Colorado-Based Therapist Steve Garufi Treats Drug Addicts with Bicycles and Jesus

I started Into the Weird with tales about my strange seizures and my decision to stop drinking. Gradually the column's focus shifted from exploring my experiences to crawling into the brains of other odd individuals, like Gypsy Willis, a murderer's mistress, and Katie Manzella, a crystal meth addict turned crystal healer.

Today, I'm ending this column, with a clearer mind and without electrode goo on my forehead, to move onto other creative endeavors. For the column's conclusion, I spoke to Steve Garufi, a Colorado-based therapist who uses Christian-centered counseling and bike riding to help patients dealing with problems like addiction. On his website, Steve defines Christian counesling as “anything in therapy that points my clients toward Jesus Christ.”

An avid bicyclist who has biked across America twice, he has developed a YouTube following for his videos, which offer viewers terrific advice and down-to-earth jokes. Amused by Steve's videos and interested in his non-traditional counseling, I called Steve to discuss his therapy practice, bicycling hobby, and thoughts about alcoholism and social media.

VICE: What's your take on treating addiction?
Steve Garufi: What can I say? Addiction and recovery work is one of those things where the light has to go on. The person has to realize that they want to change, that they want to be sober and free. The dilemma is that drinking a beer with friends or going out on a Friday night to have a few drinks somewhere is so socially accepted.

Do you drink?
I hardly ever drank during my cross-country trips. Once I got to my mid-30s and beyond (I'm 42 today), I turned into a big wimp. I drink tons of sports drinks. Is it possible to be addicted to those?

Do you incorporate biking advice into your treatment?
There is no question that [when treating] clients who are struggling with depression or anxiety I always explore advice related to nutrition and exercise.

When did you start cycling? 
I started cycling roughly 10 years ago, when I was 32. I just loved it. It is so much fun. Then one summer I just took a week and biked across Colorado. I thought, If I can bike across Colorado, which is a large state, why not bike across America? So eventually I did it twice.

Why do you make YouTube videos about your travels?
Social media has been a huge bone for my life—my social life, my career life. It's always an opportunity to meet somebody, and I'm kind of a natural at using it to promote what I'm doing, my website, my blogs, and my videos. The YouTube videos started because I was getting a lot of emails asking the same questions about advice about biking across America, so I used the videos to answer them, and some of the videos have been watched 20,000 to 30,000 times. Now I have friends all over the country, in towns you'd never imagine.

While biking across the country you must go through some down times. How do you push through those moments?
I bike about 60 miles a day. So for me I have got to say, “Okay, I have 60 miles to the next major town,” because you can get very overwhelmed, or struggle with loneliness, so you take it one day at a time. And secondly, you've got to expect to have some bad days, where you're sad, or lonely, or depressed. When you're expecting it, it's a lot easier to press on and not quit.

Do you ever use any meditation-type practices to get through those days?
I am a devout Christian, so I do sometimes pray, but ultimately I think you need to have that one-day-at-a-time mentality. Sometimes you are going to have good days. Sometimes you are going to have bad days.

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