Recovery Books - Page 7

Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Alcoholics Anonymous

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 31 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Great Book! 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

This is a must own book for anyone who is in recovery - one day at a time from alcoholism. Every house should own this as part of your library and reading a bit of it daily. Your healthy sobriety depends on it.

Sobriety seems very difficult at times, but it passes when you have your structure in place.

It is soooo worth it!

Merna

Pocket of Pearls: A 30-day pocket workbook to start hearing a softer voice inside of you!

If you wonder why people hate AA, read this book. 1 out of 5 stars.
0 of 5 people found this review helpful.

Imagine for a moment that you have just started AA. Your sponsor hands you this book, telling you that it, together with the Big Book, is central to an understanding of AA's "Simple Program".

You start reading, and on page 26 you find the following statement: "AA does not demand that you believe anything. All of its 12 steps are but suggestions." What a relief! Guess those people who claim that AA is a cult don't know what they are talking about.

But wait.

Reading on, you reach pages 29-30, which address themselves to the "intellectually self-sufficient man or woman." Here, you learn that there are dire consequences for not following AA's "suggestions": "We saw that we had to reconsider (our intellectual self-sufficiency) or die." On pages 37-38 you are told that: "The philosophy of self-sufficiency is not paying off. Plainly enough, it is a bone-crushing juggernaut whose final achievement is ruin...we have been driven to AA, admitted defeat...and now want to make a decision to turn our will and our lives over to a Higher Power."

Amazing. In less than 20 pages, you have gone from "only suggestions" to "do it our way or die." And the message is pounded home repeatedly the further you read in the book. On page 56, you learn the fate of those who don't fully confess their sins: "Some people are unable to stay sober at all; others will relapse periodically until they really clean house...without a fearless admission of our defects to another human being we could not stay sober." On page 69 you are assured that "Rebellion may be fatal."

Would you stick around for more?

If you would, then nothing is preventing you from doing so.

But if you would not, how would you like it if all the treatment centers available had no other option? How would you like it if virtually ALL treatment for alcoholism in the US was based on THIS?

Well, lots of us don't like that. And those of you who wonder why really should read this book.

Editorial Review:

Originally published in 1952, this classic book is used by A.A. members and groups around the world. It lays out the principles by which A.A. members recover and by which the fellowship functions. The basic text clarifies the Steps which constitute the A.A. way of life and the Traditions, by which A.A. maintains its unity.

Seven Weeks to Sobriety: The Proven Program to Fight Alcoholism through Nutrition

Joan Mathews Larson

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 33 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

A Personal Success Story with "Seven Weeks to Sobriety" 5 out of 5 stars.
7 of 7 people found this review helpful.

I can personally attest to the validity of the nutritional approach described in Seven Weeks to Sobriety. Five years ago I attended the outpatient Health Recovery Center operated by Joan Mathews Larson in Minneapolis, MN after about twenty-five years of almost daily alcohol use. During the five years since then I have never had a drink, except for one brief relapse from which I quickly recovered when my wife was critically ill with a rare neurological disease, shortly before she died.

The nutritional program at the center is virtually the same as described in the book except that during the first week or so patients receive three or four intravenous injections with large amounts of vitamin C and other nutrients to jumpstart the program and speed the detoxification process for serious cases. The balance of the program consists of occasional lab work in the mornings and weekly check-ins with a nurse. Afternoons and evenings consist mostly of educational sessions and discussion groups; fine tuning of the nutrients with a nutritional counselor, and occasional meetings with a therapist.

My recommendation to anyone wanting to use this approach at home is to purchase the book and buy the supplements directly from the Health Recovery Center, to ensure high quality. The cost of the supplements for the first six weeks is about $600. At the end of the six weeks it is highly recommended that a scaled down set of nutrients be continued for at least three to six months to continue the repair process. It may also be helpful, but not necessary, that you see a nutritionist to help tailor a meal plan to your liking and possibly see a therapist, if you feel you need additional support. An alternative, of course, is to attend the program in Minneapolis at a cost of about $16,000. In either case, the keys to success are taking the nutrients and controlling your blood sugar through a low carbohydrate diet (e.g., 75 grams per day). Also, avoiding caffeine and, if at all possible, stopping or reducing smoking.

Editorial Review:

"Comprehensive, rational and personal. It suppplies much of what is missing in traditional approaches to alcoholic rehabilitation. I believe that this book can save lives."
Leo Galland, M.D.
Open this book and you will embark on a groundbreaking seven-week journey that will change your life. You will learn how to break your addiction to alcohol and end your cravings--and do it under your own power. Here, step-by-step, is a proven, seven-week program developed by Dr. Joan Matthews Larson at the innovative Health Recovery Center in Minneapolis, that subdues your body's addictive chemistry and puts you on the path to full recovery.

