Recovery Books - Page 6

Happiness: A Guide to Developing Life's Most Important Skill

Matthieu Ricard

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 31 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Never has happiness as an emotional and physical state of being been so widely discussed. Matthieu Ricard is one of the most compelling voices on the subject, and one of the few who can bring together the teachings of eastern and western thought. In this accessible new work, Ricard provides a straightforward assessment of how to create true and lasting happiness. He addresses the pursuit of a meaningful life at its most fundamental level the strengthening of the inner conditions that lead to genuine happiness. Ricard helps readers form new patterns of interaction with themselves and with the larger world, working toward happiness step by step, starting with 20 minutes of daily mind training and meditation. Ricard has been featured in Time, Self, O Magazine, The New Yorker, The Wall Street Journal, and the New York Times Magazine. Ricard has served as interpreter for the Dalai Lama and also works with many influential thinkers within the scientific community, including Brian Greene and Daniel Goleman. With his father, Jean Francois Revel, Ricard co-authored the French bestseller The Monk and the Philosopher, which was translated into 21 languages. He also co-authored the 2001 book The Quantum and the Lotus with astrophysicist Trinh Xuan Thuan. Acclaim for Happiness: Written with grace and clarity, Ricard offers exciting ideas and practical tools for increasing our understanding of ourselves and our relationship to the world. Paul Ekman, Ph.D., author of Emotions Revealed "In this highly readable and enlightening volume, Matthieu Ricard offers us the keys to opening up the chambers of the mind where serenity resides. His elegant descriptions show us how the preoccupation with the self leads to the detrimental urges, thoughts, and feelings that present barriers to genuine liberation. This superb volume demonstrates how we can experience contentment even in the face of unpleasant circumstances Aaron Beck, Ph.D., author of Cognitive Therapy and the Emotional Disorders Matthieu Ricard is a Buddhist monk who completed a Ph.D. in cellular genetics with the Nobel laureate Francois Jacob before leaving France to study Buddhism in the Himalaya 35 years ago. He lives and works on humanitarian projects in Nepal.

Paths to Recovery: Al-Anon's Steps, Traditions and Concepts

Al-Anon Family Group Head Inc

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 8 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Pathways to Recovery 5 out of 5 stars.
7 of 7 people found this review helpful.

Pathways to Recovery is an excellent book for recovery from living with an Alcoholic or just help with having healthy relationships.

The Pathway to Freedom and a New Life 5 out of 5 stars.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.

This is the basic text of the Al-Anon program, and in it you will a new freedom and a new happiness in your life. If you were raised in a home affected by alcoholism, or in a home affected by depression or co-dependency, where you were unable to form healthy boundries, then this book will help you So Much.

I love what someone said in it when they commented on the 2nd Step "Came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity." Someone wrote, "Restore me to sanity? How about introduce me to it!" The book is filled with other such gems. Get it today...

Michael Z, author of The Wisdom of the Rooms "A Year of Weekly Reflections"

Paths To Recovery 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

If you are working the steps, this book is a great guide. It offers Insight on the steps, members Experience, Strength and Hope, and some guiding questions.

You want recovery? Buy this book and work it! 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

You want recovery? Work the Steps and Traditions. This is the book that will help you do it if you have been affected by someone else's drinking, thinking and/or behavior. As one other reviewer has already stated, if I could have only one Al-Anon book, this would be it. This book is truly a blessing.

A Gentle Path Through the Twelve Steps: The Classic Guide for All People in the Process of Recovery

Ph.D., Patrick Carnes

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 14 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Revised Edition.

Carnes offers us exercises, inventories, and guided reflections for those of us facing the daily challenges of attaining or maintaining an addiction-free lifestyle.

This revised edition of A Gentle Path through the Twelve Steps is a treasure chest, a rich and powerful resource for anyone working a twelve-step program. Carnes is a gifted teacher and leader in the addiction recovery field.
Wendy Maltz, M.S.W., Sexual Healing Journey

This unique, non-threatening workbook emphasizes common themes at the heart of all Twelve Step fellowships...an especially clear explanation of what "working the program" means.
Claudia Black, Ph.D., It Will Happen to Me

The revised A Gentle Path through the Twelve Steps gets my highest recommendation. It is a wonderful guide to the journey to restoration and healing.
Marilyn Murray, M.A., Prisoner of Another War

