatment, Tate Gunning, click here

Conversation with Tate Gunning

Liv: As this is an interview in Liv’s Recovery Kitchen, let’s start off with a food question: What have you had for breakfast today?

Preparing and eating a healthy breakfast has changed my life. This morning I had the go-to: four eggs over easy, two pieces of wheat toast buttered lightly, and a piece of fruit; which in this case was a Bartlett pear.

Tate’s Rock Bottom

Liv: Moving to your story, you said that your “childhood was absolutely normal, with good report cards, and athletic success; in our home there was love. I don’t know exactly why I turned to drugs.” What did drugs give you back then?

It still baffles me how it all happened so fast. On one hand, tobacco, drugs, and alcohol were new and exciting — a chance to let-go and experiment with freedom. On the other hand, I knew they were wrong but did it anyways. It’s impossible to pinpoint, but my curiosity and naivety may have gotten the best of me. I’m just glad it’s over.

Liv: Your High School accomplishments lead to a baseball scholarship at Arizona State University, you served a church mission, and played a year of college football. While everything externally appeared okay, you describe this time as ‘losing sight of life’. All things seemed in order, but I quickly began to lose sight of life. How so?

I was hiding from everything, including myself. When you spend every day running from who you are, sooner or later you actually forget. This happened to me. I forgot all morals and values, and lost sight of the things I’d been working for my entire life. Initially, what looked good on the outside was rotting from within. Before I knew it, I was homeless and had overdosed three times; life got scary.

Getting Sober

Liv: You tried rebab, but couldn’t stay clean. With hindsight, why do you think rehab was unsuccessful?

I tried rehab five times and got kicked out of two of them. Now, the answer is clear: I wasn’t ready. My intentions were good, it seemed like the right thing to do, but deep down inside I knew that I’d use again. I’m convinced, a person has to be willing to change before the miracle can happen.

Liv: How did you successfully get sober?

I regained my sobriety at the John Volken Academy. The JVA is a long-term residential treatment facility where the addicts run and operate a forty acre ranch. At the Academy, students learn how to live healthy and productive lives through focusing on the basics — such as waking up on time and making your bed, the importance of keeping your word and eating healthy, along with working forty hour weeks to maintain the ranch.

Above all, it was a chance for me to let go of the past and start fresh. During my two years there, my favorite responsibilities were working in the garden and caring for the horses, because, there’s a magical element in nature that helped me ground and find myself.

Inhouse Treatment

Liv: What motivated you to set up Inhouse Treatment?

I remember the day the thought first came to me: I was shaving, like normal, and out of the blue I received a strong impression to begin Inhouse Treatment. It has evolved over time and is starting to pick up momentum. So far, it’s been a huge blessing and opened several other windows.

Liv: And what purpose does it serve?

Our vision is to help treatment facilities operate with greater success. Through the combination of speaking engagements, seminars, and consulting, we train staff how to become more efficient by treating their patients better. Overall, we are working to develop more productive and effective treatment.

The website, Inhouse Treatment, is an aftercare platform. In other words, we provide the content, resources, and tools every addict needs to sustain sobriety once they graduate treatment.

Our mission statement: Inhouse Treatment brings uniformity and cohesion to the post-treatment recovery process. Our philosophy: recovery is enjoyable and can be accomplished by anyone, all it takes is commitment.

The Physical Aspect of Addiction Recovery

Liv: Moving on to the physical aspect of recovery. How has the relationship with your body changed in recovery?

In my eyes, the body and recovery are really one and the same. What once was torn down and abused by chemical and substance is now balanced and in tune; this has happened over time. I pay attention to how I feel, and when I make healthy decisions everything in my world becomes healthier, including my body.

Liv: What has been your relationship with food in recovery? Has it changed? If so, how?

Food fuels my recovery. The cleaner I eat the better I feel. I love to experiment; I’ve tried vegetarian, vegan, pescatarian, and other disciplines. I’ve learned that I have a deep connection with and a great respect for food; there’s a direct relationship with what I eat and how I feel physically, mentally, and spiritually.

Liv: Penultimate question: what is your favourite meal/dish?

Cooking and baking is an active part of my recovery; I love it. But without a doubt, my favorite meal is one that is prepared and served by my mother. She is the queen of the kitchen, and is at her best with country music playing softly while she dirties every dish in the house to feed her company.