Candy Finnigan

Candy Finnigan is a nationally recognized addiction specialist and interventionist and has been involved in all areas of recovery for over 25 years. She is a professional interventionist, regularly featured on the A&E show "Intervention."

She received her Certificate in Alcohol-Drug Counseling skills and her Certificate in Alcohol-Drug Abuse Studies from UCLA in 1993. Apart from being an interventionist, she is also involved in relapse prevention, holding a certificate in the Gorski method, and was trained in 1996 by Terence Gorski. Her internships were done at Cedars-Sinai Hospital, where she worked in Addiction Services and C.P.C. Westwood Hospital. She was certified in Sex Addiction by Dr. Patrick Carnes in 1997 and attended post-induction training with Pia Mellody, R.N. in 1997 at the Meadows. She received her intervention training in 1991 from Dr. Vernon Johnson when intervention was relatively new. In 2001 she was trained in Systemic Family Intervention. She has enjoyed professional relationships with many treatment centers nationally and internationally.

Finnigan has extensive experience in assessment, placement, and aftercare treatment. She has been a group facilitator for many years with both adults and adolescents. Finnigan worked with the students at Beverly Hills High School as a drug and alcohol specialist/counselor for 11 years, acting as a facilitator of the “Sober Lunch” program. She is a Certified Master Addiction Counselor III and a Board Registered Interventionist II. She belongs to the Association of Intervention Specialists.

Currently, she is one of the featured interventionists on the acclaimed A&E series “Intervention” and has been since the beginning of the show in 2004. “Intervention” has been widely praised as a groundbreaking example of how reality television and therapeutic efforts can be combined and has been recognized for its commitment to raising public awareness of the epidemic of alcoholism and drug addiction, as well as other mental health issues. Finnigan is also a proud recovering alcoholic with 33 years of sobriety.

Finnigan continues to be active in the recovery community as a mentor and lecture speaker. It has been her experience, across the board, that the nature of addictions and interventions is a daunting task each family faces. She has written a comprehensive guide on the subject in her book, "When Enough is Enough."

On a personal note, Finnigan is a graduate of the University of Kansas. She was married to Mike Finnigan, a musician and former basketball player, for over 45 years, and they have two children: a daughter named Bridget and a son named Kelly.