Coaching for people in recovery

You already know what to do. Let's go do it.

One small practice at a time, for people in their first years of recovery — from alcohol, from drugs, and from the quieter attachments: people-pleasing, codependency, and the voice that says you're not enough.

No pressure, no pitch · Works alongside any program

53years
One day at a time adds up.
John Cunningham · Hamilton, Ontario
1 to 10 years in recovery Alcohol · cocaine · sex addiction People-pleasing & codependency In a program — or not
The method

The trouble isn't what you know. It's the gap.

Most of us can recite what would help. Gratitude. Calling someone. Getting to bed on time. We understand it. We could teach it. And still we don't do it — so we never become it.

learninginformation
understandingmeaning
knowingI get it
the gap
doingI did it
beingI am it

Where the time goes

Most of us
learningunderstandingknowingdoing
The Callus
doing · 80%

learning understanding knowing doing

The top bar is an illustration of the usual habit, not a measurement. The bottom bar is how we spend our time together: a little learning, and then doing. Being is not a line item. It's what the doing earns.

A callus isn't something you're given. It's proof of what you repeated until it became part of you.

That's why I call the method The Callus — earned, not explained. One small practice, repeated until the new way becomes the natural way. If a practice isn't happening, we make it smaller. If it isn't improving your life, we change it — not you.

How it works

Every week, one practice.

  1. Practice

    We pick one small thing to do this week. Never a reading assignment. Something you can do in five minutes.

  2. Do it

    In your real life — with the resistance, the attempt, the win, and the slip.

  3. Register

    A two-minute check-in right after: what happened, what came up inside, and where the gap showed.

  4. Review

    I read every register. I'll name your strength, name the gap in one sentence, and we choose the next practice.

Example
The RegisterWeek 2 · Tuesday
PracticeSay "let me get back to you" once today.
Did you do it?Partly.
What happenedMy sister asked me to host Sunday. I said yes — then texted her an hour later: let me get back to you.
What came upTight chest. Guilt. Then relief.
The gapI knew I could pause, but I answered before I thought.
John's noteYou went back. That's the practice working, just an hour late. This week: the same six words, before you answer.
One-on-one coaching

Eight weeks. One practice at a time.

Individual work, shaped to where you actually are. Faith-integrated and strengths-based: we start with what's already strong in you and build the practices that move the needle.

  • Eight weekly one-on-one sessions by video call, wherever you are in the world
  • One practice each week, sized so you'll actually do it
  • A two-minute register after each practice, read by me
  • Your course fee counts toward coaching
The eight-week program
$720USD

or two payments of $360 · about $90 a session


Want to keep going? After eight weeks, continue at $300 a month for four sessions.

Start with a free call

Already decided? Pay $720 or two payments of $360

If you do the work and nothing changes, you don't pay.

"The work" means your register after each of the eight sessions: what you practiced, and for how long. Complete all eight, and if nothing has changed, I'll refund you in full. Applies to one-on-one coaching.

Hear how I work
“Have you ever been cared for — not looked at, not managed, not tolerated — cared for?”

A few minutes from a talk on trust: three hands — the surgeon, the anesthesiologist, the nurse — and three separate surrenders. Put on headphones and give it two minutes.

1:43

Listen to the full talk — 57 minutes →

Self-paced courses

Seven practices for a flourishing life.

Live on Zoom in a small group · $297 for six weeks, $397 for the eight-week Mindfulness course. Mindfulness opens first, in January.

See all seven courses →
Free tool

The Step Ten Nightly Review

The four things the book names, the twelve questions, and the dial that turns awareness into action. Five minutes, then close the day. Free, always.

Open the tool
JCJohn Cunningham
About

I'm John. Fifty-three years sober, and still practicing.

I've walked alongside people recovering from alcohol, cocaine and sex addiction — and from the quieter attachments too: people-pleasing, codependency, and the voice that says you're not good enough.

For me, recovery and positive psychology are the same work. Both ask you to close the gap between knowing and doing. You can understand the Twelve Steps and still not take them. You can know gratitude works and still not practice it. The gap is where we live, and it's where the change actually happens.

I don't teach people to understand more. I help them do more.

A word of clarity: I'm not a 12-step counselor, and this is not 12-step coaching. The Steps are one road I've walked for fifty-three years, and this work sits comfortably alongside them. The coaching itself is mental-health coaching and positive psychology. No program membership required.

Certified Christian Mental Health Coach Certified Consulting Hypnotist Practitioner of Positive Psychology Practitioner of NLP
The weekly message

One email a week, in my own words.

Experience from fifty-three years of recovery and practice. No products, no urgency. Unsubscribe anytime.

Free. Delivered by Substack. Read past letters

Questions

Before you book.

Is this 12-step coaching?

No. It's mental-health coaching and positive psychology. It works alongside the Steps, or any other program, or no program at all. It doesn't replace your fellowship, your sponsor, or your therapist.

I was never addicted to a substance. Is this for me?

Very possibly. Recovery is about attachments, and some of the strongest are to people, approval, and old stories about ourselves. If people-pleasing, codependency, or "I'm not good enough" runs your days, this work is for you.

How do sessions happen?

By video call, wherever you are in the world. We find a weekly time that works across time zones.

What does the guarantee cover?

The eight-week one-on-one program. Complete your register after each of the eight sessions — what you practiced, and for how long. If nothing has changed for you, I'll refund you in full.

What happens on the free call?

About thirty minutes. We talk about where you are and what you want to change. By the end you'll know whether this is a fit, and I'll tell you straight whether I can help. If I can't, I'll point you to someone who can.

Let's talk

The first practice is booking the call.

Thirty minutes, free, no pitch. You'll leave with one small thing to try, whether we work together or not.

Book a free 30-minute call

Prefer email? john@practiceflourishing.com

— John