What if your greatest affliction—your addiction—has really been your greatest gift? The Gift of Addiction offers you a new understanding of how addiction operates, why you are walking its path, and the purpose for it in your life, providing you with the comfort of knowing that you possess all the necessary components to arrive at a place where you are able to create a life beyond your wildest dreams. Within these pages you will discover the vast spiritual intelligence behind the “disease” yet to be understood in our society, and author Sherry Burditt, RN, HN-BC, explains how our current addictions epidemic is the precursor to a new discovery and human transformation. Sherry Burditt has truly given us an important gift. From cover to cover, The Gift of Addiction contains a vast amount of practical, beneficial, and illuminating information with a storyteller’s grace and a clinician’s insight. It has been masterfully researched, eloquently written, and deeply felt. —Tina Haney, RN, BSN The Gift of Addiction offers an enlightened view of healing addiction through a deep understanding of the seven energy centers in the spine—the chakras. Sherry offers practical techniques that holistically incorporate healing of mind, body, and spirit. She provides a spiritual, “heart-based” approach that aligns us to the invincible soul within, and reawakens our knowing that our lives are divinely guided, guarded, and protected by the God of our understanding. —Patricia Fleming, CAcT, RYT, CMT, CRT
You did it again. You drank. You got high. You slept with him/her. You surfed the Internet. What gift could you possibly find in so much failure? But when your helplessness drives you to turn to God and admit your need, you will experience the greatest gift of all—his presence, his kindness, his forgiveness and his peace. Author Erik Guzman ...
About the Book Trouble Is a Gift is the story of a recovered alcoholic who humbly asked for help in finding a purpose and meaning in his life, whose prayer was answered, and who then turned his dream into a reality devoted to the care and treatment of millions of sick and suffering addicts and alcoholics. James S. Cusack, alcoholic, caregiver, and astute businessman, recounts his inner struggles and self-doubt, the stages of his recovery from alcohol addiction, and the moment of clarity when his mission came to light and he saw how, with the help of God and a Twelve-Step program, he could fulfill his purpose. Cusack writes with candor and sincerity of his early upbringing in Manhattan, his family s move to Queens, and his boyhood as a tough street kid; then takes us through his difficult times in the U.S. Air Force, where he discovered the therapeutic value of discipline; and through the hard-drinking years that followed his Honorable Discharge and led to his sobriety. In the early years of his recovery, Jim focused mainly on getting sober, working and enjoying success in the trucking business and insurance sales. In time, he began helping others to sober up, meeting with them in the back room of a candy store in Astoria, Queens, and touching their lives with the love, warmth, and honesty that had been given to him. Feeling an ever-greater need to find his mission in life, in 1965, Jim brought his prayer for direction to the Shrine of North American Martyrs, in Auriesville, New York. Shortly thereafter, his prayer was answered when he was hired to manage Glen Acre Lodge in Glen Spey, NY, one of the very earliest retreat centers for alcoholics. As the success of his work gained attention, Jim became part-owner of the Lodge and landed his first big account with the New York City Police Department with the help of Msgr. Joseph Dunn, who developed the Department s Employee Assistance Program. In time, fireman, sanitation workers, and other city employees suffering from alcoholism were also sent to Jim for help getting sober. Jim s story continues through numerous twists, turns, and fateful encounters, including his first meeting with Sue, now his wife and partner in his life work, and several changes of location before coming upon the resort in the Catskills that is now known as Villa Veritas. About the Author A pioneer in the field of chemical dependency treatment, James S. Cusack, CASAC, NCAC II, NCRS, offers his story as an example to all those brave individuals determined to overcome obstacles and turn liabilities into assets. Himself a recovered alcoholic of 60 years, Jim learned through helping other alcoholics find their way to sobriety that the gift is in the giving, and made his service his career. In his 50 years working with those suffering from chemical dependency, Jim has received countless honors acknowledging his groundbreaking accomplishments. In 1981, he and his wife Sue closed on the purchase of a Catskill resort which, through their dedicated efforts, has become Villa Veritas. In 2011, Jim and Sue established the Villa Veritas Foundation, Inc., to safeguard their mission and carry on a 40-year legacy of helping and caring for the chemically dependent. Jim serves as chairman of the board of Villa Veritas Foundation, Inc., and Sue, as Foundation president. They are committed to maintaining their hands-on, individualized approach to ensure that each of the thousands of alcoholics and addicts who pass through the Villa every year receives the love, care, and opportunity to find a new life in recovery he or she deserves. Jim, at age 83, continues to do what every recovered alcoholic with a mission should be doing: He s living one day at a time, and planning his next endeavor.
Addiction recovery doesn't happen all at once-it's something that must be worked for, every day. Written by two mindfulness and addiction experts, The Gift of Recovery offers quick, in-the-moment tips and tricks to help readers cope with daily stress and stay firmly on the path to wellness. With this gentle, easy-to-use guide, readers will learn how to navigate relationships, take time for self-care, and build a mindful, sustainable, and joyful recovery.
Presenting addiction as a universal experience, Dr. Bucklew invites us not to stigmatize or narrowly define it. Whether we turn to heroin, food, or compulsive thought, at the heart of all addiction lies the same dynamic: an unseen resistance to our present moment experience. The Hidden Gifts of Addiction draws our deeper wisdom to the surface. Instead of trading one addiction for another, you will discover a way of living that is freeing and life-affirming, even amid craving and challenge.