Drop The Rock: Removing Character Defects, Steps Six and Seven, Second Edition

Bill P., Todd W., Sara S.

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 17 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

drop the rock 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

This book has helped me in my 12step recovery. I've been working the steps for over 20 years and I now realize how I have not done thorough 6th and 7th steps. That is what my life was lacking. Great read, great book. Happier life.

Editorial Review:

Resentment. Fear. Self-Pity. Intolerance. Anger. This cast of character defects will undermine the best-laid plans for recovery from addiction. It's not uncommon for individuals in recovery to hang on to negative, self-defeating behaviors after they've given up their addiction. These are the "rocks" that can sink recovery - or, at the least, block further progress. With more than 100,000 copies sold, Drop the Rock is the definitive guide to removing character defects that can prevent gratifying, long-standing recovery. Based on the Twelve Step program, particularly the principles behind Steps Six and Seven, Drop the Rock combines personal stories, practical advice, and powerful insights to help readers move forward in recovery. The second edition features additional stories, a reference section, and information about starting a Drop the Rock study group.

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.

The Corner

David Simon, Edward Burns

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 68 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

West Baltimore, Fayette and Monroe: the corner. On this forgotten intersection, the American dream has crumbled to a nightmare. Here, the full price of the drug culture is being paid--yet, surprisingly, it can also be a place of hope, caring, and love.

This extraordinary book tells the searing true story of one year in the life of an inner-city neighborhood.

Written by David Simon, the award-winning author of Homicide, and Edward Burns, a former police detective, it follows a handful of people who must struggle mightily just to survive--let alone escape--the drug market that fuels their world. At the center of the narrative is fifteen-year-old DeAndre McCullough. DeAndre's parents, Gary and Fran, were once poised, against all odds, to pull themselves up and out of West Baltimore. But when they themselves stumble and then succumb to the corner's temptations, DeAndre's future hangs in the balance. Smart and streetwise, he is both drawn to and wary of the drug trade that flourishes beyond his rowhouse steps. Can he rise above his parents' addiction, or will he, too, become a casualty of the corner?

In telling the story of DeAndre and his broken family, Simon and Burns open up the complex world of the corner and its unforgettable characters. It's a place of predators and their prey, of slingers and touts, of stickup boys and shooting gallery nurses, of ambivalent police, helpless users, and innocent bystanders. But it is also, incredibly, a place of fragile hope. Fat Curt, an aging drug tout, remembers the corner as a kinder place, and tries to protect his customers from weak or dangerous product. R.C., a troubled teenager, finds refuge from his chaotic life within the basketball court's magic boundaries. Ella, a longtime resident, runs the recreation center for the corner's children, shielding them as best she can from what lies outside the playground's chain-link fence. Amid so much desperation, decency still flickers, poignantly, across the corner's blasted landscape.

More vividly than any recent book, The Corner captures an America of which many of us are only dimly aware. Through the prism of just one desolate crossroads, Simon and Burns offer chilling assessments of why law enforcement policies, moral crusades, and the welfare system have done so little for our inner cities. Deeply moving and unflinchingly real, The Corner will forever alter our view of the so-called war on drugs, even as it compels us to look deep into the hearts and minds of all those who live in America's abandoned places.

Alcoholics Anonymous: The Story of How Many Thousands of Men and Women Have Recovered from Alcoholism

AAWS

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 74 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

I don't understand the critism 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I don't really understand the lengths I've seen people go to to discredit this book or the 12 steps in general. I am not a member of AA but I have a family member who was saved literally from the brink of death by NA. The changes in her and in her life have been nothing short of miraculous. If it was a 'cult' that brought about this change in her then I say Thank God for the 12-step cult, for it is truly a force of good.

Editorial Review:

It's more than a book. It's a way of life.

Alcoholics Anonymous-the Big Book-has served as a lifeline to millions worldwide. First published in 1939, Alcoholics Anonymous sets forth cornerstone concepts of recovery from alcoholism and tells the stories of men and women who have overcome the disease. With publication of the second edition in 1955, the third edition in 1976, and now the fourth edition in 2001, the essential recovery text has remained unchanged while personal stories have been added to reflect the growing and diverse fellowship. The long-awaited fourth edition features 24 new personal stories of recovery.

Key features and benefits
· the most widely used resource for millions of individuals in recovery
· contains full, original text describing AA program
· updated with 24 new personal stories

The Chemistry of Joy: A Three-Step Program for Overcoming Depression Through Western Science and Eastern Wisdom

Henry Emmons

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 10 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Amazing Book!!! 5 out of 5 stars.
10 of 10 people found this review helpful.