To get through difficult times, we need good friends, wise mentors and compassionate recovery programs. Pat Carnes and his twelve-step guide have been all of these to me, personally, and more. A Gentle Path through the Twelve Steps Revised Edition is a principle guide to following the path of the many stages we encounter daily.
Brenda Schaeffer, Licensed Psychologist, Loving Me Loving You and Is It Love or Is It Addiction

A Gentle Path through the Twelve Steps has already helped thousands and promises to help many more.
Mark R. Laaser, Ph.D., The Secret Sin: Healing the Wounds of Sexual Addiction

Under the Influence: A Guide to the Myths and Realities of Alcoholism

James Robert Milam, Katherine Ketcham

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 33 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Why this book is SO very important for families of alcoholics 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

I train counselors and counsel families of alcoholics, and when a family member is having a very difficult time (even though she is trying hard) to understand that this is a disease----I refer her to this book. This helps her to see so well, that his rage is because alcohol excites the rage-centers of the brain. And because she now understands this, she knows, then, that the crazymaking coming out his mouth is the disease talking. Does not mean that she is not in pain from his behavior---but this book does help to take the edge off it. And this book helps her to spot the alcoholism in her children, too, because she now knows how very genetic this disease is.
I see that one of the inside-cover endorsements for this book is by Toby Rice Drews---the author of the "Getting Them Sober, you CAN help" book. Her book is my 'sister book' to Milam's book! Together, these two books are lifesavers in my home. My counseling clients tell me that when they read "Getting Them Sober", their family lives change for the better within three days! I feel that these two books are 'sister' books because Milam (in "Under the Influence") explains the entire physiological body/brain effects from alcoholism----and Drews (in "Getting Them Sober, you CAN help") explains in detail, exactly how to make changes in one's relationship with the alcoholic (whether or not you live with him)------ so that the alcoholic has an 80% better chance to get sober. (The cover-endorsements for the book are by 'dear Abby', Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, and Melody Beattie, author of 'Codependent No More', who says that "Getting Them Sober is the BEST book for the family of the still-drinking alcoholic".) Getting Them Sober: You Can Help! (Getting Them Sober)

Editorial Review:

Ten of millions Americans suffer from alcoholism, yet most people still wrongly believe that alcoholism is a psychological or moral problem, and that it can be cured by psychotherapy or sheer will power. Based on groundbreaking scientific research, Under The Influence examine the physical factors that set alcoholics and non-alcoholics apart, and suggests a bold, stigma-free way of understanding and treating the alcoholic.

How to tell if someone you know is an alcoholic.

The progressive stages of alcoholism.

How to get an alcoholic into treatment -- and how to choose a treatment program.

Why frequently prescribed drugs can be dangerous -- even fatal -- for alcoholics.

How to ensure a lasting recovery.

Love First: A New Approach to Intervention for Alcoholism and Drug Addiction (A Hazelden Guidebook) (Hezelden Guidebook)

Jeff Jay, Debra Jay

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 21 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

If alcoholics and addicts won't accept help until they're ready, what gets them ready? This book provides an answer in clear, concise terms. Dispelling two damaging myths -- that an addict has to hit bottom and that intervention must be confrontational -- the authors' proven approach puts love first and shows families, step by step, what to do next.

"A convincing new approach to intervention that puts love and respect first." Jack Canfield, coauthor of Chicken Soup for the Soul Series

"Building a team, choosing a chairperson, anticipating objections, using checklists, and rehearsing for the intervention itself -- the reader will find it all here!" Robert M. Morse, M.D., Professor emeritus, psychiatry, Mayo Medical School and Former director of Addictive Disorders Services, Mayo Clinic.

"Love First is destined to become the new classic on intervention for alcoholism and drug addiction. The most comprehensive book available on the life-saving technique of intervention, Love First will save lives! A worthy successor to Vernon JohnsonTomorrow."
--Kathy Ketcham, Coauthor, Beyond the Influence and The Spirituality of Imperfection

"Love First provides the most detailed account yet of how intervention works. A significant contribution to intervention literature. An empowering antidote to the disease of addiction."
--William l. White, author Slaying the Dragon: The History of Addiction Treatment

Staying Sober: A Guide for Relapse Prevention

Terence T. Gorski, Merlene Miller

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 9 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

For anyone who wants to stay sober 5 out of 5 stars.
7 of 7 people found this review helpful.

While I was in Inpatient Rehab I was given this book to read. It is like a bible to me now. Everything you need to know about staying clean and sober is in this book. Along with AA, sponsors, numbers, support groups, this book gives you some soild tools to stay sober. I highly suggest it!

