A Tribute to Terence Gorski

HIS WORK CONTINUES –

April 1, 2021 – I benefited from this article as much as any information I received while in treatment. The insight and knowledge I gained has compelled me to pass it on to patients, students, and colleagues ever since. As an aside, a couple of decades later I filmed a talk based on the same information which has become my best-selling rehab video. The information is as relevant today as it was when he first went public with it in the late 1980s.

In the fall of 1999, I had the honor of meeting Gorski when he spoke at the California Association of Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Counselors (CAADAC) annual conference. I was awed to hear this recovery icon speak in person. I shook his hand at the end of the talk and shared with him the effect his work had on my recovery and career.

Later that night, I was headed for my hotel room across the street and there he came, walking down the street! Once again, I extended my hand to him and elaborated on the influence his work had on me. I spoke about my relapse prevention lecture series, which is largely based on his work from a decade prior, and he appeared genuinely thrilled that someone was using the information in that way. The next thing we knew, an hour and a half had passed as we spoke at that Sacramento intersection until around 11:00 PM. The genuine interest he exhibited in me and my work, and the time he took at that hour to visit with this “wet behind the ears” counselor, left a lasting impression regarding who this man was.