Anyone looking to improve their lives should definetly take a look at this stuff. This book literally changed my life. Whether you suffer from mild or severe depression, the small suggestions offered in this book are priceless and very easy to follow (plus, they're fun to try).

I've spent years battling severe depression. I dropped out of college for a year, and recently ended up in the hospital with suicidal thoughts. I'm not sure if I would be here if I hadn't accidentally picked up this book. It was refreshing to find so many extra steps that I can take to improving my lifestyle, other than just medications and therapy. The book is easy to read and fascinating.
These practices have kept me on track in graduate school, and many people have told me I look better than I ever have (I'd bet everything that it has to do with my better diet and meditation practices). The book was just a start, but it's the only book I've ever seen that allows that kind of start. I've read extensively on depression, and I've never learned more than I learned in one little book.

Most of all, I feel better than I've felt since I was 16 (before the depression). This book has opened new doors for me and I feel well enough to take them all!!!

Editorial Review:

The Chemistry of Joy presents Dr. Emmons's natural approach to depression -- supplemented with medication if necessary -- blending the best of Western science and Eastern philosophy to create your body's own biochemistry of joy. Integrating Western brain chemistry, natural and Ayurvedic medicine, Buddhist psychology, and his own joyful heart techniques, Dr. Emmons creates a practical program for each of the three types of depression: anxious depression, agitated depression, and sluggish depression. The Chemistry of Joy helps you to identify which type of depression you are experiencing and provides a specific diet and exercise plan to address it, as well as nutritional supplements and "psychology of mindfulness" exercises that can restore your body's natural balance and energy. This flexible approach creates newfound joy for those whose lives have been touched by depression -- and pathways for all who seek to actively improve their emotional lives.

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

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 7 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Poor Substitute for Hazelden's 24 Hours a Day 2 out of 5 stars.
4 of 16 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.

Daily Reflections 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I believe this book is a "must have" for any recovering alcoholic or addict. It is really good to sit down each morning and read the thought of that day just to get your mind going on the right track. Very humbling, very thought provoking.

A Potpourri of Irrelevant Personal Opinion 1 out of 5 stars.
1 of 4 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

More Language of Letting Go: 366 New Daily Meditations (Hazelden Meditation Series)

Melody Beattie

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

Charlene 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

This is an added joy to the "Language of Letting Go". They work well together.

A treasure of a book 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

These short daily writings are insightful and profound. It is amazing how on many days, what is written for that day is exactly what I need to hear. I recommend this very highly. I have both books and jump between them. They both compliment each other completely. Good whether you have a lot of time in your day, or if you are rushed.

Editorial Review:

Melody Beattie once again distills her compassionate insight on how to nurture spiritual and emotional health and recovery. With her attention turned to relationships and all the joys and challenges they create, the author's reflections give voice to the thoughts and feelings common to men and women in recovery. Written in the direct, unsentimental style of her best-sellers, this new volume of meditaions offers new and longtime readers of Beattie's work advice on perennial relationship issues such as surrendering and its never-ending importance; manipulation and its damaging effects; honesty about feelings; defensiveness; drama addiction; healthy communication; ongoing family of origin issues; unhealthy tendencies to caretake others, despite knowing better; and the peaks and valleys of wavering self-esteem.

It Will Never Happen to Me: Growing Up With Addiction As Youngsters, Adolescents, Adults

Claudia A. Black

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 18 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

awakening 4 out of 5 stars.
11 of 11 people found this review helpful.

This book was recommended by my therapist and after reading it I gave it to a friend who is also an adult child of an alcoholic. I haven't got the book back so I'm buying another copy for myself. I NEED to read it again and again. It opened my eyes and put a lot of the pieces of the puzzle together for me. Although it's hard to face some of the realities this book points out, I believe it to be one of the vital steps I am taking in trying to change my life for the better. It's never too late.

It will never happen to me 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

Still the best introduction to the impact of chemical dependency on the family. I must give about 5 copies of this away to my students every year.

Really good 4 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

This is a great read for anyone who has grown up or is growing up in an alcoholic family. It helps the reader in very simple ways to understand the dynamics of alcoholic families and offers concrete ways of dealing with issues and problems. I recommend it to anyone currently dealing with alcoholism or dealing with the aftermath of an alcoholic upbringing, or even for someone just curious about the effects of alcoholism on families.

Editorial Review:

This "little green book," as it has come to be known to hundreds of thousands of C.O.A.'s and A.C.O.A.'s, is meant to help the reader understand the roles children in alcoholic families adopt, the problems they face in adulthood as a result, and what they can do to break the pattern of destruction.