Psychology graduate turns years once lost to addiction into purposeful career helping others

>>This month, Liberty University celebrates over 32,000 graduates who are ready to impact the world as Champions for Christ. Follow Liberty News for full Commencement coverage and more stories of trial and triumph from the Class of 2026.

Eric Graham (’26) lives only five minutes away from his childhood home in Georgia, but to reach the life of freedom and faith he lives today, he had to travel a long road of personal hardship and addiction. Through mental health struggles and substance abuse recovery, Graham, 42, has experienced the power of putting down earthly vices and trusting in God for the future.

Graham completed his Bachelor of Science in Psychology – Life Coaching through Liberty University Online Programs and is participating in Liberty’s 53rd Commencement this week.

“For me, graduating from Liberty is not just about finishing a degree, it represents restoration,” he said. “It represents God redeeming years I thought were lost. It represents learning to trust Him in places where I felt weak, afraid, or unqualified. … God has radically changed my life, and Liberty has played a part in it.”

Growing up, Graham resented school. As he got older, he dealt with what he now knows was depression by becoming “the party guy,” always focused on having fun, which eventually led to experimenting with drugs and alcohol.

In his senior year, Graham withdrew from school and later earned his GED. College experience was minimal in his family; an associate’s degree was the highest any member had earned. He enrolled in auto mechanics school to potentially become a NASCAR pit crew member, but his interest in drinking and smoking took over and he dropped out.

Other members of Graham’s family were dealing with their own addiction and mental illness at the same time, and within a span of four months around 2006, his brother and sister-in-law lost their lives to drugs and alcohol.

“My brother was my best friend, and I looked up to him my whole life,” Graham said. “When he went into recovery, I didn’t get to talk to him as much, and after he left recovery, I did not see him or speak with him much before he passed because I was still out living my own life. After he passed away, I went into a blackout period of drinking and smoking weed because of the trauma of losing him.”

In 2009, after multiple DUIs and a marijuana charge, Graham enrolled in a 90-day inpatient program, which he said was more to appease his legal situation and less for personal growth. Not long after exiting the program, he resumed drinking.

Following a DUI car accident in 2013, Graham asked God for guidance.

“The vehicle that I hit was a mom who had just dropped her kids off at daycare or something like that, and none of us were injured. God was watching over me and watching over that family,” he said. “I remember sitting on the curb that day and praying, ‘God, whatever you want me to do, I’m going to do it.’”

Graham had grown up going to Vacation Bible School and loosely knowing about God, but his relationship with God was characterized by a feeling that he would “never be enough for Him.” But in jail, a sheriff offered him a copy of an “Our Daily Bread” devotional and the Bible, and he dedicated his five days behind bars to studying God’s Word and seeking healing.

“When the sheriff gave me those (books), it was God speaking to me right then,” he said. “It was God showing me that He’s with me, that He has been with me. I didn’t see Him, maybe I didn’t want to see Him, but He was — and is — with me.”

Graham was released on a Sunday morning, went straight to church, and began attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings regularly.  A year later, to the day, he was baptized.

Within months, however, a friendship reopened the door to alcohol and marijuana, and he gave in again to the familiar pull of addiction. For many years, he continued a cyclical sobriety journey, even as he got married and started a family. The waves of addiction and recovery eventually hit a significant depth in 2022, when a cozy Christmas morning fire led to a chimney fire that destroyed his home. Graham recalled sitting alone in a parking lot soon after with a drink in each hand.

“I remember smelling the box wine and saying, ‘This is going to hurt,’” he recalled. “That’s all it took. I was five months sober off alcohol at the time, and once I took that first sip, it was off to the races. I was finding myself drinking and smoking again, in parking lots and wherever, and hiding it from people.”

When his wife eventually found out, she gave him a clear message that he needed to help the family rebuild what the fire had taken, physically and metaphorically.

“My wife said, ‘Your life literally just burned down, and either you can get help and we can possibly stay together, or you don’t get help and we don’t stay together.’”

This led to 40 days at a sober living program, operated by a friend from high school. He now refers to this time as his own “40 days in the wilderness.” When he came out, he said he didn’t look back. He began attending A.A. meetings, got a new job as a fitness coach, and discovered a calling on his life: helping others through addiction.

He researched psychology degree programs oriented toward addiction counseling and recovery, and that’s when he discovered Liberty University.

“I don’t feel called to be a clinical trauma counselor or therapist, but I do feel called to help men who are coming out of addiction begin rebuilding their lives,” he said. “I want to help them see that God has been with them, that He has not abandoned them, and that He has something more for them. The idea of walking with men as they move toward recovery, faith, identity, and purpose lights my heart up.”

Graham admitted that returning to school, a place where he had never excelled, was daunting, but his reliance on God turned his fears into fuel.

“There were moments when I felt intimidated by the workload and wondered if I was really capable of doing well academically,” he said, “but I kept leaning into God, praying through the fear, and trusting Him one assignment, one class, and one semester at a time. By His grace, I did far better than I ever expected. Once I realized I could get As and experience how much God was doing for me in this, I focused on doing better than I ever have. I was relentless with it; I haven’t allowed myself to have anything less.”

As he dons his cap and gown this week, Graham will be wearing an honors cord for graduating summa cum laude, an academic honor for those with a grade point average of 3.9 or higher. He will also become the first person in his family to earn a bachelor’s degree.

Graham said studying psychology helped him see God’s purpose and plan for his life.

“My psychology courses have been especially meaningful because they have helped me understand people, pain, addiction, behavior, trauma, healing, and change in a deeper way,” he said. “A lot of what I studied did not feel disconnected from my life. It felt personal. Liberty gave me language and structure for things I had lived through, and it helped me see how my past could become part of a calling instead of just something I survived.”

As a father of two with a full-time job, Graham appreciated an online program that allowed him to make his own schedule and take courses at his pace. He shared his excitement at being on a college campus for the first time.

“It’s a huge thing to show my family,” he said. “Not everybody gets this chance. I get to do something that a lot of my friends and a lot of people haven’t gotten to. Coming to campus is a sense of accomplishment, and it’s a moment of shock for me. I get to show my kids and show the world just the miraculous change that God can do, especially when we bend our knee and surrender our lives to Him.”

His parents, wife, and daughters joined him on the trip.

Graham is now in the process of creating a nonprofit called REVIVER Ministries focused on men, families, and addiction recovery. Looking ahead, he said he is excited to follow God’s calling and forge a path of freedom for others with similar stories.

“I am deeply grateful for how God has used my time here to prepare me for the work I believe He is calling me to do,” he said. “I’m letting God do the work and just taking the steps in obedience. “He gave me the vision to earn this degree, and now I want to use it to help point other men toward freedom, faith, and restoration.”