Rocking Recovery
— Performances and conversation with rock star counselor Woody Giessmann
Saturday, November 7, at 4 pm
At the Arts Wayland Gallery
35 Andrew Wayland MA
For more than three decades, Woody has worked with individuals and families navigating substance use and co-occurring mental health disorders. He is a Licensed Alcohol & Drug Counselor (LADC-I), Certified Alcohol & Drug Counselor (CADC), and Board-Certified Intervention Professional (CIP), and is known for a compassionate, family-centered approach that helps people connect with appropriate treatment and build healthy lives in recovery.
On November 7, Woody will perform on piano and share stories of antics, humor, and penetrating insights about human resilience learned from life on the road and on the rebound. Arts Wayland is proud to feature this special presentation of mental health and the arts strengthening each other.
Woody Giessmann wears many hats well. Most important, he is an accessible star and trusted sage to the entertainment industry. He is a musician, painter, author, licensed alcohol and drug counselor, and board-certified intervention professional. His career has bridged rock and roll, behavioral health, and recovery advocacy. Woody plays several instruments and is the former drummer of The Del Fuegos (“Best new band of 1984” – Rolling Stone). The Del Fuegos signed with Warner Bros., played Madison Square Garden, opened for superstars (Tom Petty, INXS, ZZ Top), earned recognition by music pioneers (Elvis Costello, Robert Plant, Sam Philips), and were featured in an iconic beer commercial. Throughout this wild ride, Woody remained a very human rock star as he witnessed the volatile combination of brilliance and vulnerability in himself and his colleagues. Woody entered long-term recovery in 1990 and became an addiction specialist and interventionist in 1993. His decades-long commitment to the field is deeply personal, shaped in part by the loss of his older brother to substance use and mental health challenges. Woody has helped over 80 people get back on their feet and regain meaningful lives, along the way building a solid reputation for compassion and diligence.
Woody is the author of A Life of Recovery: Breaking the Chains of Addiction, published in 2025, and the creator of Rock Bottom: A Musical, a project developed in collaboration with Simon Kirke of Bad Company and Free and Boston comedian and actor Tony V.
Through counseling, speaking, writing, and music, Woody brings together his experiences as an artist and recovery professional to engage audiences in candid conversations about addiction, mental health, tenacity, and recovery.