Steve R. Patterson

 

Citizen Counselor | Founder of The Healing Pathways Method | Recovery Architect | Veteran | Visionary

 

No dogma. No denial. Just the road back to yourself.

Steve R. Patterson is a Citizen Counselor — a title earned through fire, not given — shaped by decades of raw experience, clinical leadership, and philosophical depth. A terminal cancer survivor and liver transplant recipient, once told he had months to live, which went on for eight years, Steve beat the odds and redefined what healing means. He walked out of hospitals and into jungles, trading fluorescent lights for fire circles, sterile protocols for somatic wisdom. In the fall of 2020, when he finally “lived,” he left the United States, fulfilling the vow he made while ill. He has not returned since, instead building a sovereign life of purpose and global impact.

 

Today, Steve operates at the intersection of trauma, addiction, spiritual integration, and recovery science. His mission is to meet people not where they’re comfortable, but where they crack — where transformation is possible. With one foot in the clinical world and the other planted in indigenous wisdom and lived experience, Steve bridges gaps others don’t even acknowledge.

 

Founder of The Healing Pathways Program, he designed a robust, trauma-informed 12-session group framework used in mandated, voluntary, and spiritually grounded recovery settings. The program integrates cognitive-behavioral techniques, somatic practices, and archetypal psychology, creating a model where personal truth becomes therapeutic leverage. He serves as Program Director at Recovery Café, overseeing ASAM Level I outpatient group program development. These are delivered in 12-week cycles, with individuals entering at any point and completing exposure to all ASAM dimensions. Q3 2025 will see the broader release of this program for external use.

 

Steve is blunt, strategic, and spiritually awake. He believes real healing happens at the cliff’s edge. His ethos:

  • “We all have a piece of the action.”
  • “The body never lies. The mind does.”
  • “Never lose trust in yourself.”

 

He’s facilitated psychedelic integration groups, trauma recovery circles, and strategic coaching teams across cultures. Whether conducting a fire ceremony in Colombia or refining clinical models with ASAM parameters, his lens is wide, and his vision unshakable. His influences range from Civil War generals to David Hawkins, from shamanic elders to AI ethicists.

The UGASports Legacy & Early System Architecture

 

Before founding Valkyrie Counseling and launching The Healing Pathways Method, Steve R. Patterson spent nearly two decades forging a different kind of architecture: digital ecosystems that mirrored human behavior. In 1997, armed with little more than intuition, lived experience, and a deep understanding of group psychology, he launched UGASports.com from a small apartment in Corvallis, Oregon before moving to Athens, Georgia. What began as a way to track recruiting news and SEC football chatter grew into one of the most dominant fan-based digital platforms in collegiate sports.

 

This wasn’t just sports media. It was proto-social design—online community-building before the phrase existed. Steve built forums, scheduled content, and developed modular distribution systems that became a model for how niche audiences could self-organize. Through The Dawgvent and other innovations, he created space for decentralized storytelling, collective identity, and strategic narrative shaping. These same techniques—reading behavioral trends, assessing individual versus group needs, developing adaptable frameworks—now live inside the Healing Pathways architecture.

 

For 17 years, he refined this dual-skillset: technical and human. UGASports was sold to Yahoo! in 2014, but the foundational methods Steve developed—observational feedback loops, pattern recognition, adaptive system building—still shape his work today. From media empire to mental health systems, his trajectory has always been about one thing: making meaning out of chaos through organized strategy.

Education & Certifications

 

  • Oregon State University – B.S. in Military History and History of Medicine
  • Certified Seeking Safety Instructor
  • Certified Recovery Coach Trainer (CCAR)
  • Certified Substance Abuse Counselor in Training (GACA)
  • Prime Solutions Level 1 Facilitator
  • Stanford University – AI in Healthcare Specialization
  • CertNexus Certified Ethical Emerging Technologist (CEET)

Professional Experience

 

  • Program Director, Recovery Café — Guiding ASAM-compliant outpatient programs focused on empowerment, accountability, and transformation.
  • Creator, The Healing Pathways Method — This unique curriculum weaves evidence-based practices with soul work, supporting sustained recovery and personal evolution.
  • Founder, Valkyrie Counseling Group & Wind and Raven — Providing narrative-based, trauma-informed services rooted in psychospiritual insight and real-world strategy.
  • AI Healthcare Ethics Consultant — Promoting ethical implementation of emerging tech in clinical settings, with a focus on consent, dignity, and decentralized models of care.

