Candy Finnigan is a nationally recognized addiction specialist and interventionist and has been involved in all areas of recovery for over 25 years.

She received her Certificate in Alcohol-Drug Counseling skills and her Certificate in Alcohol-Drug Abuse Studies from UCLA in 1993. Involved not only as an interventionist, but also in relapse prevention, she holds a certificate in the Gorski method and was trained in 1996 by Terence Gorski. Her internships were done at Cedars-Sinai Hospital where she worked in Addiction Services and C.P.C. Westwood Hospital. She was certified in Sex Addiction by Dr. Patrick Carnes in 1997 and attended Post Induction training with Pia Mellody, R.N. in 1997 at the Meadows. She received her intervention training in 1991, from Dr. Vernon Johnson, when intervention was relatively new. In 2001 she was trained in Systemic Family Intervention. She has enjoyed professional relationships with many treatment centers nationally and internationally.

Additionally, Candy has extensive experience in assessment, placement, and aftercare treatment. She has been a group facilitator for many years, with both adults and adolescents. Candy did work with the students at Beverly Hills High School as a drug and alcohol specialist/counselor for 11 years, acting as facilitator of the “Sober Lunch” program. She is a Certified Master Addiction Counselor III and a Board Registered Interventionist II. She belongs to the Association of Intervention Specialists.

Personally in recovery for over 28 years, Candy states, “I was inspired to go into this work because I saw that as a recovering woman, I might be able to connect with suffering people in a way that others couldn’t,” she says. “It’s not just my work, it’s my life.” Candy has been married for 45 years. She and her husband Mike have two grown children: son, Kelly, and daughter, Bridget.

Co-founder of the acclaimed MAP (Musicians Assistance Program or Musicares), Candy continues to educate and facilitate through a variety of efforts in the recovery community.

Currently, she is one of the featured interventionists on the acclaimed A&E series “Intervention” and has been since the beginning of the show in 2004. “Intervention” has been widely praised as a groundbreaking example of how reality television and therapeutic efforts can be combined and has been recognized for its commitment to raising public awareness of the epidemic of alcoholism and drug addiction, as well as other mental health issues.

Candy continues to be active in the recovery community as a mentor and lecture speaker. It has been her experience, across the board that the nature of addictions and interventions are a daunting task each family faces. To learn more about Candy, visit CandyFinnigan.com.

Candy’s book, When Enough is Enough, was published by Penguin/Avery in April 2008. The book is about helping loved ones with the process of Intervention. It is available at major bookstores and amazon.com.