Now accepting applications·Toronto / Zoom
(289) 207-2617·debra@cccrecovery.ca
Chances. Choices. Changes. A peer-led recovery program
An eight-week peer-led recovery program with Debra King
Toronto / Zoom

You're right
where you're
supposed to be.

An eight-week, peer-led recovery program with Debra King. A small room. Honest conversation. The practical language of staying sober — daytimers, boundaries, phone calls, quality over quantity.

Apply for the next cohort → Read the syllabus
Or call Debra directly — (289) 207-2617
Tuition $2,499 Limited seats available at Founder’s rate $1,997. Sliding scale on request.
Format Eight Mondays 7 — 9 p.m. ET, live on Zoom. Cameras encouraged, never required.
Seats Eight per cohort Small by design. You'll know every name in the room.
01 A letter

If you're reading this, you're in the right spot.

A note from Debra King — not a brochure, not a script. Read it once. Read it twice if the second paragraph rings a bell.

Portrait of Debra King
FromDebra King RoleFounder · Facilitator WhereToronto, ON

I was hungry, angry, lonely, and tired — all four. The rule is the rule. So I went home, to the apartment I'd been to twenty times in two years.

What followed wasn't a goal of mine. It caught up with me anyway. Quality, not quantity. Boundaries surfaced. Feelings ran wild. My network of support got smaller, and more meticulous, and not one-sided.

Today there are counsellors and journals and a daytimer, and a to-do list that sometimes carries into next week. I do the best I can. I'm available — for others, and for myself.

I built this program for the people I keep meeting in the same waiting rooms and the same hours of the night. If you're reading this, you're in the right spot. Stay with it. You're so worth it.

Blue skies and green lights, Debra
Note 01 The rule is the rule. HALT — hungry, angry, lonely, tired. Two of the four, and you go home.
Note 02 "Quality, not quantity." A smaller network, more meticulous, not one-sided.
Note 03 The daytimer. Recovery is a logistics problem before it is a spiritual one.
02 What it is

A practical recovery program for adults doing the work.

Not a 12-step group. Not therapy. Eight conversations, built on lived experience, structured around the parts of recovery that almost nobody teaches you out loud.

I.
Eight weeks

A real beginning, and a real end.

Eight Monday evenings, two hours each. Long enough to build something. Short enough that you can see the finish line from the start. We close the cohort the way we opened it — small, plainly, on time.

II.
Small group

Eight people in the room.

Cohorts are capped at eight on purpose. You'll know every name. You'll know whose week was hard. Nobody hides in the back — not by design, but because there is no back to hide in.

III.
Peer-led

Lived experience, in the room.

Debra has been where you are. She has the language, the timing, and the receipts. The vocabulary is the curriculum — and she facilitates every cohort herself, every Monday, all eight weeks.

03 The syllabus

Eight weeks. Eight Mondays.

The arc of the program, laid out plainly. Every week stands on its own and builds on the last. Sessions are conversation, not lecture. Reading is optional and short.

Wk 01
Day one — why you came p. 01
What you're putting down, and why now. The first night is for showing up; we ask very little of you and offer the room.
Wk 02
The vocabulary p. 02
HALT. FEAR. Quality over quantity. Blue skies and green lights. The words you'll use to describe your own weather from now on.
Wk 03
The daytimer p. 03
Recovery is a logistics problem before it's a spiritual one. We build the to-do list that holds you up on the days you can't hold yourself up.
Wk 04
Boundaries — phone calls and rooms p. 04
The calls you don't make. The rooms you don't walk into. Said out loud, so they become real, so they become possible.
Wk 05
The middle p. 05
Where most people quit. Why we don't. What to do when the novelty wears off and the work becomes the work.
Wk 06
The people p. 06
Who's in your life now. Who you'll need to add. Who you'll need to let go of, for a while or for good. Honest accounting.
Wk 07
The story p. 07
How you tell what happened, to yourself first. The version you'll carry into the rest of your life. We practice it out loud.
Wk 08
Day fifty-six — what you take with you p. 08
What stays in this room. What you take with you. We close the cohort the way we opened it: small, plainly, on time.
Sessions move at the pace of the room. The arc holds. Apply for the next cohort →
04 The vocabulary

The words we use to stay.

A small private language, earned the hard way. Two of them, set in type, so you know what to expect on week two.

HALT

When to stop and ask why.

Hungry
Angry
Lonely
Tired

"I was all the above. So I went home." — Debra, in her own words

FEAR

And what to do with it.

Fuck
Everything
And
Recover

"This was not my goal by any chance. It caught up with me anyway." — Debra, in her own words

05 Who it's for

Two honest lists.

It's better to know now. We'd rather you find the right room than the closest one — and we'd rather say so plainly.

This is for you if —

Yes
  • You're past day one and the novelty is wearing off.
  • You've tried groups that didn't fit, and you're not sure why.
  • You want practical language, not slogans.
  • You can show up on a Monday night for eight weeks.
  • You're willing to be honest in a small room of people you'll know by name.
  • You're sober, or sincerely on the way.

