Your Host and Author, Eric McCoy
Certified Addiction Treatment Counselor
If you have a substance abuse problem. Please reach out to me so we can talk. If you are a parent who has a son or daughter who is struggling and want to chat, please reach out to me at emccoy@highwhileclean.org. We can schedule a zoom meeting and maybe I can offer assistance. I think very differently than many and would love to be a part of your healing journey. I am easy to talk to and thrive on reaching who many think are unreachable.
Your Host, Eric McCoy
Listen to this episode of Warriors Unmasked. In this episode of Warriors Unmasked, Eric is going to take us on a journey through his life, starting from his childhood, where he never allowed himself to get close to people due to moving a lot, to his addiction to methamphetamine, to his miracle sentence that changed his life forever. Eric's story is sure to bring out a range of emotions in you, from heartbreak and sadness to empathy, education, and understanding.
Eric McCoy, C.A.T.C II, is a Certified Addiction Treatment Counselor who has been working in the substance abuse industry for over 16 years, Author of Pain, Failure, and Misery are the Stepping Stones to Success, and Host of the High While Clean Podcast. He has acquired an ability to reach people through unique tactics that don’t fall into the normal scope of treatment. Based in Los Angeles County, California, he has been in successful recovery from drug and alcohol addiction for over seven years.
As a six-time convicted felon who was facing 15 years in prison in 2001, Eric has impressed upon a conviction that, "no matter where you have been or what you have done, you can do anything you want if you are willing to fight for it.”
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Eric’s journey took him deep into the throes of severe addiction and multiple arrests. As a teenager, he changed schools frequently, which led him to seek out new friends, and with that came trouble as he was always searching for a purpose. For Eric, that purpose led him down the path to a life of devastation before recovery.
Eric was arrested for multiple offenses on separate occasions throughout his teenage years, including felonies for destruction of property, vandalism, theft, breaking and entering, and grand theft auto. At 16-years old, he was forced to go to a juvenile detention center and then straight to rehab afterward. Following rehab, he was arrested again because he violated his probation when he ran away from home to Oregon for a couple of weeks. Subsequently, Eric was transported by the Orange County Sheriff’s Department back to Southern California, where he spent an additional 30 days in a juvenile detention center and then placed under house arrest for 30 days. A week later, after an argument with his mom, he cut off his ankle bracelet and gallivanted to where his girlfriend lived at the time. The police arrested Eric on the spot the next day, and he spent 30 days in a juvenile detention center yet again.
At the age of 18, Eric ran off with the Grateful Dead band that led him around the West Coast with an entire tribe of hippies as he lived for the music, lifestyle, and especially the drugs, including the plethora of marijuana and LSD. The quintessential rainbow gatherings and hippie communes were what drew him in, as well as the fact that he was searching for a place to belong.
Soon after, drinking became a significant issue for Eric when he tried to pull his life together and attend the community college where his brother enrolled; however, Eric quickly dropped most of his classes due to alcohol abuse.
In 1992, Eric joined the United States Navy, and off he went to boot camp at Naval Station Great Lakes in Great Lakes, Illinois. Due to his legal issues in the past, he was only on active duty for about six months when he joined the United States Navy Reserve.
Once again, Eric’s dark side got the best of him as he strayed off to a hippie commune in Oregon. In 1994, he had a grand mal seizure from a lesion in his brain, which allowed him to get a medical discharge from the United States Navy.
Meth, Speed, Crank, Tweaking. Whatever you call it. This is what became Eric’s drug of choice next. He was using an insane amount of methamphetamines during this time, not to mention heroin, ecstasy, marijuana, and way too much alcohol.
A couple of years later, Eric had a seizure while driving 70 miles per hour down the freeway. While this would be a wake-up call to most people, he just hadn't hit his rock bottom yet. So, there he was, on these frantic meth binges staying up for days. Eric’s life was utterly out of control. He didn’t even feel like a human being anymore, more like a waste of space or a zombie.
Eric’s life was clearly unmanageable in every respect as he came to a major turning point in his reality versus delusional states. Before he knew what was happening, he was arrested by a task force in 1999. Shortly after, he went to rehab for six months and had alternative brain surgery to remove the lesion in his brain. All this chaos in his life still didn’t stop him from trying crack next.
Life started to colossally unravel for Eric when he was arrested four times within six months, beginning in 2001 and then again on January 3, 2002, for the 4th and culminating time. Eric was facing 15 years in prison at this point but was given a much lighter sentence. He ultimately served eight months in county jail, six months in a residential program, and another six months in a sober living and outpatient facility. Eric was one of the few and lucky ones, and he is forever grateful for this.
Eric’s personal experiences, healing, and sobriety inspired him to become a Certified Addiction Treatment Counselor. In 2002, he began school to be a counselor. The following year, Eric worked as a live-in house manager at a residential treatment facility. He became a counselor for a residential treatment facility in 2005. In 2006, Eric became a C.A.T.C II, Certified Addiction Treatment Counselor. He was promoted to Program Director of that same program in 2008.
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Eric opened the doors to Serenity Life Counseling in 2009 and led the facility as Executive Director and Clinical Director. His determination, ambition, and perseverance enabled him to work his way into the court system, get clearance into jails, as well as with the same department that arrested him all those times back in 2000 and 2001. He also developed relationships with district attorneys and judges and became highly successful in alternative sentencing. Eric then decided to leave this facility in 2012.
The Book - Pain, Failure, and Misery are the Stepping Stones to Success by Eric McCoy
After working as a Court Liaison for a treatment program, Eric relapsed in 2013 and went on a six-month frenzied meth binge that nearly killed him. In 2014, Eric went to rehab for 30 days, which was when he realized he would lose it all if he didn’t get clean and sober once and for all. This, in turn, categorically saved his life.
Ready to take on the world again, Eric was back in the industry as a Program Director for a detox program in 2015. He also briefly worked for Warren Boyd, most noted as the interventionist and addiction specialist to the Hollywood Stars.
In 2016, Eric was hired as Program Director for a Southern California addiction center where he met Bob Forrest, who is best known as the straight-talking, tell it like it is counselor on VH1’s Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew.
The ensuing years ignited a fire inside of Eric as he began to compose his autobiography and self-help book, Pain, Failure, and Misery are the Stepping Stones to Success in 2018. His profound knowledge and expertise on substance use disorder and how he works with others has always been guided by his deep compassion and understanding of others. That same year, he began teaching at a college and left the treatment industry.
Eric now focuses on education as an instructor at a college for people working to become counselors. His emphasis is to create an environment for people to learn tools of healing themselves by focusing on the experts working with them. Eric works to give a voice to those who have died from drug overdoses and advocates for those still suffering by sharing his story of pain and how he was able to use his suffering to achieve the success he never imagined.
Today, Eric enjoys spending time with his family and friends, playing the guitar and singing, and, of course, getting “High While Clean,” and yes—this is possible for you as well.
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