A memoir of unblinking honesty and poignant, laugh-out-loud humor, Blackout is the story of a woman stumbling into a new kind of adventure -- the sober life she never wanted.For Sarah Hepola, alcohol was "the gasoline of all adventure." She spent her evenings at cocktail parties and dark bars where she proudly stayed till last call. Drinking felt like freedom, part of her birthright as a strong, enlightened twenty-first-century woman.But there was a price. She often blacked out, waking up with a blank space where four hours should be. Mornings became detective work on her own life. What did I say last night? How did I meet that guy? She apologized for things she couldn't remember doing, as though she were cleaning up after an evil twin. Publicly, she covered her shame with self-deprecating jokes, and her career flourished, but as the blackouts accumulated, she could no longer avoid a sinking truth. The fuel she thought she needed was draining her spirit instead.A memoir of unblinking honesty and poignant, laugh-out-loud humor, Blackout is the story of a woman stumbling into a new kind of adventure -- the sober life she never wanted. Shining a light into her blackouts, she discovers the person she buried, as well as the confidence, intimacy, and creativity she once believed came only from a bottle. Her tale will resonate with anyone who has been forced to reinvent or struggled in the face of necessary change. It's about giving up the thing you cherish most -- but getting yourself back in return.

In his follow-up to his bestselling memoir Tweak: Growing Up On Methamphetamines, Nic Sheff reveals a brutally honest account of a young person's struggles with relapse and rehab.In his bestselling memoir Tweak, Nic Sheff took readers on an emotionally gripping roller-coaster ride through his days as an addict. In this powerful follow-up about his continued efforts to stay clean, Nic writes candidly about eye-opening stays at rehab centers, devastating relapses, and hard-won realizations about what it means to be a young person living with addiction. By candidly revealing his own failures and small personal triumphs, Nic inspires readers to maintain hope and to remember that they are not alone in their battles. A group reading guide is included.Nic Sheff's Tweak, We All Fall Down, and his father's memoir about him (Beautiful Boy) are the basis of the film Beautiful Boy starring Steve Carell and Timothée Chalamet.

A guide to all kinds of addiction from a star who has struggled with heroin, alcohol, sex, fame, food and eBay, that will help addicts and their loved ones make the first steps into recovery\n“This manual for self-realization comes not from a mountain but from the mud...My qualification is not that I am better than you but I am worse.” ―Russell Brand\nWith a rare mix of honesty, humor, and compassion, comedian and movie star Russell Brand mines his own wild story and shares the advice and wisdom he has gained through his fourteen years of recovery. Brand speaks to those suffering along the full spectrum of addiction―from drugs, alcohol, caffeine, and sugar addictions to addictions to work, stress, bad relationships, digital media, and fame. Brand understands that addiction can take many shapes and sizes and how the process of staying clean, sane, and unhooked is a daily activity. He believes that the question is not “Why are you addicted?” but "What pain is your addiction masking? Why are you running―into the wrong job, the wrong life, the wrong person’s arms?"\nRussell has been in all the twelve-step fellowships going, he’s started his own men’s group, he’s a therapy regular and a practiced yogi―and while he’s worked on this material as part of his comedy and previous bestsellers, he’s never before shared the tools that really took him out of it, that keep him clean and clear. Here he provides not only a recovery plan, but an attempt to make sense of the ailing world.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • An up-close portrait of the mind of an addict and a life unraveled by narcotics—a memoir of captivating urgency and surprising humor that puts a human face on the opioid crisis.“Raw, brutal, and shocking. Move over, Orange Is the New Black.”—Amy Dresner, author of My Fair JunkieWhen word got out that Tiffany Jenkins was withdrawing from opiates on the floor of a jail cell, people in her town were shocked. Not because of the twenty felonies she’d committed, or the nature of her crimes, or even that she’d been captain of the high school cheerleading squad just a few years earlier, but because her boyfriend was a Deputy Sherriff, and his friends—their friends—were the ones who’d arrested her.A raw and twisty page-turning memoir that reads like fiction, High Achiever spans Tiffany’s life as an active opioid addict, her 120 days in a Florida jail where every officer despised what she’d done to their brother in blue, and her eventual recovery. With heart-racing urgency and unflinching honesty, Jenkins takes you inside the grips of addiction and the desperate decisions it breeds. She is a born storyteller who lived an incredible story, from blackmail by an ex-boyfriend to a soul-shattering deal with a drug dealer, and her telling brims with suspense and unexpected wit. But the true surprise is her path to recovery. Tiffany breaks through the stigma and silence to offer hope and inspiration to anyone battling the disease—whether it’s a loved one or themselves.

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Empathy Exams comes this transformative work showing that sometimes the recovery is more gripping than the addiction.With its deeply personal and seamless blend of memoir, cultural history, literary criticism, and reportage, The Recovering turns our understanding of the traditional addiction narrative on its head, demonstrating that the story of recovery can be every bit as electrifying as the train wreck itself. Leslie Jamison deftly excavates the stories we tell about addiction -- both her own and others' -- and examines what we want these stories to do and what happens when they fail us. All the while, she offers a fascinating look at the larger history of the recovery movement, and at the complicated bearing that race and class have on our understanding of who is criminal and who is ill.At the heart of the book is Jamison's ongoing conversation with literary and artistic geniuses whose lives and works were shaped by alcoholism and substance dependence, including John Berryman, Jean Rhys, Billie Holiday, Raymond Carver, Denis Johnson, and David Foster Wallace, as well as brilliant lesser-known figures such as George Cain, lost to obscurity but newly illuminated here. Through its unvarnished relation of Jamison's own ordeals, The Recovering also becomes a book about a different kind of dependency: the way our desires can make us all, as she puts it, "broken spigots of need." It's about the particular loneliness of the human experience-the craving for love that both devours us and shapes who we are.For her striking language and piercing observations, Jamison has been compared to such iconic writers as Joan Didion and Susan Sontag, yet her utterly singular voice also offers something new. With enormous empathy and wisdom, Jamison has given us nothing less than the story of addiction and recovery in America writ large, a definitive and revelatory account that will resonate for years to come.

