Ann Dowsett Johnston

09/17/2025

I am accepting new clients and welcome people in need of support who live in Ontario, Canada. If you are struggling with an ongoing, or new issue and now feels like the time to seek professional support, please reach out to admin@anndowsettjohnston.com. As an experienced MSW, I'm here to help and have no waitlist.

09/16/2025

Looking to read my newest substack newsletter? You can find it in the link below.

https://anndowsettjohnston.substack.com/p/a-return-to-the-page?r=1vdtmp

09/05/2025

Just two weeks before Writing Your Recovery begins. If you've always wanted to write your memoir, this is the best time to begin. Join best selling author Ann Dowsett Johnston, MSW for this live, eight week writing program. Starts Wednesday, September 17th at 11:00 am ET - live on Zoom. Meet other women , connect, collaborate and find your community. To learn more, go the the link below:
https://www.anndowsettjohnston.com/workshops

06/24/2025

For those who have been waiting, the time has arrived! Registration for September's Writing Your Recovery (which will include an evening class option) is now open!

Please go to my website and follow the links to sign up.

Workshops Writing Your RecoveryA powerful 8-week online memoir-writing course.We all have a story—our stories—to tell. Excavating those narratives, finding the courage to give voice to our secrets, takes time. I believe that writing is a process of discovery. At the heart of good writing is find...

01/22/2025

Join Jan Winhall, myself and a few other fabulous guests for a special free two-hour edition of the Embodied Dialogue Series. We'll be exploring how Polyvagal Theory intersects with Twelve-step Programs, to enhance addiction treatment.

Learn how these global support groups emphasize community, spirituality, and the idea that addiction is a brain disease, while Polyvagal Theory frames addictive behaviors as adaptive responses to trauma and the nervous system’s need for emotional balance. By merging these perspectives, we'll continue to reshape the conversation around recovery, focusing on safety, community support, and emotional regulation.

11/13/2024

There is a new newsletter in my substack. To find it, please look for it through the link in my bio.

10/08/2024

My beloved friend, the brilliant writer Laura McKowen, has just turned 10! In a decade, she transformed the face of modern recovery for thousands, wrote two bestsellers and gave us the Nine Things. We are the luckier for it!

09/18/2024

Discover the power of your story with bestselling author and the original Quit-Lit memoirist Ann Dowsett Johnston. Writing Your Recovery is a live, transformative writing course that offers a supportive space for women on a recovery journey. Get practical, and empowering tools to craft your personal narrative.

This course will connect you with like-minded women and help you to turn your life experiences into a meaningful memoir.

Join by using the link below.

https://members-writingyourrecovery.thinkific.com/

09/11/2024

I hesitate to write the following sentence without touching wood, but here it is: in my life, this is the season of small miracles. This summer will go down as the one I lived in Los Angeles with my son and his wife and their young daughters—Frances and the newborn Pearl. This is the one I will always remember, the summer I traded a golden Canadian season by the lake for the better part of three magical months in LA—“balls hot,” according to my son—with questionable air, bad traffic and congestion all around. Frankly, I couldn’t be happier.
In my latest newsletter, I share about this precious time, and question my own earliest childhood memories. I also share details about the upcoming Write Your Recovery workshop. ✍️ Link pasted below.
❤️

08/24/2024

is a magnificent event that brings together women of all ages for a night of storytelling. It began in NYC, but , who’s a force for good within the recovery community, and Toronto’s arts and culture scene, brought it to Toronto. I’m pleased to be a speaker at the Oct 17 event, representing Team 70s. The theme of the night is My Alter Ego, a subject that demands reflection and vulnerability. I’m excited and nervous to share some truths that didn’t make it into Drink.
Fall fills up quickly. I’d love to see you.

07/07/2024

Welcoming Pearl, born June 18. Our hearts are so full. ❤️

07/04/2024

I am reading nightly to Frances, picture books of my youth, and my son’s, and more. Two nights ago, she recited every page of Margaret Wise Brown’s The Little Island, to the letter. Nothing defines intrepid so much as a two-year-old: sallying off her change table, leaping onto her bed, tackling the big-kid slide at the park. I learn from her every day.
In my latest newsletter, I share more on the word “intrepid,” and how I’ve been letting it guide me lately. Link below to read more, and wishing you an adventure-filled July. -Ann ❤️