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Americans United is proud to present Retired Judge Mary Beth O’Connor who will be speaking about her new and very personal memoir: From Junkie to Judge: One Woman’s Triumph Over Trauma and Addiction. Mary Beth will describe her long history of injecting methamphetamine. She will describe how she responded when her rehab ordered her to comply with the God-based approach of Alcoholics Anonymous and how she built a secular recovery program. She will explain the benefits of building a personalized secular recovery program and the obstacles to doing so and will provide recovery resources and take questions.
In her award-winning memoir, From Junkie to Judge: One Woman’s Triumph Over Trauma and Addiction, Mary Beth shares her three-phase journey. The abuse and trauma that drove her to shoot methamphetamine at 17, the chaos from her addiction, and how she developed a personalized recovery plan, without a higher power, that led to twenty-nine years of sobriety thus far. She is a Board Member for She Recovers Foundation and a Director for LifeRing Secular Recovery. She regularly speaks on behalf of these organizations and about multiple and secular paths to recovery.
Professionally, 6 years into recovery, Mary Beth attended Berkeley Law. She worked at a large firm, then litigated class actions for the federal government. In 2014 she was appointed a federal Administrative Law Judge from which position she retired in 2020.
Please join us for what will be an informative and interesting program.
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