Many people think that what the addict needs is willpower, but nothing could be further from the truth: When a person has already lost control over a drug or activity, attempts to control its use almost never work. Because the source of addiction isn't the drug or activity itself but a desire for a mood changer, successful recovery means ultimately changing the way we live, giving up the addictive life-style. Willpower's Not Enough will show you how to change your life-style and to recover from your addiction.

Millions of people appear to be living normal lives, yet they are secretly numbing their emotional pain with alcohol, drugs, food, and many other lifestyle addictions. The good news is that there is hope, and author Michael Cartwright know this firsthand, both personally and professionally. Addicted to drugs and alcohol as a teenager, he landed in a mental institution in a catatonic state. Using many of the methods he shares in this book, he transformed his life: becoming sober and successful and a respected pioneer in the recovery field. This book offers a real source of hope that will save your life or the life of your loved one. Believable Hope is a proven methodology with a five-pronged approach that has helped tens of thousands of people over the years. With personal accounts and application principles that will help anyone put an end to addictive behavior, Michael Cartwright reveals why lasting change is usually more about mindset and emotions than clinical factors. This book is a lifeline for people battling addiction and provides a fresh sense of hope for those who love them.\n\nMichael Cartwright is considered a pillar in the dual diagnosis addiction treatment industry\n His 5-step approach has been in use for over 17 years \nMore than 20,000 Americans are successfully in recovery by applying Michael's approach \nHundreds of thousands of people reach out to American Addiction Centers each year to learn how they too can benefit from Michael's philosophy \nMichael has created a practical program that works, and now his philosophy available to you in this book!\n\n

The bestselling author of Postcards from the Edge comes clean (well, sort of) in her first-ever memoir, adapted from her one-woman Broadway hit show. Fisher reveals what it was really like to grow up a product of “Hollywood in-breeding,” come of age on the set of a little movie called Star Wars, and become a cultural icon and bestselling action figure at the age of nineteen.Intimate, hilarious, and sobering, Wishful Drinking is Fisher, looking at her life as she best remembers it (what do you expect after electroshock therapy?). It’s an incredible tale: the child of Hollywood royalty—Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher—homewrecked by Elizabeth Taylor, marrying (then divorcing, then dating) Paul Simon, having her likeness merchandized on everything from Princess Leia shampoo to PEZ dispensers, learning the father of her daughter forgot to tell her he was gay, and ultimately waking up one morning and finding a friend dead beside her in bed.Wishful Drinking, the show, has been a runaway success. Entertainment Weekly declared it “drolly hysterical” and the Los Angeles Times called it a “Beverly Hills yard sale of juicy anecdotes.” This is Carrie Fisher at her best—revealing her worst. She tells her true and outrageous story of her bizarre reality with her inimitable wit, unabashed self-deprecation, and buoyant, infectious humor.

Get to the root of your addiction, begin healing, and prevent relapse―starting todayGet the tools you need to recover from alcoholism and other forms of addiction. This substance abuse workbook equips you with actionable strategies and coping techniques to succeed in recovery when faced with daily challenges, stressors, and triggers.From navigating intimate relationships to handling high-risk situations and environments, this addiction workbook offers practical tools and hands-on exercises that you can use in your home, work, and personal life.Develop addiction recovery skills through: A comprehensive introductionthat helps you understand your addiction and outlines the path to recovery. Coping skills to deal with thoughts, emotions, relationships, and high-risk situations and environments. Prevention tactics that help you succeed in lifelong recovery by setting new, addiction-free lifestyle habits and routines.Foster the skills you'll need to persevere with this addiction recovery workbook as your guide.

There is an alternative to 12-step! You can reduce almost any type of addictive behavior -- from drinking to sex, eating, and the Internet -- with this practical and effective workbook. Treats addictive behaviors in general, not one at a time -- because if you’re prone to addictions, you’ve probably got more than one. Addictive behavior can result from the use of almost any substance, or involvement in almost any activity. The harm that results from the addictive behavior, and the individual's difficulty in controlling it, is what matters. Supported by scientific research, Dr. Horvath approaches addiction as a bad habit, not a disease. He emphasizes taking responsibility, without requiring an allegiance to a "higher power," and teaches general principles of addictive behavior change, so readers can apply them as often as they need. Horvath teaches the consequences (and even possible benefits) of addictive behavior, alternative coping methods, choice, understanding and dealing with urges, building a new lifestyle, preventing relapse. Includes dozens of exercises, self-study questions, guidelines for individual change plans.

Jerry Stahl's seminal memoir of drug addiction and a career in Hollywood, Permanent Midnight is a classic along the lines of Hubert Selby, Jr.'s Last Exit to Brooklyn. Illuminating the self-loathing and self-destruction of an addict's inner life, Permanent Midnight follows Stahl through the dregs of addiction and into sobriety. In 1998, Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, and Maria Bello starred in a film version of Permanent Midnight to much acclaim. Nic Sheff, author of Tweak, writes the introduction to this edition.

One woman's heartbreaking story of a marriage destroyed by her husband's addiction to alcohol.\nA gripping tale that illuminates the dynamics of codependency. Author Fran Simone describes her husband's attempts at treatment and subsequent relapse, his suicide, and her own recovery through a twelve-step program for families.\nFran Simone, PhD, is a retired professor emeritus from the graduate college of Marshall University in South Charleston, West Virginia. Her essays have appeared in The Voice and The Quarterly of the National Writing Project, the Charleston Gazette, Writers Digest, and The Forum.

Stop the Chaos is a practical guide that identifies the telltale signs of addiction, offers suggestions for living alcohol- or drug-free, and teaches the skills necessary for healthy livingStop the Chaos, a comprehensive, practical guide, identifies the telltale signs of addiction, offers suggestions for living alcohol-or drug-free, and teaches the skills neccessary for healthy thinking and living.

