Andrew Pierce, MCAP - Therapist & Author, Resolving Spiritual Skepticism in Recovery

Andrew Pierce

Andrew Pierce, MCAP (Master’s Level Certified Addiction Professional), is a graduate of the Hazelden Betty Ford Graduate School of Addiction Studies. As a person in long-term recovery from multiple addictions, Andrew understands the addict’s mind. His addiction journey has taken him from owning a multi-million-dollar corporate retirement plan consulting firm to camping without power in an abandoned house to becoming one of the most respected, innovative, and knowledgeable addiction therapists in Southwest Florida. He has a private practice in Naples, FL.

I’m excited for you to connect with Andrew, check out his work, and follow along as he continues to inspire others to realize their full potential, now.

I'd love it if you'd introduce yourself, what you do, and what you're working on.

My name is Andrew Pierce, and I am a therapist in Southwest Florida. The primary focus of my work is resolving addiction and related pathologies in my patients. This often involves treating anxiety, depression, ADD, and relationship issues as they navigate the recovery process. I wrote a book which was published in June entitled, “Resolving Spiritual Skepticism in Recovery” and so what I am working on these days is getting that book into the hands of as many people as possible –patients, clinicians, and those affected by addiction such as family members and spouses.

How did you get started?

I am a person in long term recovery from addictions to alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, and other substances. I also had behavioral addictions such as spending, and severe codependency - which is another form of addiction.

What Inspired the work you’re doing?

The pain that I put myself and others through moved in me a direction to help others. I vowed to learn as much as I could about the disease so as to never have to go through the same experiences again. So in a word, “Pain” inspires the work that I do. It’s a great motivator.

What is your biggest passion? Do you feel like you're living your passion and purpose?

My biggest passion is helping other people to recover their True Self. It was the loss of connection to my true self that fed my desire to self-medicate, so asserting my authenticity and pursuing my highest aspirations has become my obsession. I don’t want others to have to go through the same experiences that I did.

When I realized that I had some answers that others did not - for changing my identity from addict to a former addict, my passion became getting this innovative process into the hands of as many people as possible, and the way to do that seemed to be to put it into writing, publish it, and get those books into the hands of others such as myself – clinicians and patients - so that these new innovative change techniques could be implemented by them. In business that’s called “scaling up”.

What is your joy blueprint? What lights you up, brings you joy, and makes you feel the most alive?

My joy blueprint has been to identify exactly what I want my life to be. I’ve identified the values and attitudes inherent to somebody walking in that reality and after going about defining what day to day experiences I could put into place now that would be aligned with those values, I’ve engaged in those experiences on a regular basis. This has brought me a long way toward realizing that original ideal vision.

What brings me joy is knowing I am getting my message into the hands of the right people. I love when those who hear my message implement it, and their life changes for the better. There's nothing more rewarding than providing a path to happiness and joy for others particularly when, prior to meeting me or having been exposed to my ideas, they may not have had the capacity to even imagine what a wonderful life would look or feel like.

How do you live intentionally? Are there tools/resources/practices that you rely on to help you stay mindful and grounded?

The way that I live intentionally is that I have clarity as to my primary purpose in life at all times. This makes it very simple. Tools I use are usually different forms of guided meditation ranging from those intended to create a degree of separation between environmental factors on one hand, and my Self as the observer of those factors on the other. An important distinction to cultivate has been to realize that my thoughts themselves are environmental factors not unlike the traffic passing in the street outside my office.

Guided meditations reinforce the idea of dual citizenship between the material and immaterial aspects of my being. Understanding that I have within me a refuge from the day-to-day random chaos the world serves up helps to reduce stress, which in turn enables me to function better throughout the day – stress being a catalyst for addictive thoughts and behaviors.

When it comes to leveraging meditation to influence the reality in which I walk, I tend to use what is commonly referred to as “quantum” guided meditations that leverage the nature of reality itself, which happens to be the subject of my book, and its implications for recovery from addiction. In other words, I practice what I preach.

What would your younger self think about what you're doing now?

I think my younger self would not be able to imagine what it is that I am doing right now because my younger self had no basis of comparison. I was always doing what I thought others wanted me to to, to the extent that I used to say, “When I die, everyone else’s life is going to flash before my eyes!”. Now, things tend to go remarkably well, and effortlessly, as they tend to do when our heads and hearts are aligned.

Do you have a go-to mantra or affirmation?

My go-to mantra would have to be: “Our sole purpose in life is to become the best possible version of ourselves.”

What is your biggest dream?

My biggest dream is to have my addiction change model go viral, which would enable me to earn a living as a speaker, traveling all over the world and spreading the word to provide those still afflicted with addiction hope, through another avenue for healing and recovery.

To connect with Andrew and learn more check out his website www.andrewgpierce.com

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