Adult Children of Alcoholics Books

Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey Through His Son's Meth Addiction

David Sheff

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 123 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

What had happened to my beautiful boy? To our family? What did I do wrong? Those are the wrenching questions that haunted every moment of David Sheff's journey through his son Nic's addiction to drugs and tentative steps toward recovery. Before Nic Sheff became addicted to crystal meth, he was a charming boy, joyous and funny, a varsity athlete and honor student adored by his two younger siblings. After meth, he was a trembling wraith who lied, stole, and lived on the streets. David Sheff traces the first subtle warning signs: the denial, the 3 A.M. phone calls (is it Nic? the police? the hospital?), the rehabs. His preoccupation with Nic became an addiction in itself, and the obsessive worry and stress took a tremendous toll. But as a journalist, he instinctively researched every avenue of treatment that might save his son and refused to give up on Nic. Beautiful Boy is a fiercely candid memoir that brings immediacy to the emotional rollercoaster of loving a child who seems beyond help.

Adult Children of Alcoholics

Janet G. Woititz

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 57 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Dysfuctional family 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

The book teaches you about lifestyles of alcoholics and what they experience during the time of living at home.

Adult Children of Alcoholics 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

This is an excellent book. I have used the book in discussing this topic in university-level Social Work classes I have taught over the years.

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

This book has helped me to organize my feelings. I feel like a more centered person.

yes, this is an excellent book 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

This is an excellent book. I first read it nearly 20 years ago and I was blown away by how accurate it was - it described me! It was so helpful and I go back to it now and then for some reminders. It really helped me and was my first step toward real growth.

Adult Children of Alcoholics 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I wish it hadn't taken me 32 years to find this book--It really put my life in perspective--EXCELLENT

Editorial Review:

This book provides wisdom and information for all Adult Children of dysfunctional families.

Healing the Shame That Binds You

John Bradshaw

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 46 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Not good at all! 1 out of 5 stars.
3 of 23 people found this review helpful.

I read this book twenty something years ago. I have family problems. Don't we all? My parents let me down in many ways, and so did my siblings.

But this book left me feeling that my problems were someone else's fault. I no longer had to feel responsible for my own thoughts, decisions and actions. Fact is, shame is there for a reason. It makes me aware that I am guilty. I can't do anything about my guilt. Only God can. And he did. He sent his son Jesus to die in my place and take away my guilt. I am forgiven. I am loved by a perfect Father.

I was raised in a Christian home. I knew about God's love in my head. But as a college student I read Bradshaw's book. It was at a time when I was suffering from my parents' bitter divorce. Because I got so caught up into focusing on their sins and blaming them, and rejecting any shame I felt from my own misconduct, I couldn't grow.

So stay away from this book. Or at least if you read it, you will need a good dose of truth to help you deal with the lies in Bradshaw's book. I think he meant well. But he's way off base. The truth will set you free. This stuff will bind you for a long, long, time!

Editorial Review:

In an emotionally revealing way John Bradshaw shows us how toxic shame is the core problem in our compulsions, co-dependencies, addictions and the drive to super-achieve. The result is a breakdown in the family system and our inability to go forward with our lives. We are bound by our shame.

Drawing from his 22 years of experience as a counselor, Bradshaw offers us the techniques to heal this shame. Using affirmations, visualizations, "inner voice" and "feeling" work plus guided meditations and other useful healing techniques, he realeases the shame that binds us to the past.

This important book breaks new ground in the core issues of societal and personal breakdown, offering techniques of recovery vital to all of us.

Healing The Child Within: Discovery and Recovery for Adult Children of Dysfunctional Families

Charles L. Whitfield M.D.

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 42 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

I've read better 2 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

The book has a good idea behind it. And it makes some good points. But I found it much more difficult to read that many other books of this type. Not "hard" difficult or anything like that. Difficult in the sense that the book just never caught my attention the way that other self help books have and I really had to force myself to keep reading. I don't think I got as much out of it as I could have simply because I had such a hard time paying attention.

If you really want to uncover some thruths about yourself, 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I suggest you read this book. I often felt isolated and "different", not knowing why. Just reading through this book uncovered and healed much of my pain that I denied having for so long. This book has been a gift to me, helping me to understand myself and others much more, which is what I always really wanted. I felt so stuck, and this book along with a few other materials was a real lifechanger. It put into words what I didn't want to know, only to free me of the shame through acknowledgement. Truly a springboard to a better life!

Editorial Review:

The "Child Within" refers to that part of each of us which is ultimately alive, energetic, creative and fulfilled; it is our real self-who we truly are.

Game of Life and How to Play It

Florence Scovel Shinn

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 80 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Amazing Book 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 1 people found this review helpful.

If you want to know more about your subc.I heartily recommend these CDs

The Power of Your Subconscious Mind
The Master Key System
Thought Vibration or the Law of Attraction in the Thought World
The Science of Getting Rich
The Science of Mind
Think and Grow Rich: Original Version

Thought Vibration or the Law of Attraction 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

If you want to know more about your subc.I heartily recommend these CDs

The Power of Your Subconscious Mind
The Master Key System
Thought Vibration or the Law of Attraction in the Thought World
The Science of Getting Rich
The Science of Mind
Think and Grow Rich: Original Version

Editorial Review:

First published in 1925, this book has inspired thousands of people around the world to find a sense of purpose and belonging. It asserts that life is not a battle but a game of giving and receiving, and that whatever we send out into the world will eventually be returned to us. This little book will help you discover how your mind and its imaging faculties play leading roles in the game of life.

