Skye Hilton & Troy Whittington: Creative Recovery

In this episode, we meet Skye Hilton, founder and owner of New Obsession, and Troy Whittington, Creative Recovery Facilitator, who are pioneering the use of creativity as a pathway to recovery from substance use disorder. Both are artists in recovery who discovered that creativity could serve as both map and compass for navigating the uncharted territories of sobriety.

Brief reflection on maps by MIROSLAV HOLUB (translation by Ewald Osers)

Albert Szent--Gyorgi, who knew a thing or two about maps, by which life moves somewhere or other,

used to tell this story from the war,

through which history moves somewhere or other:

From a small Hungarian unit in the Alps a young lieutenant sent out a scouting party into the icy wastes.

At once it began to snow, it snowed for two days and the party did not return. The lieutenant was in distress: he had sent his men to their deaths.

On the third day, however, the scouting party was back.

Where had they been? How had they managed to find their way?

Yes, the men explained, we certainly thought we were lost and awaited our end. When suddenly one of our lot found a map in his pocket. We felt reassured.

We made a bivouac, waited for the snow to stop, and then with the map found the right direction. And here we are.

The lieutenant asked to see that remarkable map in order to study it. It wasn't a map of the Alps

but the Pyrenees.

Goodbye.

Skye Hilton

As founder and owner of New Obsession in Austin, Texas, Skye Hilton has pioneered an approach to recovery that places creativity at its center, offering one-on-one creative recovery coaching and peer support services to artists and musicians reclaiming their lives. Her work represents a fundamental shift in how we think about recovery, not as deprivation, but as reclamation of the very passions that make us feel most alive.

Hilton describes herself as someone whose "passion is being passionate about things." Someone who loves "feeling connected to what I'm doing and getting into the flow." This deep relationship with creativity began early and carried her through a bachelor's degree in fine arts with a focus on illustration from Pratt Institute. But life took what she calls "a really challenging turn" shortly after graduation, when substance use disorder entered her story and began systematically stripping away everything that had once defined her.

"My substance use disorder and my active addiction really stripped me of any sense of passion in my life," Hilton reflects. During active addiction, she would desperately try to create, attempting to work in her sketchbook, paint, pursue creative jobs, but it felt like "grasping for straws to feel that sense of connection." Nearly a decade passed where creativity, once central to her identity, became completely absent from her life.

The turning point came during treatment, when Hilton realized that traditional recovery approaches, while valuable, weren't addressing what she most needed to rebuild: her sense of purpose and passion. "I had to take a look at what wasn't working well for me," she explains, describing an "internal nudge" that creativity needed to become not just a hobby but a top priority," the thing that is going to help me really build my life back up and feel grounded and why I'm even doing this in the first place."

Rather than treating creativity as secondary to recovery, Hilton made it central. Upon leaving treatment, she immediately began rebuilding her portfolio and reintegrating creativity into her life as a person in early sobriety. Suddenly, all the hard work recovery required had a motivating force behind it.

This personal experience became the foundation for what Hilton calls "creative recovery coaching." Through New Obsession, she discovered that her approach filled a crucial gap. Her groups focus on making creativity approachable and accessible, with underlying goals that extend far beyond art-making: building relationships with oneself and others, practicing mindfulness, working through perfectionism, and reclaiming autonomy.

As both a recovery coach and creative facilitator, Hilton's mission is clear: "remove as many barriers as possible so everybody can see how cool it is to be creative and make that a part of your life." What began as personal healing has evolved into what Hilton believes is a movement. One that positions creativity not as luxury but as legitimate pathway to recovery and healing. Through New Obsession, she continues to prove that for many people, the road back to themselves runs directly through their capacity to create.

Troy Whittington

As Creative Recovery Facilitator and assistant to Skye Hilton at New Obsession, Troy Whittington embodies the transformative power of creative recovery. His journey from the depths of addiction to the front lines of helping others represents a profound career pivot that proves recovery can open entirely new chapters of purpose and meaning.

Whittington built a successful career in software design, finding fulfillment in work that challenged him to use his creativity as an artist in a different way, but beneath the professional success ran a darker current, heavy drinking and drug use that was normalized in his profession as part of the creative process. "I really thought that that was how I was gonna be the most creative, was through alcohol and drugs," he reflects. "And it worked for a while until it didn't."

The progression was swift and devastating. Within a short time, Whittington found himself without a job, close to losing his home, isolated from friends, and trapped in what he describes as "this vicious cycle of addiction." On October 22nd, 2022, he entered treatment.

About a week into treatment, Skye Hilton arrived with New Obsession to facilitate an art recovery group, a moment Whittington describes as revolutionary. "That was the first time when I found that even without drugs and alcohol, I could still be creative and I could enjoy making something."

Each subsequent visit from Hilton sparked deeper realizations. "Every time this light bulb would just go off in my head. And I'm just like, holy crap, this is what I wanna do with my life," he remembers. The idea that someone could "make a career out of this," combining creativity, recovery work, and meaningful service, seemed almost too good to be true.

What began as a conversation about career guidance evolved into a complete life transformation. Whittington's discussion with Hilton about her path led to exploring how he might fit into New Obsession's mission, eventually becoming part of the creative recovery facilitation team while working toward becoming a recovery support peer specialist himself.

Whittington brings unique insight to the work, having experienced firsthand the transformation that creative recovery can offer. Central to his philosophy is the recovery principle that the only way that you really, really get relief is by helping other people, and finds that being of service to the community provides the inspiration to keep building and expanding New Obsession's reach.

Through his transformation from software designer to Creative Recovery Facilitator, Whittington demonstrates that recovery can be not just about returning to who you were, but discovering who you're meant to become. His work proves that creativity, community, and service can combine to create lives of meaning and purpose.