A “thought-provoking and powerful” study that reframes everything you’ve been taught about addiction and recovery—from the New York Times–bestselling author of The Myth of Normal (Bruce Perry, author of The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog). A world-renowned trauma expert combines real-life stories with cutting-edge research to offer a holistic approach to understanding addiction—its origins, its place in society, and the importance of self-compassion in recovery. Based on Gabor Maté’s two decades of experience as a medical doctor and his groundbreaking work with people with addiction on Vancouver’s skid row, this #1 international bestseller radically re-envisions a much misunderstood condition by taking a compassionate approach to substance abuse and addiction recovery. In the same vein as Bessel van der Kolk’s The Body Keeps the Score, In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts traces the root causes of addiction to childhood trauma and examines the pervasiveness of addiction in society. Dr. Maté presents addiction not as a discrete phenomenon confined to an unfortunate or weak-willed few, but as a continuum that runs throughout—and perhaps underpins—our society. It is not a medical “condition” distinct from the lives it affects but rather the result of a complex interplay among personal history, emotional and neurological development, brain chemistry, and the drugs and behaviors of addiction. Simplifying a wide array of brain and addiction research findings from around the globe, the book avoids glib self-help remedies, instead promoting a thorough and compassionate self-understanding as the first key to healing and wellness. Dr. Maté argues persuasively against contemporary health, social, and criminal justice policies toward addiction and how they perpetuate the War on Drugs. The mix of personal stories—including the author’s candid discussion of his own “high-status” addictive tendencies—and science with positive solutions makes the book equally useful for lay readers and professionals.
“The Addiction Inoculation is a vital look into best practices parenting. Writing as a teacher, a mother, and, as it happens, a recovering alcoholic, Lahey's stance is so compassionate, her advice so smart, any and all parents will benefit from her hard-won wisdom.” —Peggy Orenstein, author of Girls & Sex and Boys & Sex In this supportive, life-saving resource, the New York Times bestselling author of The Gift of Failure helps parents and educators understand the roots of substance abuse and identify who is most at risk for addiction, and offers practical steps for prevention. Jessica Lahey was born into a family with a long history of alcoholism and drug abuse. Despite her desire to thwart her genetic legacy, she became an alcoholic and didn’t find her way out until her early forties. Jessica has worked as a teacher in substance abuse programs for teens, and was determined to inoculate her two adolescent sons against their most dangerous inheritance. All children, regardless of their genetics, are at some risk for substance abuse. According to the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, teen drug addiction is the nation’s largest preventable and costly health problem. Despite the existence of proven preventive strategies, nine out of ten adults with substance use disorder report they began drinking and taking drugs before age eighteen. The Addiction Inoculation is a comprehensive resource parents and educators can use to prevent substance abuse in children. Based on research in child welfare, psychology, substance abuse, and developmental neuroscience, this essential guide provides evidence-based strategies and practical tools adults need to understand, support, and educate resilient, addiction-resistant children. The guidelines are age-appropriate and actionable—from navigating a child’s risk for addiction, to interpreting signs of early abuse, to advice for broaching difficult conversations with children. The Addiction Inoculation is an empathetic, accessible resource for anyone who plays a vital role in children’s lives—parents, teachers, coaches, or pediatricians—to help them raise kids who will grow up healthy, happy, and addiction-free.
Most addictive behavior is rooted in some type of loss, be it the death of a loved one, coming to terms with limitations set by chronic health problems, or the end of a relationship. By turning to drugs and alcohol, people who have suffered a loss can numb their grief. In the process, they postpone their healing and can drive themselves further into addiction. The Mindfulness Workbook for Addiction offers readers an effective program for working through their addiction and grief with cognitive behavior therapy (CBT), dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), and acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT). Created by a psychologist who works for the Department of Veterans Affairs and a marriage and family therapist who works for Sharp Mesa Vista Hospital, this mindfulness training workbook is effective for treating the emotion dysregulation, stress, depression, and grief that lie at the heart of addiction. No matter the loss, the mindfulness skills in this workbook help readers process their grief, determine the function their addiction is serving, and replace the addiction with healthy coping behaviors.
Views on addiction are often polarised - either addiction is a matter of choice, or addicts simply can't help themselves. But perhaps addiction falls between the two? This book contains views from philosophy, neuroscience, psychiatry, psychology, and the law exploring this middle ground between free choice and no choice.
Addiction invades every region and demographic in the United States, affecting more than 23 million Americans and putting families though a heartbreaking cycle of recovery and relapse. Many people give up and never find the right treatment that will enable them to break free of their addiction forever. Offering a radical new approach, clinical psychologist Dr. Morteza Khaleghi argues that the vast majority of drug and alcohol addiction is driven by an emotional trauma. A pioneer of the dual diagnosis recovery program, he treats the body for chemical dependency while simultaneously ministering to the emotional block that serves as a trigger for relapse. A regular advisor on the Dr. Phil show, Dr. Khaleghi has mapped out recovery plans for thousands of patients and their families. Well-known facilities such as Hazelden, Sierra Tucson, and the Betty Ford Center refer their toughest cases to him, looking to his vast experience and high rate of success. In this groundbreaking book, he teaches you the methods that have made him the therapist that other therapists turn to for advice. Families will learn how to • Recognize addictive behavior • Plan and stage effective interventions • Work on the family dynamics that enable addiction Patients will learn to • Become self aware about addictive behavior • Identify the emotional trauma that is at the heart of nearly every addiction • Detect early signs of relapse and take preemptive measures Drawing on over 20 years of experience healing patients, Dr. Khaleghi's insightful, nurturing and-- above all--breakthrough book is geared to anyone looking for help with dependency and to the spouses, parents, children, and friends who bear the brunt of this damaging disease. Free from Addiction will redefine addiction treatment and provide new hope to all those embarking on recovery.