Relapsing Alcholic's 4 out of 5 stars.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.

This is an excellent foundation to understanding the complex causes of relapse and their early indentification. It gives good information on indentification of relapse warning signs and constructive ways to abort another sprial into relapse. This book is written to supplament your 12 step program and is most useful when coupled with a relapse prevention support group that is not AA. If you can find or found a relapse group this book will be invaluable and rated 5 stars. Only relapse prone alcholic's need read this.

Gain the understanding of addiction that you will need to stay sober 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

This book offers easily understood explanations of addiction and the relapse process. The book was offered to me through an out-patient rehabilitation program and has been an invaluable tool on countless occasions since. The book offers examples that you can apply to your own experiences. By fully understanding the cycle of addiction can the addict most successfully break the cycle. I strongly recommend this book to anyone suffering from the disease of addiction, the sober family coping with a drug addicted member, or those offering education on the subject.

Concepts of Chemical Dependency

Harold E. Doweiko

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Critique of Concepts of Chemical Dependency by Doweiko 4 out of 5 stars.
4 of 5 people found this review helpful.

This book gives a solid overview of chemicals of use/abuse, focusing particularly upon alcohol. The one caveat I have about recommending it unconditionally is that the author seems to interweave his bias along with the factual material, such that it is sometimes hard to tease out the actual facts from the propaganda. But the book is user-friendly and, if someone is wanting to get an overall sense of various substances of use/abuse and their effects, this book certainly has much to offer.

Editorial Review:

CONCEPTS OF CHEMICAL DEPENDENCY, Seventh Edition reflects the explosion of information regarding the understanding, identification, and treatment of addictive disorders. Doweiko examines the use and abuse of alcohol, tobacco, barbiturates, amphetamines, cocaine, opiates, and hallucinogens, as well as chemicals frequently left out of other books -- such as aerosols, steroids, and over-the-counter analgesics. Additionally, the text investigates solid strategies for working with clients, the differences between abusers and addicts; drug effects on children, teenagers, and pregnant and nursing women; and children of alcoholics.

Living Sober

AA Services

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 15 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Cult Propoganda 1 out of 5 stars.
3 of 19 people found this review helpful.

The truth is that a newly-sober alcoholic named William Griffith Wilson -- a down-on-his-luck former Wall Street hustler who put on airs of having once been a prosperous stock broker -- just sat down, in December of 1938, and wrote up twelve commandments for the new religious group that he and fellow alcoholic Doctor Robert Smith had started. Those commandments were simply a repackaged version of the practices of a cult religion that was popular at that time, something called "The Oxford Group", or "The Oxford Group Movement", and later, "Moral Re-Armament" -- a religious cult that was created by a deceitful fascist renegade Lutheran minister named Dr. Frank Nathan Daniel Buchman -- a nut-case who actually praised Adolf Hitler and Heinrich Himmler.

Bill Wilson described the writing of the Twelve Steps this way:

Well, we finally got to the point where we really had to say what this book was all about and how this deal works. As I told you this had been a six-step program then.

The idea came to me, well, we need a definite statement of concrete principles that these drunks can't wiggle out of. There can't be any wiggling out of this deal at all and this six-step program had two big gaps which people wiggled out of.

Notice how Bill Wilson considered his fellow alcoholics to be a bunch of cheaters who will "wiggle out of this deal" if they can get away with it -- which Bill won't allow.

And note how Bill Wilson made himself the leader who was entitled to dictate the concrete terms of other people's recovery programs.
Also notice how Bill Wilson considered 'spiritual development' to be a business deal, with a contract that you can't wiggle out of, something like selling your soul in trade for sobriety.

Nowhere in the Twelve Steps does it say that you should quit drinking, or help anyone else to quit drinking, either. Nowhere do the words "sobriety", "recovery", "abstinence", "health", "happiness", "joy", "love", or "love", appear in the Twelve Steps. The word "alcohol" was only mentioned once, where it was patched into the first step as a substitute for the word "sin" -- Bill Wilson wrote,
"we are powerless over alcohol and our lives have become unmanageable",
instead of the Oxford Group slogan,
"we are powerless over sin and have been defeated by it".
And then the phrase "especially alcoholics" was patched into the 12th step as a suggested target for further recruiting efforts:
"...we tried to carry this message to others, especially alcoholics"...
(But regular non-alcoholic people were still fair game for recruiting into Bill's "spiritual fellowship"...)

