Pathway Session on Aftercare Planning a Big Success

On May 13, 2026, we hosted Sean McGowan, VP–Continuing Care for High Watch Recovery Centers, for a Pathway Session on Aftercare Planning to promote recovery. In his storytelling style, Sean talked about his own journey from addiction and recovery, and how important his aftercare program for long-term recovery success.

Sean started off with his own story, which is a story of both nature and nurture. On the nature side, he did mention his Irish ancestry and the fact there was alcoholism in the family. Sean himself ended up going to 6 rehabs during his journey, and was introduced to opioid pills while in college. (This is similar to what happened to my son Evan.)

Preceding his addiction journey, he had a feeling of being different. In the 9th grade, he went to a doctor that gave him an Adderall prescription for ADHD. He shared about his substance use, primarily alcohol and THC, during his high school years. While this was self-medication, it wasn’t until he ingested opioids in college that he felt so much “better”.

Thus started a 10-year journey of on and off opioid use and recovery, where the recovery stints were predicated on his belief that a short-term inpatient stay was enough for him to be healed physcially. For the longest time, he stubbornly refused to believe that addiction is not only physical, but spiritual and emotional as well.

Finally, over 10 years in, he heard in his mother’s voice a message. She had enough, and would no longer rescue her son. She would support his recovery, but that was it. He finally realized that, with no other way to go, that taking ownership of his own long-term recovery was key. He found community, and transitioned from resentment to victimization to acceptance and surrender. Recently, he celebrated 9 years of continuous recovery, and 7 years at High Watch.

While Sean didn’t address all of these, here are some of the components of aftercare helpful to long-term recovery following treatment: 1) 12-step support groups; 2) recovery housing; 3) alumni program participation; 4) treatment of co-occurring issues with a therapist and/or IOP or PHP treatment programs; 4) a structured schedule that includes healthy routines for sleep, nutrition and exercise; 5) relapse prevention plans; and 6) Family participation, including therapy, education, peer support and boundary-setting.

The Q&A took up about half of the session. One tip that Sean gave to a parent concerned about her son’s reaction to setting a boundary: “how about writing a letter?”. He gave an example of a recent case at High Watch, where the parent poured her heart into a letter which her son read with more empathy that he had shown in years.

Sean believes that for parents and others, being vulnerable and open with emotions is important. It allows everyone in the family to be on the same page.

The feedback we received from this Pathway Session was uniformly positive. If you’d like to view the replay of the session, just CLICK HERE.