This is not for you if —

No
  • You're in active acute crisis — please call a clinician first.
  • You're looking for a 12-step alternative that operates the same way, only renamed.
  • You're not ready to participate. Passive observation isn't how the room works.
  • You need a substitute for medical detox or supervised withdrawal.
  • You're looking for free. The work is real, and so is the tuition.
If you don't believe in yourself yet — we'll believe in you until you do.
Debra King · The CCC promise Participant voices will live here after the first cohort closes
06 The facilitator

Debra King built this program out of her own life.

Not as a concept, but as a Monday and a Tuesday and a Wednesday — the work of staying sober, written in her own handwriting.

Debra King, photographed in a Toronto greenhouse
Debra King — Toronto, 2025

Debra has lived recovery from the inside out — not as a concept, but as a Monday and a Tuesday and a Wednesday.

For years she worked frontline harm reduction, assembling and distributing Naloxone kits, on the call when calls came in. She found her way back to a routine through her work with St. Stephen's Community House in Toronto, where she still is today — breakfast, lunch, sleep, a daytimer, a journal, a phone you answer when it rings.

She built Chances. Choices. Changes. for the people she keeps meeting along the way: adults who are sober or sincerely trying to be, who want honest conversation in a small room, finite in length, plain in language. She facilitates every cohort herself.

Foundation
Lived experience first.
The vocabulary is the curriculum.
Frontline
Naloxone kit assembly & distribution.
Harm reduction outreach.
Currently with
St. Stephen's Community House.
Toronto, ON.
Reach her directly
(289) 207-2617
debra@cccrecovery.ca
07 The format

Eight Mondays in a row. Eight seats. One facilitator.

Live on Zoom, cameras encouraged. Cohorts form on a rolling basis — apply now and we'll match you with the next one.

Schedule
Eight
Mondays
7 — 9 p.m. ET · Live on Zoom.
Cameras encouraged, not required.
01Day one — why you came2 hrs
02The vocabulary2 hrs
03The daytimer2 hrs
04Boundaries2 hrs
05The middle2 hrs
06The people2 hrs
07The story2 hrs
08Day fifty-six2 hrs
Tuition
Founder’s rate $1,997
Limited seats available. Eight two-hour sessions, includes the printed Day-One affirmation mailed to your door.
Standard $2,499
Eight two-hour sessions. Includes the printed Day-One affirmation, mailed to your door.
Sliding scale Talk
No questions asked beyond what you can pay. Mention it on the application — there's a line for it.
Payment plan Yes
Split into two or four. No deposit until you're accepted. Cancel anytime up to Day One with a full refund.
Eight seats · small by design
Cohorts form on a rolling basis. When eight are matched, we set a Monday and begin — usually within four to six weeks of your application.
08 Frequently asked

Honest answers to the questions we hear most.

If yours isn't here, call (289) 207-2617 or write to debra@cccrecovery.ca. Debra answers herself.

— I. Before you apply
Q. 01 Do I have to be already sober to apply?

No, but you do need to be sincerely on the way. The cohort isn't a substitute for medical detox or acute crisis support — if you're in either of those places, please call a clinician first and come find us when you're ready. Most participants have between three weeks and three years of continuous sobriety when they begin.

Q. 02 Is this a replacement for AA, NA, or therapy?

No. It's a complement, not a replacement. Some people in the room also work the steps. Some don't. Some have a therapist. Some don't. We don't ask, and we don't compare. What we do offer is a finite, plain-spoken room you can attend in addition to whatever else is keeping you upright.

Q. 03 Can I talk to Debra before I apply?

Yes. Call (289) 207-2617 or email debra@cccrecovery.ca and Debra will get back to you. A first conversation is exactly what it sounds like — a phone call, no pressure, no script, and no obligation either way.

— II. Inside the cohort
Q. 04 What if I miss a Monday?

Life happens. We expect that you'll miss one — most people do. We don't record sessions, but Debra will check in by phone the next day and bring you forward into the following week. Missing two is a conversation; missing three means we'll move you to a later cohort, with no money lost.

Q. 05 Is it confidential?

What's said in the room stays in the room. We say it on week one and we mean it. No recordings. No transcripts. No screenshots. Debra is bound by the same agreement everyone else is.

Q. 06 Is it on Zoom or in person?

Sessions are on Zoom — cameras encouraged but not required. If you'd prefer in-person and you're in Toronto, mention it on the application. We're exploring local cohorts and will tell you first when seats open.

— III. Tuition & logistics
Q. 07 What if I can't afford it?

Sliding scale is available on request, with no questions asked beyond what you can pay. Recovery has never been about whoever can pay the most. Just say so on the application — there is a line for it — and we'll work it out.

Q. 08 When do cohorts start?

Cohorts form on a rolling basis as applications come in. When eight people are matched, we set a Monday and begin. Most applicants are matched within four to six weeks. If timing matters to you, say so on your application and Debra will work with you.

09 Apply

One short form. Debra reads every one.

Tell us a little about where you are. We'll write back within two business days with next steps, or a phone call. Cohorts are forming on a rolling basis.

Read only by Debra · Never sold, never shared, never added to a list.
Application received

Thank you. Your application is in.

Debra reads every one herself, usually within two business days. Watch for a note from debra@cccrecovery.ca — and in the meantime, you're right where you're supposed to be.

$1,997 · Founder’s rate Apply for the next cohort