Dr. John A. MacDougall

About the Author

John MacDougall was born in New York City in 1949. He graduated from Rutgers College, a division of Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey in New Brunswick, New Jersey in 1972. He graduated with a Master of Divinity degree from Princeton Theological Seminary in Princeton, New Jersey in 1976. He graduated from the Drew University Theological School in Madison, New Jersey in 1985 with a Doctor of Ministry degree, with a focus in Family Therapy. He is the co-author, with Bowen White, M.D. of "Clinician's Guide to Spirituality", published in 2001 by McGraw-Hill and Hazelden, and the new book "Being Sober and Becoming Happy".

John was ordained as a minister in the United Methodist Church in Ocean City, New Jersey in 1976 and served churches in Riverside and Paulsboro New Jersey, the Mascoma Valley Parish in and near Enfield, New Hampshire, and Everett, Massachusetts for eighteen years. John was the Supervisor of Spiritual Care and then the Director of Spiritual Guidance at Hazelden, the famous addiction treatment center in Minnesota, for twenty years from 1994 to 2014. In 2014, he left Hazelden and moved to The Retreat, a non-clinical, Twelve Step based recovery program in Wayzata, Minnesota, to become its Spiritual Care Coordinator.

John married Priscilla in 1976, and they have two daughters, Priscilla Anderson and Chris Lopez. They have three grandchildren, Sawyer Anderson, Ana Lopez and Macky Lopez. They are grateful for happy family relationships with daughters, sons in law, and grandchildren.

John enjoys speaking at A.A. events, and has spoken at A.A. Roundups in Aspen Colorado, Las Vegas, and Reno, Nevada. He has spoken to Hazelden Alumni Groups around the country, to the International Doctors In A.A., and to many other groups that are interested in recovery. He can be contacted at johnmacd@usa.net.