Profiles in Recovery

Deborah King

Battling drug addiction while you’re the child of a celebrity “brings you to a different level of ridicule,” says Deborah King, daughter of legendary boxing promoter Don King. “I was placed on the cover of gossip magazines, AP wires, and multiple media outlets.”

Motivated by the prayers and concern of her late mother Henrietta, King tackled the hard work of recovery. She spent four months in a treatment center and lived in a halfway house with other women fighting addiction.

King emerged with a calling to help others find healing. She went back to school for a Master’s in Mental Health Counseling and became a certified Intervention and Recovery Life Coach. Now drug-free for 11 years, King guides people from all walks of life in their journeys toward recovery.

Day Job:
Mental Health and Addictions therapist, nationally certified Recovery and Life Coach. Founder of Limitless Life Recovery and Holistic Group.

What I lost to addiction:
I lost myself, love, trust, relationships with my family; but more importantly, I lost precious time on this earth with my mother who is now deceased.

What worked for me:
Was to embrace recovery and make it the fight of my life. Nothing was more important to me than me. My addiction was my cancer, my meetings and sponsors were my chemotherapy. I have been cancer free for 11 years.

Advice to my younger self:
Never forget who you are and what you are made of. Don’t allow others to influence, misguide, or pressure you into doing and being something or someone you are not. Be your own definition of cool.

Rules I live by:
Recovery is not what I am, it’s how I live. Never stop doing the next right thing.

On my schedule today:
Thank God for another day of life, embrace the new beginning to be the best that I can be. Give the gift of Hope, Inspiration, and Motivation to someone who has lost their voice. “It Takes A Life To Save A Life”.

Best advice for newbies:
SURRENDER; understand there is help out there, all you have to do is ask. Sit down and be still with yourself. You need to know that there is a resource that is bigger than you that can help you; I call mine God.

What I learned about myself:
I am a survivor, an advocate, an ambassador for recovery. I love life and am honored to be a child of God. Without my faith I would not have made it.

I get inspired by:
Strong women with a vision, woman who step up and accept the challenge to create and implement change.

What I value most in recovery:
Is my ability to express how great being in recovery is. Recovery is as precious as gold, keep it polished for it will not tarnish nor lose its value; how much is your life worth to you?

Proudest moment:
Speaking on the National Mall in Washington DC at the United to Face Addiction inaugural rally October 4, 2015 to a crowd of 100,000 addicts and survivors.

On finding purpose:
It is my life’s purpose to have my clients experience a mixture of recovery and inner peace within themselves that allow them to self-validate, accept and appreciate who they are in order to be satisfied with the person they have become while maintaining long term sobriety and life success.

Follow King on Twitter @LimitlesslifeFL

Shed the Stigma:
If you’re a person in long-term recovery who wants to share your insights, please contact us at [email protected].