From the New York Times bestselling author and former beauty editor Cat Marnell, a “vivid, maddening, heartbreaking, very funny, chaotic” (The New York Times) memoir of prescription drug addiction and self-sabotage, set in the glamorous world of fashion magazines and downtown nightclubs.At twenty-six, Cat Marnell was an associate beauty editor at Lucky, one of the top fashion magazines in America—and that’s all most people knew about her. But she hid a secret life. She was a prescription drug addict. She was also a “doctor shopper” who manipulated Upper East Side psychiatrists for pills, pills, and more pills; a lonely bulimic who spent hundreds of dollars a week on binge foods; a promiscuous party girl who danced barefoot on banquets; a weepy and hallucination-prone insomniac who would take anything—anything—to sleep.This is a tale of self-loathing, self-sabotage, and yes, self-tanner. It begins at a posh New England prep school—and with a prescription for the Attention Deficit Disorder medication Ritalin. It continues to New York, where we follow Marnell’s amphetamine-fueled rise from intern to editor through the beauty departments of NYLON, Teen Vogue, Glamour, and Lucky. We see her fight between ambition and addiction and how, inevitably, her disease threatens everything she worked so hard to achieve. From the Condé Nast building to seedy nightclubs, from doctors’ offices and mental hospitals, Marnell “treads a knife edge between glamorizing her own despair and rendering it with savage honesty.…with the skill of a pulp novelist” (The New York Times Book Review) what it is like to live in the wild, chaotic, often sinister world of a young female addict who can’t say no.Combining “all the intoxicating intrigue of a thriller and yet all the sobering pathos of a gifted writer’s true-life journey to recover her former health, happiness, ambitions, and identity” (Harper’s Bazaar), How to Murder Your Life is mesmerizing, revelatory, and necessary.

With over 75,000 copies sold, Addict in the Family is a must-have, trusted resource for anyone coping with the addiction of a family member.“When my eldest son became addicted to crystal meth and heroin, I could barely function. I would not have survived without Beverly Conyers’s Addict in the Family, which provided guidance and hope. I realized I wasn’t alone on my hellish journey. The book helped me get through interminable nights when I was terrified that his addiction would take his life. It offered a path to healing.”–David Sheff, author of Beautiful Boy, now a major motion pictureWith years of experience struggling with her daughter’s addiction and recovery, Beverly Conyers has been where you are. In Addict in the Family, Conyers draws on research, experience, and compelling personal stories from others to explain what families should know about substance abuse, interventions, relapse, and more. Although families can’t cure a loved one’s addiction, they can provide support without enabling, set boundaries, prioritize self-care, and find healing through therapy, spirituality, Al Anon or Nar Anon, and countless other resources that show no one is alone on this journey.Revised and updated in 2015, this classic recovery book is for anyone who has experienced the shame, anxiety, sleepless nights, and physical illness that often stem from loving someone who is struggling with addiction. These stories show that, no matter what is happening with your loved one, you have the power to control your own recovery.

Beloved former ABC 20/20 anchor Elizabeth Vargas share the truth about her alcohol addiction and anxiety disorder in this honest and emotional memoir.From the moment she uttered the brave and honest words, "I am an alcoholic," to interviewer George Stephanopoulos, Elizabeth Vargas began writing her story, as her experiences were still raw. Now, in Between Breaths, Vargas discusses her accounts of growing up with anxiety--which began suddenly at the age of six when her father served in Vietnam--and how she dealt with this anxiety as she came of age, eventually turning to alcohol for a release from her painful reality. The now-A&E Network reporter reveals how she found herself living in denial about the extent of her addiction, and how she kept her dependency a secret for so long. She addresses her time in rehab, her first year of sobriety, and the guilt she felt as a working mother who could never find the right balance between a career and parenting. Honest and hopeful, Between Breaths is an inspiring read. Winner of the Books for a Better Life Award in the First Book category Instant New York Times and USA Today Bestseller

"Blunt and honest...A stunning piece of work." T.J. English \n"Deeply moving. . .What s Left of Us is a rush of blood to the head and heart, the kind only true art can deliver." --Andre Dubus "An amazing story not just of survival, but redemption." Mary McGarry Morris Richie Farrell grew up in a working-class Irish neighborhood in Massachusetts. To overcome a birth defect, his father pushed him to become a star athlete, grooming him for Notre Dame. Sometimes, he would use a belt as a learning tool. Once, he used an electric carving knife... The headline read Crippled at Birth: Farrell Now Grid Star. A month later, I tore up my knee and fell in love with pain medication. By time he was thirty, Richie was a heroin addict, stealing from friends, shooting up during visits to his children, living in abandoned mill buildings, running from the shameful secrets of his family. Hopeless and in pain, he attempted suicide. When that failed, he was ordered to detox. He looked at me. Be honest, he said, or you'll be on the street in 15 minutes. Jail, death, or honesty. You choose." In this harrowing, astounding memoir, Richard Farrell chronicles a life of desperation, violence, lies and the pure oblivion of heroin. A gritty, hauntingly written tale of a descent into hell and a slow, uncertain climb out of it, What's Left Of Us is a true story of redemption: of how low a man can get, and how hard he must fight to escape a shattered life... "[Farrell] carries you on this rollercoaster ride of ugliness and beauty. Don't miss it. Phyllis Karas Richard Farrell is an author, filmmaker, teacher, journalist, and adjunct professor of English at the University of Massachusetts in Lowell. His documentary, High on Crack Street, was aired on HBO and received Columbia University's duPont Award. The Fighter, a feature film based on High on Crack Street, will be released in 2011 staring Mark Whalberg, Christian Bale, and Farrell playing himself. He is the co-author of A Criminal and an Irishman: The Inside Story of the Mob-IRA Connection. He makes his home in Milford, New Hampshire.

Garnering a vast amount of attention from young people and parents, and from book buyers across the country, Smashed became a media sensation and a New York Times bestseller. Eye-opening and utterly gripping, Koren Zailckas’s story is that of thousands of girls like her who are not alcoholics—yet—but who routinely use booze as a shortcut to courage and a stand-in for good judgment.With one stiff sip of Southern Comfort at the age of fourteen, Zailckas is initiated into the world of drinking. From then on, she will drink faithfully, fanatically. In high school, her experimentation will lead to a stomach pumping. In college, her excess will give way to a pattern of self-poisoning that will grow more destructive each year. At age twenty-two, Zailckas will wake up in an unfamiliar apartment in New York City, elbow her friend who is passed out next to her, and ask, "Where are we?" Smashed is a sober look at how she got there and, after years of blackouts and smashups, what it took for her to realize she had to stop drinking. Smashed is an astonishing literary debut destined to become a classic.