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.

Perfect Daughters (Revised Edition)

Robert J. Ackerman

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

Editorial Review:

Classic text and perennial best-seller expanded and revised.

This new edition of Perfect Daughters, a pivotal book in the ACoA movement, identifies what differentiates the adult daughters of alcoholics from other women.

When this groundbreaking book first appeared over ten years ago, Dr. Ackerman identified behavior patterns shared by daughters of alcoholics. Adult daughters of alcoholics-"perfect daughters" -operate from a base of harsh and limiting views of themselves and the world. Having learned that they must function perfectly in order to avoid unpleasant situations, these women often assume responsibility for the failures of others. They are drawn to chemically dependent men and are more likely to become addicted themselves. More than just a text that identifies these behavior patterns, this book collects the thoughts, feelings and experiences of twelve hundred perfect daughters, offering readers an opportunity to explore their own life's dynamics and thereby heal and grow.

This edition contains updated information throughout the text, and completely new material, including chapters on eating disorders and abuse letters from perfect daughters in various stages of recovery, and helpful, affirming suggestions from Dr. Ackerman at the end of every chapter. This book is essential for every one who found validation, hope, courage and support in the pages of the original Perfect Daughters, as well as new readers and every therapist who confronts these issues.

Also includes: a comprehensive reference section and complete index.

Hidden Riches: Stories of Acoas on the Journey of Recovery

Paul J. Curtin

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 52 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Hidden Riches 4 out of 5 stars.
12 of 12 people found this review helpful.

Dora Conroy has a small eclectic antique shop. When she receives a shipment of items she won at auction, she realizes some of the wrong items were shipped. It is then that she becomes a target by a ruthless businessman. Her new tenant, Jed Skimmerhorn, is attracted to Dora and feels the need to protect her. As they work together to solve the mystery of the black-market artwork, they must battle his past, her family, and an international criminal to have a future.

This is an older work by NR. Well written, and I liked the characters Dora and Jed. The secondary characters were very well done, and an important part of the story.

Good read! 3 out of 5 stars.
0 of 3 people found this review helpful.

I have gone through the JD Robb series and am waiting for the next release. So I turned to older stories that Nora wrote. I liked this one. It's good.

Editorial Review:

After purchasing an odd assortment of auction items, Philadelphia antiques dealer becomes the deadly focus of a sinister international smuggler, as she and her handsome upstairs tenant, ex-cop Jed Skimmerhorn, set out to uncover the truth.

Changing Course: Healing from Loss, Abandonment and Fear

Claudia A. Black

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Great insight and solutions for both addicted & family. 5 out of 5 stars.
32 of 35 people found this review helpful.

Claudia Black has an inside track of what it feels like to be a family member in a family where addictive behavior is going on. She is able to write in understandable fashion the complex dynamics that go on in addictions and recovery. She never fails to understand the heart and soul and the sheer pain involved in addiction; she also provides insight and solutions for healing. Great work! All her work is very insightful. This is an author who cares about those who read her books.

Editorial Review:

In Changing Course, the best-selling sequel to It Will Never Happen to Me, Claudia Black extends a helping hand to individuals working their way through the painful experience of being raised with addiction.

"How do you go from living according to the rules-Don't Talk, Don't Trust, Don't Feel-to a life where you are free to talk and trust and feel?" Black asks. "You do this through a process that teaches you to go to the source of those rules, to question them, and to create new rules of your own," she explains. Using charts, exercises, checklists, and real-life stories of adult children of alcoholics, Black carefully and expertly guides readers in healing from the fear, shame, and chaos of addiction.

The Complete ACOA Sourcebook: Adult Children of Alcoholics at Home, at Work and in Love

Janet Woititz

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

Editorial Review:

From one of the movement's most respected leaders, the complete resource for Adult Children of Alcoholics.

When they were first released in the 1980s, Janet Woititz's groundbreaking works, Adult Children of Alcoholics, Struggle for Intimacy and The Self-Sabotage Syndrome, provided a new message of hope to adult children who had grown up in the shadow of alcoholic parents. Their message today is as profound and timeless as it was two decades ago.

Now, in this complete collection, readers will learn again the insight and healing power of Janet Wotitiz's words. The Complete ACoA Sourcebook is a compilation of three of Dr. Woititz's classic books, addressing head-on the symptoms of The Adult Children of Alcoholics syndrome and providing strategies for living a normal life as an adult. Readers will find help for themselves: at home, in intimate relationships and on the job. They will discover the reasons for the way they think, believe and feel about themselves; ACoAs often feel isolated, have difficulty in relationships, in the workplace and in feeling good about themselves.

Readers who are familiar with Woititz's work will find wisdom once again in this classic collection. Those new to ACoA will gain fresh insight into their behavior patterns and find an avenue for self-love and healing. Noted ACoA expert Dr. Robert Ackerman, author of the best-selling Perfect Daughters and Silent Sons, provides a foreword and explains why Janet Woititz's message will continue to help millions of readers for generations to come.