The Twelve Steps are not a formula for curing or treating alcoholism, and they never were.
The Twelve Steps are not "spiritual principles" and they never were.
The Twelve Steps are cult practices that work to convert people into confirmed true believers in a proselytizing cult religion, just like Frank Buchman's so-called "spiritual principles" did.

1. The Twelve Steps do not work as a program of recovery from drug or alcohol problems.
The A.A. failure rate ranges from 95% to 100%. Sometimes, the A.A. success rate is actually less than zero, which means that A.A. indoctrination is positively harmful to people, and prevents recovery. Some tests have shown that even receiving no treatment at all for alcoholism is much better than receiving A.A. treatment:
One of the most enthusiastic boosters of Alcoholics Anonymous, Professor George Vaillant of Harvard University, who is also a member of the Board of Trustees of Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc. (AAWS), showed by his own 8 years of testing of A.A. that A.A. was worse than useless -- that it didn't help the alcoholics any more than no treatment at all, and it had the highest death rate of any treatment program tested -- a death rate that Professor Vaillant himself described as "appalling". While trying to prove that A.A. treatment works, Professor Vaillant actually proved that A.A. kills. After 8 years of A.A. treatment, the score with Dr. Vaillant's first 100 alcoholic patients was: 5 sober, 29 dead, and 66 still drinking.
(Nevertheless, Vaillant is still a Trustee of Alcoholics Anonymous, and he still wants to send all alcoholics to A.A. anyway, to "get an attitude change by confessing their sins to a high-status healer." That is cult religion, not a treatment program for alcoholism.)
The A.A. dropout rate is terrible. Most people who come to A.A. looking for help in quitting drinking are appalled by the narrow-minded atmosphere of fundamentalist religion and faith-healing. The A.A. meeting room has a revolving door. The therapists, judges, and parole officers (many of whom are themselves hidden members of A.A. or N.A.) continually send new people to A.A., but those newcomers vote with their feet once they see what A.A. really is. Even A.A.'s own triennial surveys, conducted by the A.A. headquarters (the GSO), say that:
81% of the newcomers are gone within 30 days,
90% are gone in 3 months, and
95% are gone at the end of a year.
That automatically gives A.A. a failure rate of at least 95%. But the GSO does not count all of those people who only attend a few meetings before quitting -- they don't qualify as "members". (That amounts to "cherry-picking".) If we included them, then the numbers would be much worse.

First there is the propaganda technique of "everybody's doing it": "AA or a similar Twelve-Step program is an integral part of almost all successful recoveries".
That is a complete falsehood. The vast majority of the successful people recover without A.A. or any "support group". It's what "everybody" is doing.
Then they use the propaganda techniques of use of the passive voice and vague suggestions: "It is widely believed that not including a Twelve-Step program in a treatment plan can put a recovering addict on the road to relapse."
It is widely believed by whom? And what do those unnamed people know? What are their qualifications? Are they doctors? Medical school professors? Or salesmen for a 12-Step treatment center? Why should we care what some unnamed invisible fools allegedly believe, anyway?
The authors also use the propaganda technique of fear-mongering: you will be "on the road to relapse" -- you will probably die -- unless you practice Bill Wilson's Twelve Step cult religion.
And then the fluff-headed Pollyanna attitude is outrageous: Just going to the wonderful A.A. meetings is supposedly all that is needed to fix some alcoholics.
But since A.A. has a zero-percent success rate above and beyond the normal rate of spontaneous remission, that cannot possibly be true.

Editorial Review:

An extremely informative book which does not offer a plan for getting sober but does offer us sound advice about how to stay sober. Basic, essential information from Alcoholics Anonymous.

As the book states, "Anyone can get sober. . .the trick is to live sober."

Don't Call It Love: Recovery From Sexual Addiction

Patrick Carnes

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 16 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

"Dr. Patrick Carnes is a creative,  pioneering, and courageous human being. His books are  changing the lives of  thousands!"

"I lost three marriages, all because of affairs."  "I became suicidal because of multiple intense  involvements."

"I spent money on sex when I  needed it for children's clothes."

"I  lost promotion opportunities and a special  scholarship because my co-workers found out about my sex  life."

