NH physician explores the roots of distress and healing in new memoir

PLYMOUTH — Dr. Andrew Seefeld, chief of emergency medicine at Speare Memorial Hospital, is the author of the recently released book, "The Fire I Fed: From Ashes to Awareness," a deeply personal memoir that draws on medicine, neuroscience, psychology, and lived experience to explore addiction, recovery, emotional healing, and the journey toward self-awareness.

A board-certified emergency physician and addiction medicine specialist, Seefeld has spent his career caring for patients in crisis. His memoir is rooted in a question that has shaped both his personal recovery and his clinical work: Why do we continue to engage in behaviors we know are not good for us?

In "The Fire I Fed," Seefeld examines how early life experiences can shape the ways people perceive themselves, others, and the world — often influencing emotions, relationships, and behavior outside conscious awareness. Rather than treating substance use, perfectionism, overwork, people-pleasing, or avoidance as the primary problem, he considers them attempts to manage or escape underlying emotional distress.

That perspective shifts the focus from judgment to understanding and from managing symptoms to recognizing the distress beneath them. The emphasis, Seefeld explains, is not on blame or pathology but on awareness: understanding why we react as we do can create the opportunity to respond differently, build healthier ways of coping, and move toward lasting healing.

"Writing this book was never about telling my story alone," Seefeld said. "It's about helping people recognize that many of us spend our lives trying to escape pain rather than understand it. My hope is that readers find compassion for themselves and discover that healing begins when we're willing to stay present with our experiences instead of running from them."

Although addiction is one example of distress-driven behavior, Seefeld believes the same principles can illuminate burnout, anxiety, relationship challenges, and many other struggles people experience throughout life. He brings this whole-person perspective — and an emphasis on empathy and understanding — to both emergency and addiction medicine.

"Dr. Seefeld's willingness to share his own journey reflects the compassion and authenticity he brings to patient care every day," Craig Williams, president and CEO at Speare Memorial Hospital, said. "His book demonstrates extraordinary courage and will undoubtedly inspire meaningful conversations about mental health, addiction, and recovery."