Author & Publications

 

  • Blog Archive — A living archive of essays, observations, and teachings on healing, history, culture, and recovery.
  • This Is How It Feels to Heal — A direct, unflinching account of surviving terminal illness and addiction through spiritual defiance and strategic clarity.
  • Dawgs Illustrated Magazine — Publisher during the golden age of UGASports.com.
  • UGASports.com — Founder and digital pioneer. Built a fan empire from the ground up. Sold to Yahoo! Sports in 2014.
  • The Egyptian Confederates — A lesser-known Civil War narrative based on regional allegiances, archived and sold in Tennessee historical circles. Colombiad, 2, 1997.

Earlier Career

 

  • UGASports.com Founder (1997–2014) — Created a dominant force in Southeastern sports media and introduced forums, radio, and eventually a magazine empire, UGASports Networks, LLC.
  • Publisher, Dawgs Illustrated Magazine — Merged independent journalism and high-end sports publishing.
  • Founder/Host, UGASports LIVE — Early podcast in 2005, syndicated on radio stations in Georgia, later part of RivalsRadio of Sirius Satellite. The show continues today.
  • U.S. Army Infantryman (1985–1988) — Infantryman, Corporal, 2/16 INF REG, 1st INF DIV. Trained under Vietnam veterans. Served during REFORGER ’86.

Advocacy & Volunteerism

  • Recovery Café Athens Facilitator (Since 2015) — Leads trauma-informed peer groups and supports member recovery journeys with integrity and presence.
  • Spiritual Coaching Across Borders — Offers one-on-one support for individuals facing existential or spiritual crises across national and cultural boundaries.
  • Wake of the Flood Organizer — Coordinated relief efforts for displaced Grateful Dead fans after the Grand Forks flood, now part of the US National Archives.

Veterans Healing Pathways

 

The Veterans Healing Pathways module is a direct extension of the core Healing Pathways method, tailored for the unique psychological and spiritual wounds of military service. This track recognizes the weight of war, the fragmentation of identity after discharge, and the silent codes many veterans carry within. It speaks directly to those who’ve stood in formation, deployed under pressure, or wrestled with the long-term impact of service.

 

Built by Steve Patterson—a former U.S. Army Infantryman and seasoned trauma recovery architect—the curriculum addresses complex themes like moral injury, survivor guilt, disconnection, and post-service reintegration. Drawing from military structure, somatic tools, narrative work, and psycho-spiritual ritual, it gives veterans a map to reclaim personal authority without abandoning the truths of their past.

 

This module is under development and is expected to be in alpha by Q1 2026. It will be available for both group and one-on-one facilitation through the Valkyrie Counseling platform, with future AI-enhanced and video-assisted delivery options.

Current Projects

  • Finalizing: ASAM Level One Online Group Treatment Program for Recovery Cafe in Athens, GA *
  • Alpha: Healing Pathways Program: Holistic Groups module at Wind and Raven.
  • Alpha: Healing Pathways Program: ASAM Group module at Recovery Cafe in Athens, GA. * = The Healing Pathways Program’s ASAM Module differs from the ASAM program developed for Recovery Cafe. We are contracting their space for the whole clinical environment. 
  • Development: Healing Pathways Program: AI Training and Video Production for Q1 2026 official release.
  • Development: New Healing Pathways Modules for Veterans: The Mindset of War and Coming Home; Gen X: Aging.

Contact Steve R. Patterson

 

📩 [email protected]
🔗 LinkedIn Profile

 

If you’re looking for fire-tested insight, strategic clarity, and a method forged in real-world crucibles, Steve Patterson is your guy. He doesn’t just help people survive. He helps them rise.