Up from Down is not a book about gloom and doom, but an inspirational book that offers hope to all who have faltered. Strung out on heroin, Ted Adamson began his journey with a Swat team descending on a pharmacy to stop his wild rampage in search of drugs. From the cruelty in the county jail to race riots in state prison, the hard, gritty life of a drug addict is portrayed in all its real-world ugliness and despair. Join Ted as he gives us a picture of what the life of a junkie is really like. Look inside the dark side of drug treatment programs. From the bizarre therapies of the Synanon-like Family to the modern twelve-step programs, you will see what passes as treatment in the modern recovery movement. Up from Down takes readers to the depths of human degradation then brings them back through a journey of redemption.

Craig Nakken brings new depth and dimension to our understanding of how an individual becomes an addict.Since its publication in 1988, The Addictive Personality has helped people understand the process of addiction. Now, through this second edition, author Craig Nakken brings new depth and dimension to our understanding of how an individual becomes an addict. Going beyond the definition that limits dependency to the realm of alcohol and other drugs, Nakken uncovers the common denominator of all addiction and describes how the process is progressive.Through research and practical experience, Nakken sheds new light on:Genetic factors tied to addiction;Cultural influences on addictive behavior;The progressive nature of the disease; andSteps to a successful recovery.The author examines how addictions start, how society pushes people toward addiction, and what happens inside those who become addicted. This new edition will help anyone seeking a better understanding of the addictive process and its impact on our lives.

An Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT) Self-Help Book Recommendation.Winner of the 4Th International Beverly Hills Book Awards in the category of Addiction & Recovery!Is your addiction taking control of your life? This book provides an integrative, seven-step program to help you finally overcome drug and alcohol addiction, once and for all.If you struggle with addiction, seeking treatment is a powerful, positive first step toward eventual recovery. But gaining an understanding of the causes of addiction—such as feelings of helplessness or loss of control—is also crucial for recovery. In this book, addiction expert Suzette Glasner-Edwards offers evidence-based techniques fusing cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), motivational interviewing, and mindfulness-based relapse prevention to help you move past your addictive behaviors.On the long road to addiction recovery, you need as many tools as possible to help you stay sober and reach your destination. That’s why this is the first book to combine research-proven motivational techniques, CBT, and mindfulness-based strategies to help you create your own unique recovery plan. The book can be used on its own or as an adjunct to rehab or therapy. It also makes a wonderful resource for loved ones and professionals treating addiction.If you're ready to take that important first step toward recovery, this book can help you beat your addiction and get back to living a full, meaningful life.

Elizabeth Wurtzel published her memoir of depression, Prozac Nation, to astonishing literary acclaim. A cultural phenomenon by age twenty-six, she had fame, money, respect—everything she had always wanted except that one, true thing: happiness.For all of her professional success, Wurtzel felt like a failure. She had lost friends and lovers, every magazine job she'd held, and way too much weight. She couldn't write, and her second book was past due. But when her doctor prescribed Ritalin to help her focus-and boost the effects of her antidepressants—Wurtzel was spared. The Ritalin worked. And worked. The pills became her sugar...the sweetness in the days that have none. Soon she began grinding up the Ritalin and snorting it. Then came the cocaine, then more Ritalin, then more cocaine. Then I need more. I always need more. For all of my life I have needed more...More, Now, Again is the brutally honest, often painful account of Wurtzel's descent into drug addiction. It is also a survival story: How Wurtzel managed to break free of her relationship with Ritalin and learned to love life, and herself, is at the heart of this ultimately uplifting memoir that no reader will soon forget.

Here, in its second edition, is a personal guide to Exposure Response Prevention Therapy, the breakthrough new technique that has helped countless addicted people get and stay clean. In Kill the Craving you'll learn how to implement ERP, handle triggers in foolproof ways, even kill your strongest cravings, and end the powerful cycle of addiction once and for all.

Ten-year-old Emmy wants desperately to be just a normal kid with a happy family like her friends. But no matter how hard she tries to keep her mother's drinking problem a secret, things keep getting worse. Emmy finds bottles hidden all over the house. Then her mom totally humiliates her by showing up at school and at her dance recital after drinking too much wine. Even though she's teased at school and snubbed by classmates after that, she's too ashamed to talk about it to her teacher or anyone else. Besides, her mom says she's her best friend. And friends don't tell on friends. Writing in her diary is the only way she can express how much she is hurting and how lonely she feels.But when her mom leaves the family, Emmy's pain is so overwhelming that she agrees to see a counselor. "How could Mom choose wine over me?" is the question she keeps asking herself over and over. Emmy's journey to find the answer is one that will empower any youngster struggling under the shadow of a parent's addiction. No longer shackled by the "don't tell rule", Emmy is able to reach out for help and ultimately find the best in herself, her love for her mother intact. Hers is a voice not easily forgotten.Emmy's Question is appropriate for individual or small group reading and discussion. Readers who come from happy, well-adjusted families will gain a greater appreciation and empathy for those who are not so fortunate. A complete resource section is included.

One woman's journey to the bottom of the bottle-and back again.In this moving, emotionally charged, and unflinching look at alcoholism and its effects, lawyer and prominent National Public Radio writer and commentator Heather King describes her twenty-year-long descent into the depths of addiction with wit and candor. King went from a highly functioning alcoholic who managed to maintain her grip on reality to living in the lowest of dive bars, drinking around the clock and barely sustaining an existence. With help from the most unexpected source, King stopped her self-destructive spiral and changed her world for the better. This is the poignant, painfully honest, and inspirational true story of a woman who looked into the abyss, and was able to step back from the edge and reclaim her life on her own terms.

