Michael Cowl Gordon

Michael Cowl Gordon, MD, is an addiction medicine physician and recovery author who has spent more than five decades helping people navigate addiction, recovery, and personal transformation.

Drawing on 50 years of clinical experience, his writing explores not only the practical work of recovery, but also its emotional and spiritual dimensions. He is especially interested in the questions that can make Twelve-Step recovery difficult for people who struggle with traditional ideas about God, spirituality, or a Higher Power.

In Seeking a Higher Power: A Guide to the Second Step, Dr. Gordon explores a broad and inclusive understanding of the Higher Power concept, offering perspectives for believers, skeptics, agnostics, and anyone searching for an approach to Step Two that feels authentic and meaningful.

In The Twelve Step Pathway: A Heroic Journey of Recovery, he connects the Twelve Steps with Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey, reframing recovery as a courageous process of self-examination, transformation, and a return to life with greater purpose.

Dr. Gordon retired from clinical practice in 2023 after serving as Medical Director at The Berman Center in Atlanta. He is a Fellow of the American Society of Addiction Medicine and holds lifetime certification from the American Board of Addiction Medicine.

He is also the author of the award-winning novel Autobiography of a Georgia Cat.