The Power of ‘We’: Why Recovery Doesn’t Happen Alone
July 28, 2026
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For decades, the dominant narrative around addiction and mental health recovery has
Welcome to
The Website of Mark McDonald
Mark McDonald is a behavioral health professional with nearly four decades of experience and is the author of Recovery Available. Drawing from his own long-term recovery journey, he works as a clinician, educator, and advocate for trauma-informed care. A father and former Navy servicemember now based in Missouri, Mark believes healing is possible through empowerment, connection, and multiple pathways to recovery.
About the Author
Mark McDonald
Mark McDonald is a behavioral health professional with nearly four decades of experience, currently based in Missouri. Born to a mother who drank throughout her pregnancy, he was born with alcohol in his system and raised in a home devastated by abuse and addiction. By age 11, he was drinking daily, reaching two fifths of alcohol per day by age 24—the year he attended his first AA meeting and began his long-term recovery journey. A former Navy servicemember and father, McDonald now works as a clinician, educator, trainer, consultant, and advocate for trauma-informed care and personal choice in recovery. His approach integrates neuroscience, lived experience, and compassion, emphasizing that his most important credential is not academic degrees but the life experiences that shaped his advocacy.
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About the Book
Recovery Available
By Mark McDonald
Recovery Available is a profoundly personal and professionally informed guide to addiction recovery that challenges rigid, one-size-fits-all approaches. Drawing from nearly four decades of behavioral health experience and his own journey from childhood trauma and daily alcohol use to long-term recovery, McDonald offers a trauma-informed, empowerment-based framework. The book emphasizes that recovery is not about perfection or abstinence alone, but about reclaiming identity, confronting shame, building connection, and discovering purpose. Through vulnerable storytelling, accessible neuroscience, and practical reflection prompts, McDonald demonstrates that recovery is available to everyone—not as a destination, but as an ongoing journey of becoming.
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TESTIMONIALS
What Readers Say
Explore what readers are saying—authentic feedback from those who have walked the path and found inspiration, connection, and a renewed sense of possibility.
This book reached places I thought were unreachable. The author's willingness to share his own darkness made me feel less alone in mine. I've read dozens of recovery books, but this one actually made me believe change is possible for someone like me.
James O'Malley
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Explore the latest blogs and articles—thought-provoking reads, practical advice, and powerful voices shaping the conversation around recovery and mental wellness.
The Neuroscience of Shame: How It Hijacks Recovery (and What to Do About It)
July 28, 2026
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Shame is one of the most powerful and misunderstood forces in the
The 30-90 Day Window: Understanding PAWS and the ‘Borrowed Mind’ in Early Recovery
July 28, 2026
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The first month of sobriety brings relief. Physical withdrawal symptoms fade. The