This bestselling memoir from a seasoned New York City reporter is "a vivid report of a journey to the edge of self-destruction" (New York Times).As a child during the Depression and World War II, Pete Hamill learned early that drinking was an essential part of being a man, inseparable from the rituals of celebration, mourning, friendship, romance, and religion. Only later did he discover its ability to destroy any writer's most valuable tools: clarity, consciousness, memory.In A Drinking Life, Hamill explains how alcohol slowly became a part of his life, and how he ultimately left it behind. Along the way, he summons the mood of an America that is gone forever, with the bittersweet fondness of a lifelong New Yorker."Magnificent. A Drinking Life is about growing up and growing old, working and trying to work, within the culture of drink." --Boston Globe

Celebrity journalist Amelia Stone is the quintessential Hollywood party girl: she stays out late, rubs shoulders (and occasionally more) with celebrities, and ingests copious amounts of cocaine. But after losing her job, her friends, and much of her mind, Amelia makes the drastic decision to end her drug abuse. Once sober, she's hired by a big-name magazine to write a column detailing her wild adventures and she starts seeing the man who could be her Mr. Right. There's just one problem. Overnight, Amelia has become the new face of Hollywood nightlife, and her editors—who don't know she's come clean —want her to play the part. As the lure of her former fast-and-furious lifestyle begins to pull at her, she must decide whether to save herself or salvage her reputation as the ultimate party girl.

Nobody has had an answer for why people with addictions continue to repeat them -- until now.\nFor more than twenty years, distinguished psychiatrist Dr. Lance Dodes has been successfully helping people master their addictions -- alcoholism, compulsive gambling, smoking, sexual addiction, and more with a radical approach. Dr. Dodes describes how all addictions have, at their heart, unrecognized emotional factors that explain:\n\nWhy we feel the impulse Why we feel it when we do What alternatives (really) work in that critical moment\n\nIn this refreshing book filled with compelling case studies, Dr. Dodes debunks several such widely accepted myths as:\n\nAddictions are fundamentally a physical problem. People with addictions are different from other people. You have to hit bottom before you can get well. You are wasting your time if you ask "why" you have an addiction.\n

The most innovative leaders in progressive addiction treatment in the US offer a groundbreaking, science-based guide to helping loved ones overcome addiction problems and compulsive behaviors.The most innovative leaders in progressive addiction treatment in the US offer a groundbreaking, science-based guide to helping loved ones overcome addiction problems and compulsive behaviors.Beyond Addiction eschews the theatrics of interventions and tough love to show family and friends how they can use kindness, positive reinforcement, and motivational and behavioral strategies to help their loved ones change. Drawing on forty collective years of research and decades of clinical experience, the authors present the best practical advice science has to offer.Delivered with warmth, optimism, and humor, Beyond Addiction defines a new, empowered role for friends and family and a paradigm shift for the field. Learn how to tap the transformative power of relationships for positive change, guided by exercises and examples. Practice what really works in therapy and in everyday life, and discover many different treatment options along with tips for navigating the system.And have hope: this guide is designed not only to help someone change, but to help someone want to change.

Is addiction a disease, a sin, a sign of hypersensitivity, a personal failing, or a unique resource for the creative mind? However it is defined, addiction can have devastating consequences, often shattering lives, sundering families, causing impoverishment, and even triggering suicide. Yet it can also be a source of inspiration. In these frank essays, leading American and Canadian writers explore their surprisingly diverse personal experiences with this complex phenomenon, candidly recounting what happened when alcohol, heroin, smoking, food, gambling, or sex — sometimes in combination — took over their lives.

Chronicles the twenty years the author spent as an alcoholic, detailing her early drinking as a young teenager, descent into a lifestyle of dive bars, and the life-saving intervention of her family which enabled her to overcome her addiction.

The Liars' Club brought to vivid, indelible life Mary Karr's hardscrabble Texas childhood. Cherry, her account of her adolescence, 'continued to set the literary standard for making the personal universal' (Entertainment Weekly). Now Lit follows the self-professed blackbelt sinner's descent into the inferno of alcoholism and madness--and to her astonishing resurrection. Karr's longing for a solid family seems secure when her marriage to a handsome, Shakespeare-quoting blueblood poet produces a son they adore. But she can't outrun her apocalyptic past. She drinks herself into the same numbness that nearly devoured her charismatic but troubled mother, reaching the brink of suicide. A hair-raising stint in 'The Mental Marriott,' with an oddball tribe of gurus and saviors, awakens her to the possibility of joy and leads her to an unlikely faith. Not since Saint Augustine cried, 'Give me chastity, Lord-but not yet!' has a conversion story rung with such dark hilarity. Lit is about getting drunk and getting sober, becoming a mother by letting go of a mother, learning to write by learning to live. Written with Karr's relentless honesty, unflinching self-scrutiny, and irreverent, lacerating humor, it is a truly electrifying story of how to grow up--as only Mary Karr can tell it.

Transform the chaos of harmful patterns into the clarity of recovery with Marci Hopkins. Her intimate stories of addiction—to alcohol, attention, and the promise of a fresh start—shine a light on the dark places of sexual, physical, and emotional abuse. By healing past trauma, making amends in relationships, walking in faith, and creating a joy-filled life, Marci proves that there is a better way to live even when it is challenging.Chaos to Clarity explains the journey of recovery using an educational approach and personal stories to lead the reader through the process of becoming aware of their own personal patterns and habits. As the reader continues on a pathway to healing, they will find more joy, ability to heal from the past, strength to break generational cycles, and ultimately they will live beyond their wildest dreams. Let Marci show how to change the chaos of addiction into a new space of clear awareness and abundant joy!

AA veterans often refer to "stinking thinking"--the distorted thought processes behind addictive and codependent behavior. Twerski calls it "addictologia"--the inability to reason with oneself. He demonstrates how such thinking is a " disease of the will" that makes the addict unable to make wise, constructive choices in life.

Junk is not, like alcohol or a weed, a means to increased enjoyment of life. Junk is not a kick. It is a way of life.In his debut novel, Junky, Burroughs fictionalized his experiences using and peddling heroin and other drugs in the 1950s into a work that reads like a field report from the underworld of post-war America. The Burroughs-like protagonist of the novel, Bill Lee, see-saws between periods of addiction and rehab, using a panoply of substances including heroin, cocaine, marijuana, paregoric (a weak tincture of opium) and goof balls (barbiturate), amongst others. For this definitive edition, renowned Burroughs scholar Oliver Harris has gone back to archival typescripts to re-created the author's original text word by word. From the tenements of New York to the queer bars of New Orleans, Junky takes the reader into a world at once long-forgotten and still with us today. Burroughs’s first novel is a cult classic and a critical part of his oeuvre.

