Mackenzie Phillips

Not long before her fiftieth birthday, Mackenzie Phillips walked into Los Angeles International Airport. She was on her way to a reunion for One Day at a Time, the hugely popular 70s sitcom on which she once starred as the lovable rebel Julie Cooper. Within minutes of entering the security checkpoint, Mackenzie was in handcuffs, arrested for possession of cocaine and heroin.

Born into rock and roll royalty, flying in Lear jets to the Virgin Islands at five, making pot brownies with her father's friends at eleven, Mackenzie grew up in an all-access kingdom of hippie freedom and heroin cool. It was a kingdom over which her father, the legendary John Phillips of The Mamas & the Papas, presided.

When Mackenzie was a teenager, Hollywood and the world took notice of the charming, talented, precocious child actor after her star-making turn in American Graffiti. As a young woman she joined the nonstop party her father created for himself and his fellow revelers, and a rapt TV audience watched as Julie Cooper wasted away before their eyes.

By the time Mackenzie discovered how deep and dark her father's trip was going, it was too late. And as an adult, she has paid dearly for a lifetime of excess, working tirelessly to reconcile a wonderful, terrible past in which she succumbed to the power of addiction and the pull of her magnetic father.

Mackenzie speaks honestly on her lifelong battle with personal demons and near-fatal addictions. Audiences are drawn to her famous story and listen attentively to her journey overcoming obstacles and working towards recovery. The star and author of High on Arrival has also released a second book - Hopeful Healing: Essays on Managing Recovery and surviving addiction.

These days Mackenzie can be found working with clients as a substance use disorder counselor and speaking on trauma and addiction recovery to help others find their path to hope and healing.