66. The Realities of Porn W/Dave Mendenhall

Dave Mendenhall Recovery Bio

Being a victim of sexual abuse at the age of 5 was a defining moment in the life of Dave Mendenhall.  The emotional pain of that experience triggered a long history of addictive behaviors that seemed to be unstoppable.

Dave started his recovery process in October of 1998 in a treatment facility for sexual addiction.  After treatment, he started attending traditional 12 step groups and there began intensive individual and group therapy.  This is when he began to get sober.  Like many people, Dave knew his higher power was not the light bulb or a door knob or the group, but Dave knew his higher power was Jesus Christ.  Sadly, traditional 12 step groups did not allow for any leeway for anything other than “the God or your understanding”.

In 2001, Dave and a small TEAM of people started Celebrate Recovery at Church on The Hill (COTH) in McMinnville, Oregon.  In the 6.5 years that he was the ministry leader at (COTH) the Celebrate Recovery program became very successful in touching upwards of 200 people a week.  The program was recognized in the local circuit court system and local law enforcement as a program that was changing lives through large groups, step studies groups and CR inside the Yamhill County Jail. 

In 2003 Dave became a state representative for Celebrate Recovery serving Oregon and SW Washington and served in that role till 2015. For 5 years he taught workshops at the Celebrate Recovery Summits at Saddleback Church in Lake Forrest California.  

Dave has served as the Senior State Rep for the Northwest Region of Alaska, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming for 4 years supporting and helping the other state reps in the region trouble shoot issues and encourage new groups that are starting on a weekly basis.  

In 2009 through 2015 Dave served as a recovery pastor at Adventure Christian Church in McMinnville, Oregon and oversees Adventures’ Celebrate Recovery program.  There he lead step study groups, Celebrate Pastors Recovery (CPR) groups, lead pastors and clergy through the Christ centered 12 steps.  Dave carried a significant pastoral counselling load helping men and couples work through their past pain and destructive behaviors and continues to work his own recovery program. 

In 2015 Dave and his wife Sherri relocated their business and their family to Copper Canyon Texas.  In Texas they continue to run their company and serve local Celebrate Recoveries in the Northern half of Texas as Regional TEAM leads and spend much of their ministry time encouraging ministries and state reps throughout the region. 

Dave is married to his best friend Sherri.  Together, Dave and Sherri have 6 kids and step kids, 2 grandkids and 3 Labrador Retrievers.  They run their company Bus Solutions, LLC based out of Texas and which appraises fleets of buses through North America.   

Dave is quick to give God the credit for the changes in his personal life and in the lives of 100’s of people he has had the honor of working with.  He is grateful to have had the opportunity to work with nationally acclaim experts such as: 

Dr. Patrick Carnes Ph. D., who is considered by many to be the forefather of sexual addiction and sexual dependency, and was one of the founders of Advancement of Sexual Health, formerly known as National Council on Sexual Addiction and Compulsivity. 

Robert Weiss, LCSW, CSAT-S, Founding director of The Sexual Recovery Institute

Maureen Canning Fulton, MA, Retired Clinical Director Sexual Disorders Unit at the Meadows Treatment Center, Author