As a registered psychotherapist, Mike Pond thought he knew all there was to know about treating addiction. But through his own life-threatening battle with alcohol, he learned he knew next to nothing. Worse, what he knew was just plain wrong. After two decades of a thriving private practice in Penticton, in the heart of British Columbia’s spectacular wine country, alcohol destroyed his life. He lost his practice, home and family and ended up penniless in two unlicensed, Vancouver-area rundown recovery homes rife with systemic abuse. For two years, Mike floated through recovery homes and homelessness, dumpster diving, emergency wards and finally intensive care and prison. For Mike the man, this was no doubt the worst experience of his life. For Mike the therapist, it was a rare gift.
“I was forced to confront the same shame and stigma that so many of my clients battle daily. I know what it’s like to walk in their shoes.”
Pond’s memoir is Wasted: An Alcoholic Therapist’s Fight for Recovery in a Flawed Treatment System.
Wasted is now available as an Audible.
His search for compassionate evidence-based treatment was captured in the film Wasted, which aired on CBC’s flagship science program, The Nature of Things.
Those outside Canada can now view Wasted, the film for free on Youtube.
Follow Mike on Instagram at Addiction.Wisdom
Through public speaking and workshops, Pond continues to fight for effective substance use treatment.
