I am Woody Giessmann. Before I was an addiction specialist, before I ever sat across from a family in crisis, I was the drummer for The Del Fuegos, a Warner Brothers recording band, living a life a lot of people dream about.
 

Underneath that life, I was struggling with my own substance abuse. After losing my brother, Brian, and finally recognizing and confronting my own issues, I made a decision that changed everything. I got into recovery.
 

That experience gave me a firsthand understanding of what substance abuse and untreated mental health actually do to a person, and to the people who love them. I didn't learn it from a textbook. I learned it by living it.
 

In 1993, I became an Addictions Specialist and Interventionist, because I wanted to give other people and their families what I found for myself: a real way back. That belief still guides everything I do.
 

I'm a Licensed Counselor (LADC-I), a Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor (CADC), and a Board-Certified Interventionist Professional (CIP). In 2003, I founded Right Turn, Inc., a nonprofit outpatient clinic in Watertown, MA, that ran for over 20 years.
 

There, I combined evidence-based treatment with creativity and connection to help people rebuild their lives. In 2016, Governor Charlie Baker appointed me to the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine.
 

But none of that is why I wrote this book. I wrote it because I know what it's like to be lost, and I know what it takes to find your way back. If you're holding this book, I hope it helps you find yours.