Testimonials
After years of treatment centers, sober living homes, IOPs, and rehab programs, I had become completely burned out. I was exhausted from hearing the same things over and over and trying to force sobriety to work through sheer effort. Honestly, I was tired of trying to get sober. When I committed, in treatment, to making Golden Group Coaching my aftercare plan, something shifted. For the first time in a long time, I felt excited about life, about doing a program, and genuinely hopeful about what was ahead, even though I didn’t yet know what that life would look like. I’m only about two weeks into the program, but not once have I dreaded meeting with my coach or attending our weekly group. In fact, I look forward to it. One thing that has stood out to me is that nobody has asked me, “What are you going to do differently this time?” Maybe that’s because they can already see that I am doing things differently. Instead of focusing on what went wrong in the past, Golden Group has helped me focus on building a life that I’m actually excited to live. For me, that’s made all the difference.
The support and mentorship I received from David, Cristy, and the rest of the Golden Group team has radically changed my life for the better. I put in the work on my end, but I can only credit them for the success and fulfillment I've been able to build. This October, I'll be two years clean and sober, something I genuinely could not have imagined for myself. I've put together a string of successful semesters and now have the grades to start planning for grad school. I'm grateful a hundred times over. What stands out most is that the people at Golden Group didn't let their own pain go to waste. They've used it to diminish the pain of others. I'm a huge believer in what they do, and I'd recommend them to anyone.
David, Cristy and Kay have been working with our son since July of 2025. I almost don’t know where to start in his mom and my praise and appreciation. The continued sobriety of our son is ultimately in his and God’s hands. That said the Golden Group, along with our son’s sober living house have made the biggest difference in our son’s several months of abstinence to date. Johnny has three individual and or group meetings each week with GG. His mom and I have a weekly one-hour meeting with Cristy. We are also a part of a bi-weekly support meeting with parents of other GG patients. We are 1,300 miles away in a different state. After a longer period of stress and worry than we ever want to repeat, we can’t overstate the confidence and safety we feel now for our son in knowing that he is being watched over and loved by this incredible team of people.
Besides being people of wonderful character and integrity, they bring a clinical expertise to the problem of addiction that is top notch. They are also very experienced, knowledgeable, and connected in the Austin recovery community. They know the very best sober living homes, treatment centers and detox facilities. They are also active for get togethers and events in the sober community, like skeet shooting, Top Golf and BBQ’s to name a few.
Cristy De La Rosa works the closest of the group with Johnny. She is whip smart, experienced, connected, intuitive and most of all loving and kind. A little secret she might not even know is that Johnny has always especially related to strong men. He is now relating wonderfully to a strong woman. Cristy holds her boundaries but is also very caring and Johnny knows this. She is currently helping him build his resume in an effort to help him find a new job that better fits him. She went with him for her first time ever to a gun range on her own time because she knows how much he loves shooting. I feel like they are becoming best friends and we couldn’t be happier.
Bottom line is, the Golden Group is the best in every facet. As long as our son is in Austin he will be with this group of loving, talented and wonderful people. As an FYI, no one asked me to write this review. I reached out to David and asked him if I could, because I want other confused, heart broken, stressed out parents like we were to find the peace that they have helped to bring into our lives.
My husband suffered from total addiction for most of his adult life. He would try to do better, but his “friend group” of addicts were always sucking him back in. Our family suffered horribly. Addiction doesn’t care if you are young or old, rich or poor. Our story is true for many families. Bankruptcy. Shame. Family fracture. Divorce. Then he went to treatment and lived under David Golden’s mentorship in a “sober living” environment. He changed his play places and his playmates (something critical in AA) and blossomed. The man I married came back to life. He loved being sober, but it was hard every day. David stayed constant, he and his team remained dedicated. My husband had 5 wonderful sober years before he succumbed to cancer, and it gave all our family such peace. He had a new “family” who never gave up on him. David doesn’t have to do this, he does this because he believes in it!! I recommend him highly..
This team has not only made a huge difference in our son’s recovery but it has also been invested in the whole family as well. David and Kay are phenomenal. They make themselves available at all hours for our son and for us. Our son is doing great and we wouldn’t have come so far so fast without The Golden Group.
I can’t recommend The Golden Group highly enough. The team takes a truly caring and personalized approach to recovery from addiction and mental health challenges. The combination of deep empathy with proven therapeutic practices (which include an ethos of personal responsibility and boundaries) has been more effective for our loved one than a whole series of approaches taken previously Tim
What really stood out to me was their multifaceted approach to addiction that was different from the steps or therapy. Their team is highly personable and willing to go the extra mile to help. The work that we did regarding IFS coaching and Inner Child coaching was truly life changing. They were hugely beneficial in helping me identify the origins of my addictive triggers and this served as the impetus to break out the cycle entirely.
David, Dr. Creath and the team have played a huge part in our family’s incredible newfound harmony
As a struggling alcoholic, terrified of losing my family due to my addiction, my life was a constant balancing act of work, fear, and pretending I was ok. I am extremely grateful to Golden Group for the guidance, encouragement, and freedom to discover what I needed at the time. It’s not textbook bullshit, but real-life conversations. I had tried in- patient rehab, but never felt heard. Addressing the underlying causes of my individual addiction, and then actually providing help on how to move forward has made an immeasurable impact on myself and my family. I will forever be grateful for the experiences I have had with David and Golden Group…he helped me discover what I wanted in life, which has helped me move past my addictions and live a much happier life with the family I almost lost.