Kathleen Smigels (Kathie) is a licensed professional counselor, addiction specialist, and SHE RECOVERS Coach. She hosts the weekly (yes, weekly!) SHE RECOVERS Sharing Circle in Royal Oak, Michigan. Her nominator says that Kathie brings both her professional expertise and compassionate heart to the circle each week, and draws from her years of experience supporting individuals navigating substance use, mental health challenges, and the criminal justice system. As a facilitator and SHE RECOVERS Certified Professional, she holds space with extraordinary empathy, insight, and integrity. Kathie started volunteering with SHE RECOVERS in 2020, just after the “usual recovery spaces went quiet,” and she felt that absence. Volunteering was a way for her to “keep a light on” for those in recovery. She wanted to ensure “that recovery support did not vanish just because the world closed its doors.” We are so grateful for her service over the last six years.
Kathie has recently been recognized as a SHE RECOVERS Gem.
SHE RECOVERS Gems are volunteers who have been acknowledged by their peers for their profound and life-altering contributions and service to our community.
We had the honor of interviewing Kathleen Smigels about her role as a SHE RECOVERS volunteer.
What does being a SHE RECOVERS Foundation volunteer mean to you?
Being a SHE RECOVERS volunteer, to me, is a lived commitment rather than a role. It is the consistent practice of showing up with presence, integrity, and compassion, shaped by both training and experience. After completing SHE RECOVERS Coach training in 2020, I began facilitating online gatherings and now primarily facilitate weekly in-person sharing circles, strengthening connection within my local community. While I no longer facilitate online gatherings on a regular basis, I remain available to step in when support is needed. My dedication to recovery since 1989, along with ongoing professional education and development, has been foundational in my life. As a licensed professional counselor and addiction specialist, I bring both clinical skill and lived wisdom, and my journey deeply aligns with the Intentions and Guiding Principles of SHE RECOVERS. Through my involvement with SHE RECOVERS, I have found not only a community I belong to, but a meaningful space to offer support in a way that feels authentic and whole. It allows me to bring together all that I have been in recovery from and for, integrating personal experience and professional practice into one shared purpose.
What made you want to become a SHE RECOVERS Foundation Volunteer?
I wanted to become a volunteer because recovery is not something I keep to myself. When sharing circles moved online in 2020, the usual recovery spaces went quiet, and I felt that absence. Volunteering was a way of keeping a light on for those in recovery. I wanted to be present and reachable, so that recovery support did not vanish just because the world closed its doors. Beyond the InTheRooms Sundays, I wanted to help create a space where people could still be seen, heard, and held by the community, even through a screen. At its core, my motivation was service rooted in lived experience. I understand how fragile connection can be, and volunteered, not as a savior, but as someone willing to show up and say, in action, you are not alone.
What three words would your friends or fellow volunteers use to describe you?
Determined, thoughtful, and ambitious.
How do these aspects of who you are show up in your everyday life?
These qualities show up as quiet, repeatable choices throughout my life. I show up even when it would be easier not to. I strive to stay present, follow through, and keep my word; I listen before I speak, and notice who has not been heard yet; how my words might land, and when silence is more supportive. I hold a quiet vision for what recovery can become and take steps toward it. I am always willing to practice preparation; do what it takes to create growth, and have a willingness to expand skills. Together, these are expressed as reliability, presence, and forward movement. Not loud. Not rushed. Just steady and intentional.
What is something of which you are proud?
I am proud that I returned to university in my mid-40s, completed two postgraduate degrees, and changed careers. I intentionally integrated previous professional experience into meaningful work in my present field. This has allowed me to weave lived experience, professional history, and self-knowledge into work that supports change, recovery, and healing for others.
What do you do outside of your SRF Volunteer role for work and/or play?
I am a licensed professional counselor and addiction specialist who advocates within treatment courts for individualized, person-centered recovery plans. Outside of professional work, I value time with family and enjoy engaging with art, music, and cultural events.
What does radical self-care look like for you?
Practicing radical self-care, to me, is a daily commitment to mindfulness and self-awareness. It means tending to my emotions, thoughts, and behaviors with intention rather than judgment. My self-care lives in my everyday practices: creating art, highlight journaling, meditation, and movement. Music steadies my spirit; dancing and nourishing food choices feed my body; reading and time with my family restores my mental and emotional well-being. Radical self-love is how I listen to myself, regulate my emotions gently, and choose presence again and again.
Tell us a little bit about your recovery journey. What are you recovering from? What tools and resources do you weave into your patchwork of recovery?
My recovery journey began in 1989, when I first committed to living alcohol and drug-free through 12 Step programs and therapy. While I did not return to illicit substance use, I continued to struggle with abstinence from alcohol and disconnection from self. Through persistence and willingness to engage in multiple recovery modalities and support circles, I have been able to abstain from alcohol since April 17, 2005. Living substance-free has removed a powerful distraction and means of escape from my emotions and life experiences. However, for me, recovery is not a destination but a lifelong process of daily mindfulness, healing from all the things, deepening self-awareness, and learning how to live my best and most authentic life.
What or who is inspiring you right now?
I am continually inspired to do this work because of those who lost their lives while suffering alone. Their stories are not defined by failure, but by the weight they carried without enough support, understanding, or relief. I hold their lives as reminders of the urgency of education, compassion, connection, and honesty in recovery spaces. Their absence fuels my commitment to speak openly, reach toward others, and create places where no one has to endure in silence.
What SHE RECOVERS Intention & Guiding Principle resonates with you the most?
We must be supported to find & follow individualized pathways & patchworks of recovery.
What is your favorite SHE RECOVERS resource?
The shared resources, collaboration, and connection.
What is one piece of advice you would give to another woman/non-binary individual who is seeking a community like SHE RECOVERS?
SHE RECOVERS is a place we can bring ALL the things we want to heal and seek recovery for in our lives. It is a place to share our strengths and struggles in connection with others.