Every day they face the possibility of  destruction, risking their families, fiances,  jobs, dignity, and health. They come from all walks  of life: ministers, physicians, therapists,  politicians, executives, blue-collar workers. Most were  abused as children--sexually, physically or  emotionally--and saw addictive behavior in their early  lives. Most grapple with other addictions as well,  but their fiercest battle is with the most  astounding prevalent "secret" disorder in  America: sexual addiction. Here is a ground-breaking  work by the nation's leading professional expert on  sexual addiction, based on the candid testimony of  more than one thousand recovering sexual addicts  in the first major scientific study of the  disorder. This essential volume includes not only the  revealing findings of Dr. Carne's research with  recovering addicts but also advice from the addicts and  co-addicts themselves as they work to overcome  their compulsive behavior. Positive, hopeful, and  practical, Don't Call It Love is  a landmark book that helps us better understand  all addictions, their causes, and the difficult path  to recovery.

Daily Reflections: A Book of Reflections by Aa Members for Aa Members/B-12

Alcoholics Anonymous

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 6 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

A book of wisdom, courage, and hope 5 out of 5 stars.
13 of 15 people found this review helpful.

This little meditation book is a great help for people in recovery seeking to build and maintain a firm spiritual foundation one day at a time. Using A.A.'s "take what you can use and leave the rest" rule of thumb will make this book of tremendous value to most anyone, regardless of religion (or lack thereof).

Poor Substitute for Hazelden's 24 Hours a Day 2 out of 5 stars.
4 of 17 people found this review helpful.

Fours years after its initial publication, I don't personally know of any AA member who still uses this as a daily reflection. I think AAWS just wanted to see if they could generate revenue by competing with the Hazelden 24 Hour A Day book. However, this turned out to be a weak effort.

A Potpourri of Irrelevant Personal Opinion 1 out of 5 stars.
1 of 2 people found this review helpful.

Let's talk about Quiet Time and prayer and meditation as early AAs practiced it. For one thing, they embraced Bible study, prayer, seeking God's guidance, and reading Christian literature. They also used Christian devotionals such as The Runner's Bible, the Upper Room, My Utmost for His Highest, and Daily Strength for Daily Needs.Good Morning!: Quiet Time, Morning Watch, Meditation, and Early A.A.. They also used a good many other "helpful books" which, as Wilson suggested could be based on suggestions from one's rabbi, minister, or priest Dr. Bob and His Library: A Major A.A. Spiritual Source; Anne Smith's Journal, 1933-1939: A.A.'s Principles of Success; The Good Book and the Big Book: A.A.'s Roots in the Bible (Bridge Builders Edition); and The James Club and the Original A.A. Program's Absolute Essentials. When Bill Wilson was in his deep depression after the Big Book was published, new meditation materials came from Sister Ignatia, Richmond Walker, Father Ralph Pfau, and finally in the form of the Little Red Book and the Twenty Four Hour Book. Then came the publishing flair--religious publishers, Hazelden, and others began pouring out meditation guides. And, about the time I entered AA, this "reflections" book was tendered to members in a meeting; and they almost uniformly voted it down as unnecessary. When A.A. finally published the book, it contained a mass of private opinions that talked about higher powers of a nonsense nature and A.A. meeting chatter. Does the book have value? Not if you are a fancier of Hazelden's 24 hour book. Not if you are an adherent to a religious denomination which can point you to the Bible, to the many quarterlies (the Upper Room still publishes), and the church prayer books. Bill Wilson's mentor Rev. Samuel M. Shoemaker made many suggestions about quiet time books also.New Light on Alcoholism: God, Sam Shoemaker, and A.A. (2d ed.). One could justifiably ask why A.A. ever decided to publish a book with such a wide variety of personal opinions, idolatrous suggestions, and irreligious nonsense. If someone wants atheist, humanist, New Age, New Thought, or Budhhist chants, there are plenty of resources which at least represent careful thought. For a broad look at the materials that contributed to early A.A. and its successes, seeMaking Known the Biblical History and Roots of Alcoholics Anonymous: A Sixteen-Year Research, Writing, Publishing, and Fact Dissemination Project, Third Edition. When I am dealing with A.A.'s own books, I much prefer the Big Book--which has specific meditation instructions in connection with Step Eleven. Or the history books like Pass It On and DR. BOB and the Good Oldtimers which explain that the early AAs simply studied the Bible and favored the Book of James, Jesus's Sermon on the Mount, and 1 Corinthians 13.The Books Early AAs Read for Spiritual Growth, 7th Edition; That Amazing Grace: The Role of Clarence and Grace S. in Alcoholics Anonymous