How Mackenzie Phillips Overcame Her Disturbing Childhood

Mackenzie Phillips started her acting career as a 12-year-old, making her debut in American Graffiti as Carol Morrison. Years later, she landed a breakthrough role as Julie Cooper in One Day at a Time, which was a success that earned her thousands of dollars. Sadly, Mackenzie was fired from the show due to addiction, which affected her performance and set.

Her 2011 memoir titled High On Arrival gave a candid look into the child star’s troubled life behind the scenes, including how she experimented with substances earlier than most. Mackenzie rose amid her troubles as one of Hollywood’s recognized actresses and is now helping others as a drug rehab counselor.

Mackenzie Phillips’ father exposed her to vices early in life

While most pre-teens were shielded from the world’s woes and still held a relatively untainted view of life, Mackenzie was being sexually abused by her father well into young adulthood. She was also raped on her wedding night at 19, leading to pregnancy and then an abortion that left her empty.

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She began living recklessly and indulging in hard drugs like cocaine, heroin, and alcohol, which led to a brief decline in her career. By the early ‘90s, she checked into rehab and was sober for a decade until a disheartening relapse in her forties. She was again checked into another mental facility in 2008 after being arrested for drug possession at a Los Angeles airport.

Mackenzie Phillips’ comeback

Refusing to give up, Mackenzie told her story in her best-seller book but was met with pushback from her family, who claimed she was lying about being abused. Undeterred, Mackenzie made a comeback in Netflix’s reboot of One Day at a Time and was featured in more series like Orange is the New Black. She released another book titled Hopeful Healing: Essays on Managing Recovery Surviving Addiction in 2017 to provide a relatable way out to those struggling with addiction.

As her way of giving back, Mackenzie has provided solutions to drug addicts via a drug treatment center in Los Angeles, Breathe Live Healing Center, where she is the Vice President of referral relations. Her podcast, America Recovers is also another initiative of Mackenzie’s to save substance abusers.