Author Bio

My name is Steven Gledhill, Founder and Author of FREEdom From MEdom Project. I am married, have three grown sons and two grandchildren. I am an Alcohol and Drug Counselor (CADC) certified by the State of Illinois. I currently provide substance abuse treatment for criminal offenders at a correctional facility in Illinois. However, as an ordained minister, I hope to serve God in the justice system in a pastoral capacity, however The Lord leads.

We utilize a cognitive-behavioral strategy for their treatment while injecting 12-step support for those seeking spiritual empowerment. It is an incredible challenge requiring a passion for the transformative recovery needed for the men to sustain lifelong recovery. The reward from doing this work is incredible to say the least. God is at work in that place in a big way. The men are hungry for something real that will change them into something better forever.

Until 2010, I was the Recovery Therapy Counselor for six years; developing curriculum and directing the outpatient Recovery Therapy program at Heritage Counseling Center outside of Chicago, Illinois. My under-graduate degree is in Psychology from Judson University and I’ve been counseling for almost 20 years. I am a husband, stepfather to three young men, and I am a young-looking grandfather. In the early 1990s, God set me on a course that would lead me into the field of counseling people struggling with addiction. In 2005, He birthed in me the vision for FREEdom from MEdom. Addiction recovery counseling has become my passion. God has taught me more recently that this issue of recovery is not only for a select group abusing and dependent on alcohol and drugs, or people with gambling problems or sexual addictions; recovery is intended for every single one of us through a relationship with God in the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus said that we all have a problem with addiction to our selfishness (John 8:34).

When I took to heart this revelation that I truly believe is inspired by God and supported by Scripture, it radically changed how I did, and do, counseling. No one is exempt from the need for authentic revolutionary recovery. Even while working for secular 12-step agencies, the most relevant and applicable tool that I stressed to my clients was consistent prayer. As I counseled clients to pray as their first option to effectively combat dysfunction in their lives, amazing things happened. Even clients that didn’t enter therapy believing in the reality of a living and loving God with divine authority, left therapy knowing that their new-found faith was realized in their tangible real-life experiences of healing and recovery. Their faith was in what they knew to be true and real. Prayer is not a new concept, but for some it was being experienced for the first time as access to the truth and experience of God’s transformative power in their lives. The recovery revolution in a person’s life means it has turned from what wasn’t much good into something new and wonderful.

Then, a funny thing happened. If it works for them maybe it will work for me, too. I have a tendency to struggle with what I know God can do versus what I believe (really believe) God will do in my life. As I have been honest with God about my flaws and my sin, and been more willing to readily forgive rather than hold on to stuff, I have been released in so many ways to experience the transforming power of God in my own life. It has made me a much more effective counselor.

As God has revealed to me truth concerning freedom from my addiction to me I have been able to parlay what I’ve discovered, and continue to learn, into sensible steps for experiencing recovery. FREEdom from MEdom Project is the culmination of this process that I am so passionate about. Thank you for your interest in this work. Become a member of FFMP and join me on this blessed road to freedom through recovery.