PondMichael

PondMichael Psychotherapist. Author. Columnist. Former dumpster diving alcoholic. Addiction treatment activist. He writes the “Professional Advice” column in the Vancouver Sun.

After two decades of helping clients battle addiction, Mike Pond, a successful therapist, succumbs to one himself. He loses everything and ends up destitute in a rundown recovery home populated by a cast of characters straight out of Dickens. The Couch of Willingness… is a real couch in that home; a couch where Mike must sleep until he surrenders and admits he’s powerless over alcohol. But just when Mike gains any measure of sobriety, in sashays his other powerful addiction, Dana, a can of Red Bull in hand, 26’er of vodka in her purse. And so begins Mike's harrowing two-year journey to sobriety with stops in abandoned sheds, dumpsters, ditches, emergency wards, intensive care and prison. Mike's riveting account crackles with raw energy and black humour as he plunges readers into a world few will ever have the misfortune to experience. Along the way, Mike the drunk finds himself shamed and stigmatized by the very system in which Mike the therapist thrived. The dissonance rankles for Mike and, by the end of the story, for the reader too. About the Authors:

Michael Pond is a psychotherapist in Vancouver who specializes in addiction recovery and residential school abuse healing. Michael wrote the Couch of Willingness with his partner, former CBC producer turned documentary filmmaker Maureen Palmer, of Bountiful Films, whose directing credits include Sext Up Kids and Angry Kids & Stressed Out Parents.

08/30/2020

Tomorrow is International Overdose Awareness Day – the day when we remember those who have died due to the opioid overdose crisis. For Mike, the other epidemic has hit close to home.

08/16/2020

Next time you’re about to react with anger and frustration at a loved one’s drinking or drugging…

07/18/2020

Mike explains how he determines whether someone has experienced trauma as a child.

07/17/2020

Why Mike considers trauma to be the ultimate gateway drug.

07/09/2020

Welcome us back from a short, much-needed instagram break! You’ve got to know there’s something the matter when your last thought at night is “Dang, I didn’t post to Instagram Today.”

06/11/2020

Maureen reveals her thinking on Mike's drinking.

To access all our videos including our documentary, Wasted, click the link in our bio!

06/04/2020

Mike counts down the five most shaming experiences he had during active addiction.




05/27/2020

A few days ago we shared a video about the word “co-dependent” and why that word is so dated and rooted in ignorance. Here’s Stanford’s Dr. Keith Humphreys, on another area where our collective ignorance runs rampant.

05/27/2020

A few days ago we shared a video about the word “co-dependent.” and why that word is so dated and rooted in ignorance. Here’s Stanford’s Dr. Keith Humphreys, on another area where our collective ignorance runs rampant.

05/05/2020

Watch Mike and Maureen demonstrate how to effectively communicate with your partner using the CRAFT (Community Reinforcement and Family Training) model. ⁣⁣
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This evidence-based model can help move a person with substance use disorder towards treatment, without shaming them in the process. ⁣
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If you're having trouble engaging a loved one, bookmark this and our last post, an infographic that lays out the steps in a simple way, and give it a shot. We hope it helps!⁣
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06/25/2018

June 22, 2018 Bill White Who is Best Qualified to Provide Recovery Support Services? The explosive growth of nonclinical recovery support services (RSS) as an adjunct or alternative to professionally-directed addiction treatment and participation in recovery mutual aid societies raises three related...

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