Welcome to The Interruption, a 49th Shelf–Books on the Radio podcast in which I interview Canadian writers about the surprising things that inform, inspire, and even interrupt their creative process. The Interruption is now generously sponsored by The UBC Creative Writing Program, celebrating 50 years of excellence in creative writing. For more information visit creativewriting.ubc.ca.

Today, I chat with Michael Pond and Maureen Palmer, authors of The Couch of Willingness: An Alcoholic Therapist Battles the Bottle and a Broken Recovery System, described by Michele Marko in the Vancouver Sun as "a riveting and anxiety-inducing read." It's the story of Micheal's two-year battle to regain sobriety and his encounters with a sorry state of recovery resources afforded to him.

Michael Pond is a psychotherapist practicing in West Vancouver who specializes in mental health and addictions and is now four and a half years sober. He offers individual, family, and group therapy and has become an expert in residential school abuse healing and addiction recovery. He writes the biweekly "Professional Advice" column in the Vancouver Sun.

Maureen Palmer spent two decades as an award-winning producer at the CBC, where she held senior positions in both radio and television production. She left in 2000 to produce series for TLC and the Discovery Channel. Shortly thereafter, she co-founded Bountiful Films, which has produced a string of critically acclaimed documentaries.

The first podcast is my interview with Michael and Maureen, while in the second, Michael reads from The Couch of Willingness.

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