"This is a story you’ll love and never forget."—Christopher McDougall, author, Born to Run and Natural Born HeroesAside from her rock star looks, Catra Corbett is a standout in the running world on her accomplishments alone. Catra is the first American woman to run over one hundred miles or more on more than one hundred occasions and the first to run one hundred and two hundred miles in the Ohlone Wilderness, and she holds the fastest known double time for the 425-miles long John Muir Trail, completing it in twelve days, four hours, and fifty-seven minutes.And, unbelievably, she's also a former meth addict.After two years of addiction, Catra is busted while selling, and a night in jail is enough to set her straight. She gives up drugs and moves back home with her mother, abandoning her friends, her boyfriend, and the lifestyle that she came to depend on. Her only clean friend pushes her to train for a 10K with him, and surprisingly, she likes it—and decides to run her first marathon after that.In Reborn on the Run, the reader keeps pace with Catra as she runs through difficult terrain and extreme weather, is stalked by animals in the wilderness, and nearly dies on a training run but continues on, smashing running records and becoming one of the world's best ultrarunners. Along the way she attempts suicide, loses loved ones, falls in love, has her heartbroken, meets lifelong friends including her running partner and dachshund TruMan, and finally faces the past that led to her addiction.

“An extraordinary accomplishment. . . . A remarkable book that will be of great value to people who feel isolated, alienated and overwhelmed by the circumstances of their lives.”—Hubert Selby, Jr., author of Last Exit to Brooklyn“[Stahl] is a better-than-Burroughs virtuoso.”—Thomas Mallon, The New Yorker“Original, appalling, indelible picture of a man trying to swim and drown at the same time. Stahl has nerve, heart, a language of his own and a ghastly, riotous humor.”—Tobias Wolff, author of This Boy’s Life“Permanent Midnight is one of the most harrowing and toughest accounts ever written in this century about what it means to be a junkie in America, making Burroughs look dated and Kerouac appear as the nose-thumbing adolescent he was.”—BooklistA searing confessional infused with the darkest humor, Permanent Midnight chronicles the opiated abyss of a Hollywood screenwriter and his formidable climb into sobriety.Made into a major motion picture starring Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson, Permanent Midnight is revered by critics and an ever-growing cult of devoted readers as one of the most compelling contemporary memoirs.Jerry Stahl was born in Pittsburgh. He is author of the novels Perv: A Love Story, Plainclothes Naked and I, Fatty, the paperback edition of which will appear in 2005. He currently lives in Los Angeles.

First published 20 years ago, It Will Never Happen to Me is the definitive book/workbook for adult children of alcoholics. \nWith her reassuring and informative approach, Claudia Black expertly identifies common issues faced by children who grew up in alcoholic families--shame, neglect, unreasonable role expectations, and physical abuse. Using narratives and profiles, she describes survival techniques characteristic of children raised in alcoholic families, including the unspoken laws of don't talk, don't trust, and don't feel. First explaining how such learned responses cause difficulties in adulthood, Black carefully guides readers in identifying self-defeating, destructive behaviors and finding a healthier, happier way to live. \nKey features and benefits \n\na proven seller by a respected recovery author \ncontains easy-to-follow, useful exercises \ncan be used by individuals or in a therapeutic setting\n

The story that inspired the major motion picture Beautiful Boy featuring Steve Carell and Timothée Chalamet.This New York Times bestselling memoir of a young man’s addiction to methamphetamine tells a raw, harrowing, and ultimately hopeful tale of the road from relapse to recovery.Nic Sheff was drunk for the first time at age eleven. In the years that followed, he would regularly smoke pot, do cocaine and Ecstasy, and develop addictions to crystal meth and heroin. Even so, he felt like he would always be able to quit and put his life together whenever he needed to. It took a violent relapse one summer in California to convince him otherwise. In a voice that is raw and honest, Nic spares no detail in telling us the compelling, heartbreaking, and true story of his relapse and the road to recovery. As we watch Nic plunge into the mental and physical depths of drug addiction, he paints a picture for us of a person at odds with his past, with his family, with his substances, and with himself. It's a harrowing portrait—but not one without hope.

Revised and UpdatedThe New York Times BestsellerWhat if everything you think you know about addiction is wrong? Johann Hari's journey into the heart of the war on drugs led him to ask this question--and to write the book that gave rise to his viral TED talk, viewed more than 62 million times, and inspired the feature film The United States vs. Billie Holiday and the documentary series The Fix.One of Johann Hari's earliest memories is of trying to wake up one of his relatives and not being able to. As he grew older, he realized he had addiction in his family. Confused, not knowing what to do, he set out and traveled over 30,000 miles over three years to discover what really causes addiction--and what really solves it.He uncovered a range of remarkable human stories--of how the war on drugs began with Billie Holiday, the great jazz singer, being stalked and killed by a racist policeman; of the scientist who discovered the surprising key to addiction; and of the countries that ended their own war on drugs--with extraordinary results.Chasing the Scream is the story of a life-changing journey that transformed the addiction debate internationally--and showed the world that the opposite of addiction is connection.

The first in a series of three recovery guides, First-Year Sobriety uses personal stories to show that despite their differing experiences, all are united in the process of living without alcohol or drugs.First-Year Sobriety uses the voices of many women and men who are struggling in the often baffling territory of their first year of sobriety to show that despite their differing experiences, all are united in the process of giving life without alcohol or other drugs a chance. These are people who are alternately amazed, appalled, delighted, depressed, illuminated, disturbed, or simply thrown by their first days, weeks, and months of sobriety.Author Guy Kettelhack explores the challenges all seem to face: learning to break through loneliness, isolation, and fear; finding ways to deal with anger, depression, and resentment; and learning how to deal with a new and sometimes overwhelming happiness.Kettelhack has written seven books on recovery. He is completing a Master's degree in psychoanalysis, and is an analyst-in-training at the Boston and New York Centers for Modern Psychoanalytic Studies. A graduate of Middlebury College, Kettelhack has also done graduate work in English literature at Bread Loaf School of English at Oxford University. He lives in New York City.

