Spectrum Health Systems is honored to spotlight Rev. Dr. Susan Suchocki Brown, a dedicated board member whose lifelong work in counseling, ministry, and trauma response reflects Spectrum’s core values of hope, healing, and community. With a career spanning five decades, she brings a rare blend of clinical experience, spiritual insight, and compassionate leadership to Spectrum’s mission of helping individuals reclaim their lives from addiction.
A Lifelong Commitment to Healing
Rev. Dr. Suchocki Brown’s professional journey began in the halls of Gardner State Hospital, where she worked in the sheltered workshop program helping patients develop job skills. It was there that she first encountered individuals struggling with alcohol misuse, an experience that would shape her life’s work.
Her early years at Naukeag Hospital solidified this calling. Starting as a counselor and eventually becoming Associate Administrator, she learned from mentors who modeled the power of deep listening and empathy. “You have to listen and listen and listen,” said Rev. Suchocki Brown. “Every person’s story needs to be told before healing can begin.”
Her philosophy, that storytelling and empathy are central to recovery, continues to guide her work today.
Bridging Ministry and Recovery
After more than a decade in behavioral health, Rev. Dr. Suchocki Brown felt called to the ministry, a decision rooted in her belief that addiction is as much a spiritual struggle as it is a physical or emotional one.
“Addiction breaks a person down emotionally, physically, socially, and spiritually,” said Suchocki Brown. “The guilt, shame, and isolation can only be healed when people come to know their inherent worth, that they are loved no matter what.”
As a Unitarian Universalist minister, she has devoted her career to helping individuals rediscover that sense of belonging and purpose. Though she doesn’t bring religion into her professional work, she views recovery as deeply spiritual: “It’s about understanding one’s place in the universe and feeling connected, that’s where true healing begins.”
Rev. Dr. Suchocki Brown sees this same spirit reflected in Spectrum’s programs and staff. She said, “From the top down, Spectrum embodies a sense of connection: counselors who listen, leaders who care, and programs that honor the whole person.”
Responding to Trauma with Compassion
Rev. Dr. Suchocki Brown’s commitment to healing extends beyond addiction recovery into trauma response. A longtime fire department chaplain, she served with the Leominster Fire Department for over 25 years and helped found the Unitarian Universalist Trauma Response Ministry Team shortly after the events of 9/11.
Serving on the ground in New York City following the attacks, she witnessed firsthand how trauma can fracture a person’s worldview and how compassion can help repair it.
“Trauma is a rupture in one’s understanding of self and the world,” said Rev. Dr. Suchocki Brown. “Addiction, too, is a kind of rupture, a loss of personal agency and selfhood. Helping people restore that agency is one of the most important parts of recovery.”
Her decades of crisis response have given her a profound understanding of how trauma and addiction intersect, insight she continues to bring to her role on Spectrum’s board.
Decades of Dedication to Spectrum
Rev. Dr. Suchocki Brown’s relationship with Spectrum dates back to the 1970s, when she was a counselor seeking long-term care options for her clients. Then known as Marathon House, Spectrum’s early programs offered a model of care she deeply admired.
Later, as she transitioned into ministry and community leadership, she reconnected with Chuck Faris to help expand services in the Leominster-Fitchburg area.
“What has kept me connected all these years is Spectrum’s flexibility to evolve with the times,” said Dr. Rev. Suchocki Brown. “From detox to long-term care, from the early days of AIDS to today’s opioid crisis, Spectrum has always been at the forefront, responding to new challenges with compassion and intelligence. Spectrum’s staff is brilliant and dedicated. We’re so fortunate.”
Community, Connection, and Recovery
A lifelong advocate for service, Rev. Dr. Suchocki Brown believes that community connection is central to recovery.
“We need one another,” said Rev. Dr. Suchocki Brown. “Addiction isolates the person struggling, as well as their family and loved ones. Recovery begins when people feel connected again.”
Having been in recovery herself since 1976, she speaks from personal experience about the power of community. “I grew up in a family where giving back was a core value. That sense of service is what keeps us whole.”
Guided by Compassion
As Spectrum continues to grow, Rev. Dr. Suchocki Brown is hopeful about the organization’s future. She points to its strong leadership, dedicated staff, and thoughtful resource management as reasons for optimism.
“We’re not just surviving anymore. We’re thriving,” said Dr. Rev. Suchocki Brown. “With programs like our peer recovery centers, outpatient clinics, detox, and long-term care, Spectrum continues to offer hope and healing to everyone who walks through its doors.”
Her unwavering commitment to recovery, compassion, and community has made Rev. Dr. Susan Suchocki Brown an integral part of Spectrum’s story and a shining example of the empathy and resilience that define the organization’s mission.
If you or a loved one is struggling with alcohol addiction or a substance use disorder, call Spectrum Health Systems today at 1-877-MyRehab.
