Almost two years after sharing his recovery story with LawCare, Steven McCann reflects on what has changed, what he is seeing across professional services, and why earlier conversations can make such a difference.
Warning: this story contains potentially triggering content about addiction and the death of a child. Please read with care.
When I wrote for LawCare in October 2024 about my recovery journey, I hoped that being open might help someone else recognise something in their own life, or help an organisation think differently about how it supports people.
I had no idea quite how much would change afterwards.
The response stayed with me for months. One barrister contacted me after reading it over breakfast and told me it was the first time he had properly admitted to himself that he had a problem with alcohol. It reinforced something I had already begun to understand through recovery itself: conversations that feel difficult often become easier once somebody goes first.
The conversation is evolving
Over the past two years, my work through MCG Consulting has grown considerably. More importantly, the conversation across the legal sector and professional services has evolved in ways that I believe are genuinely encouraging.
One of the most significant changes we made at MCG was relatively simple. We moved away from talking primarily about ‘addiction awareness’ and started talking more about substance use and, more broadly, the ways people cope with pressure.
It sounds like a subtle distinction, but it has had a significant impact. The word ‘addiction’ can make people think the conversation is about somebody else, somebody with a problem, somebody who needs fixing.
Professional services are full of talented people who are exceptionally good at functioning whilst struggling privately. Once we broadened the language, organisations increasingly began approaching us rather than the other way around.
What has encouraged me most is that the work has moved beyond the one-off awareness session. Alongside major UK firms, we are now working with US-headquartered organisations, regional practices, professional bodies, banks and financial services institutions across the UK and Ireland. We have strengthened our advisory board with senior leaders from law, business and social impact, including people with lived experience.
We are also an approved supplier to the Law Society of Scotland, and this year that relationship has moved from awareness into practical guidance. Following a member roundtable earlier this year, we have been working alongside the Society to develop the Safe Conversations Toolkit, designed to help solicitors and managers recognise when a colleague may be struggling and approach that conversation with confidence. We’re rolling it out at the Society’s annual conference in Edinburgh this October.
Increasingly, organisations are looking for support that outlasts a single event.
That thinking also sits behind CMAR, our Corporate Mutual Aid Recovery programme. Rather than focusing solely on awareness, it provides a year-round confidential space where people affected by substance use or related coping behaviours can access support, connection and practical guidance without immediately entering a formal process.
Perhaps the clearest evidence of this shift is happening away from the stage entirely. We are increasingly having confidential one-to-one conversations with people inside organisations who are struggling behind the scenes:
- Sometimes the issue is alcohol or drugs.
- Sometimes it is grief, burnout, family pressures, confidence or another coping behaviour.
- More often than not, it is a combination of several things.
These conversations are often initiated before a situation reaches a formal HR process. Organisations are asking how they can support someone rather than how they should manage a problem. For me, that represents meaningful progress.
Underlying pressures
The same themes appear across every sector we work in. Whether I am speaking with lawyers, bankers, brokers or other professionals, the underlying pressures are often remarkably similar: high expectations, demanding environments and cultures where people can become very skilled at appearing as though everything is fine.
The most common thing I hear from HR professionals is some version of: “I want to help, but I don’t know what to do, and I don’t want to get it wrong.”
My response is usually that organisations do not need to become experts overnight. They need to create opportunities for earlier conversations, provide places where people can speak honestly without fear, and avoid waiting until a situation has escalated before offering support. Small cultural shifts can make a significant difference to whether somebody feels able to ask for help.
A great deal has happened personally since I wrote that first article. My daughter Ruby died earlier this year after a long and incredibly difficult illness. There is no neat lesson I can offer from that experience, and I do not want to pretend there is.
What I can say is that recovery gave me tools I have relied upon throughout the hardest period of my life. It taught me that I do not have to escape difficult feelings, that I can ask for help, and that honesty and connection are often more powerful than trying to cope alone. Those lessons continue to shape both my life and my work.
Almost two years after writing about recovery for LawCare, I am struck by how much the conversation has moved. There is still a long way to go, and stigma has not disappeared. But organisations are becoming more willing to talk about pressure, coping behaviours, substance use and support before situations reach crisis point.
For me, that is the most encouraging change of all. The conversation is no longer only about addiction, but about people, pressure, belonging and support. The organisations making the greatest progress are not waiting for somebody to reach crisis point before offering help. They are creating cultures where people can speak honestly earlier, and where support feels available long before it becomes necessary. That is where meaningful change happens.
This article was published in September 2026.
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