Addiction is a preventable, treatable disease, not a moral failing. As with other illnesses, the approaches most likely to work are based on science — not on faith, tradition, contrition, or wishful thinking.These facts are the foundation of Clean, a myth-shattering look at drug abuse by the author of Beautiful Boy. Based on the latest research in psychology, neuroscience, and medicine, Clean is a leap beyond the traditional approaches to prevention and treatment of addiction and the mental illnesses that usually accompany it. The existing treatment system, including Twelve Step programs and rehabs, has helped some, but it has failed to help many more, and David Sheff explains why. He spent time with scores of scientists, doctors, counselors, and addicts and their families to learn how addiction works and what can effectively treat it. Clean offers clear, cogent counsel for parents and others who want to prevent drug problems and for addicts and their loved ones no matter what stage of the illness they’re in. But it is also a book for all of us — a powerful rethinking of the greatest public health challenge of our time.

“An intense, complex and disturbing story, bravely and beautifully told. I read Drunk Mom with my jaw on the floor, which doesn’t happen to me that often.” —Lena DunhamThree years after giving up drinking, Jowita Bydlowska found herself throwing back a glass of champagne like it was ginger ale. It was a special occasion: a party celebrating the birth of her first child. It also marked Bydlowska’s immediate, full-blown return to crippling alcoholism.In the gritty and sometimes grimly comic tradition of the bestselling memoirs Lit by Mary Karr and Smashed by Koren Zailckas, Drunk Mom is Bydlowska’s account of the ways substance abuse took control of her life—the binges and blackouts, the humiliations, the extraordinary risk-taking—as well as her fight toward recovery as a young mother. This courageous memoir brilliantly shines a light on the twisted logic of an addicted mind and the powerful, transformative love of one’s child. Ultimately it gives hope, especially to those struggling in the same way.

Designed to educate clients on effective lifestyle management, this program focuses on client education and teaching clients how to manage craving and reduce the risk of relapse. The client learns about the nature of their problem, underlying causes, and effective cognitive coping strategiesby which to take control of their lives and initiate positive change.This recovery workbook provides clients with practical information and skills to help them understand and change their problem with alcohol, tobacco, or other drugs, such as marijuana, cocaine, pills, or heroin. It is designed to be used in therapy or counseling and will help clients focus onspecific issues involved in stopping substance use and in changing behavior or aspects of their lifestyle that keep their substance abuse problem active. The information presented in this workbook is derived from research studies of substance abuse treatment and the authors' many years ofexperience working with clients who have alcohol, tobacco, and other drug problems. The book discusses the most effective and helpful recovery issues and change strategies form studies of cognitive-behavioral treatment, coping skills training, and relapse prevention. These studies focus on theimportance of changing beliefs, thinking, and behaviors.

The #1 New York Times best-selling story of addiction and a father's love: “A brilliant, harrowing, heartbreaking, fascinating story, full of beautiful moments and hard-won wisdom. This book will save a lot of lives and heal a lot of hearts.”—Anne LamottWhat had happened to my beautiful boy? To our family? What did I do wrong? Those are the wrenching questions that haunted David Sheff’s journey through his son Nic’s addiction to drugs and tentative steps toward recovery.Before Nic 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 warning signs: the denial, the three a.m. phone calls—is it Nic? the police? the hospital? His preoccupation with Nic became an addiction in itself. But as a journalist, he instinctively researched every treatment that might save his son. And he refused to give up on Nic.Now a Major Motion Picture Starring Steve Carell and Timothée Chalamet.With a new Afterword from the author.

From David Carr (1956–2015), the “undeniably brilliant and dogged journalist” (Entertainment Weekly) and author of the instant New York Times bestseller that the Chicago Sun-Times called “a compelling tale of drug abuse, despair, and, finally, hope.”Do we remember only the stories we can live with? The ones that make us look good in the rearview mirror? In The Night of the Gun, David Carr redefines memoir with the revelatory story of his years as an addict and chronicles his journey from crack-house regular to regular columnist for The New York Times. Built on sixty videotaped interviews, legal and medical records, and three years of reporting, The Night of the Gun is a ferocious tale that uses the tools of journalism to fact-check the past. Carr’s investigation of his own history reveals that his odyssey through addiction, recovery, cancer, and life as a single parent was far more harrowing—and, in the end, more miraculous—than he allowed himself to remember.Fierce, gritty, and remarkable, The Night of the Gun is “an odyssey you’ll find hard to forget” (People).

A Very Fine House is an intimate memoir of a mother’s Norman Rockwell family turned upside down by her daughter’s descent into meth addiction and crime. Bright and beautiful, Annie is an unlikely candidate for meth. Living fast and hard on the streets of Bend, Oregon, she commits crimes against herself, the community, and her own family.\nThe author chronicles her child’s addiction in a way that other writers have not written about addiction. What begins as an obsession to save her daughter, and a rage against God for allowing drugs to devour her college-age girl, transforms into release in a life changing letting-go-and-letting-God moment. \nThe reader is first introduced to the Stoefen family and Barbara’s dream for its idyllic future. Kinks in the perfect life appear. When Annie’s alcoholism, drug use, and criminality ensue, Barbara fights to save her. There is all-consuming grief and the devastating loss of not just her daughter, but her dream for her own life as well. Barbara eventually finds support and a new way of thinking. While she continues the battle to save her daughter, she ultimately finds the courage to save herself. The conclusion deals with Annie’s recovery—and Barbara’s. Both experience a spiritual awakening and are transformed. A new and better dream for Barbara’s life is born.

The breakthrough three-step program that heals the underlying causes of dependency and ends relapse for alcoholics, addicts, and those with addictive behaviors.The Alcoholism and Addiction Cure contains the three-step holistic program to total recovery that is the basis of the miraculous success of Passages Malibu Addiction Cure Center in California, one of the world’s most successful addiction treatment centers. In this revolutionary book, you will learn:* The three steps to permanent sobriety* The four causes of dependency* How to create a personalized, holistic treatment program to completely cure your dependency* How your thoughts, emotions, and beliefs are key factors in your recovery* How to stimulate your body’s self-healing potential to be forever free of dependency“Freedom from dependency starts with understanding that alcohol, drugs, and addictive behaviors are not the real problems,” say Chris and Pax Prentiss, cofounders of Passages Malibu. “Alcohol, street drugs, nicotine, prescription medications, food bingeing, gambling, and the like are merely the substances or behaviors you or your loved ones are using to cope with the real problems―anything from deep emotional pain, ill health, or depression to hypoglycemia, a sluggish thyroid, or brain-wave pattern imbalances. Once the underlying problems are discovered and cured, the need for drugs, alcohol, or addictive behavior will disappear―along with the craving.”Chris Prentiss should know. His son Pax was addicted to heroin, cocaine, and alcohol for ten years. They sought help everywhere, but Pax relapsed again and again. In desperation, they finally created their own holistic, hand-tailored program that was a complete break from all other programs and that combined several effective therapies. It saved Pax’s life. Together, father and son founded Passages Malibu to help others find their own freedom.For decades, we’ve been hearing that alcoholism and addiction are incurable diseases, but The Alcoholism and Addiction Cure proves that this is a dangerous myth and that the label of “alcoholic” or “addict” destroys the promise of full recovery. Today, thousands are being freed from the old, limiting paradigms by using the groundbreaking approach spelled out in this book. As visionaries and innovators, Pax and Chris Prentiss bring new hope to people everywhere who are dependent on drugs, alcohol, or addictive behaviors.

The Tenth Anniversary Edition of the New York Times bestselling book that has sold over half a million copies in paperback."I was addicted to "Bewitched" as a kid. I worshipped Darren Stevens the First. When he'd come home from work and Samantha would say, ‘Darren, would you like me to fix you a drink?' He'd always rest his briefcase on the table below the mirror in the foyer, wipe his forehead with a monogrammed handkerchief and say, ‘Better make it a double.'" (from Chapter Two)You may not know it, but you've met Augusten Burroughs. You've seen him on the street, in bars, on the subway, at restaurants: a twentysomething guy, nice suit, works in advertising. Regular. Ordinary. But when the ordinary person had two drinks, Augusten was circling the drain by having twelve; when the ordinary person went home at midnight, Augusten never went home at all. Loud, distracting ties, automated wake-up calls and cologne on the tongue could only hide so much for so long. At the request (well, it wasn't really a request) of his employers, Augusten lands in rehab, where his dreams of group therapy with Robert Downey Jr. are immediately dashed by grim reality of fluorescent lighting and paper hospital slippers. But when Augusten is forced to examine himself, something actually starts to click and that's when he finds himself in the worst trouble of all. Because when his thirty days are up, he has to return to his same drunken Manhattan life―and live it sober. What follows is a memoir that's as moving as it is funny, as heartbreaking as it is true. Dry is the story of love, loss, and Starbucks as a Higher Power.

#1 New York Times bestsellerNow a Major Motion PictureStarring Steve Carell * Timothée Chalamet * Maura Tierney * and Amy Ryan“A brilliant, harrowing, heartbreaking, fascinating story, full of beautiful moments and hard-won wisdom. This book will save a lot of lives and heal a lot of hearts.” — Anne Lamott“‘When one of us tells the truth, he makes it easier for all of us to open our hearts to our own pain and that of others.’ That’s ultimately what Beautiful Boy is about: truth and healing.” — Mary Pipher, author of Reviving OpheliaWhat had happened to my beautiful boy? To our family? What did I do wrong? Those are the wrenching questions that haunted David Sheff’s journey through his son Nic’s addiction to drugs and tentative steps toward recovery. Before Nic 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 warning signs: the denial, the three a.m. phone calls—is it Nic? the police? the hospital? His preoccupation with Nic became an addiction in itself. But as a journalist, he instinctively researched every treatment that might save his son. And he refused to give up on Nic.“Filled with compelling anecdotes and important insights . . . An eye-opening memoir.” — Washington Post

A substance use problem exists when one experiences any type of difficulty related to using alcohol, tobacco, or other drugs including illicit street drugs or prescribed drugs such as painkillers or tranquilizers. The difficulty can be in any area of life; medical or physical, psychological, family, interpersonal, social, academic, occupational, legal, financial, or spiritual. This expanded new edition of the successful Graywind Publications title provides the reader with practical information and skills to help them understand and change a drug or alcohol problem. Designed to be used in conjunction with therapy or counseling, it focuses on special issues involved in stopping substance use and in changing behaviors or aspects of one's lifestyle that keep the substance use problem active. The information presented is derived from a wealth of research studies, and discusses the most effective recovery strategies from the examination of cognitive-behavoral treatment. Treatments That Work T.M. represents the gold standard of behavioral healthcare interventions!· All programs have been rigorously tested in clinical trials and are backed by years of research· A prestigious scientific advisory board, led by series Editor-In-Chief David H. Barlow, reviews and evaluates each intervention to ensure that it meets the highest standard of evidence so you can be confident that you are using the most effective treatment available to date· Our books are reliable and effective and make it easy for you to provide your clients with the best care available· Our corresponding workbooks contain psycho-educational information, forms and worksheets, and homework assignments to keep clients engaged and motivated· A companion website (www.oup.com/us/ttw) offers downloadable clinical tools and helpful resources· Continuing Education (C.E.) Credits are now available on select titles in collaboration with Psycho-Educational Resources, Inc. (P.E.

Discover how facing your underlying pain will allow you to overcome it and move forward. With practical insights and biblical teaching about what it takes to break the cycle of addiction and shame, Reframe Your Shame will set you on the path to freedom.Irene Rollins knows what it means to walk through shame, especially as a leader. She enjoyed a seemingly perfect life as a wife, mom, and leader of a megachurch while she hid a secret addiction to alcohol that almost destroyed everything. With vulnerability and wisdom, Irene offers strategies and biblical teaching to break free of the suffocating cycle of sin and shame.Many people aren’t even aware that they live in an addiction cycle, unaware of how unmanageable their lives have become. Their relationships feel distant, difficult, or dysfunctional, but they often don’t know why. Reframe Your Shame provides awareness and resources to help readers recognize the warning signs of toxic shame and addiction; accept truth and take responsibility for their own journey of emotional healing and growth; find freedom from shame, self-defeating hurts, hang-ups, and habits; learn to communicate, connect with others, and resolve both internal and relational conflicts; and discover practical tools to live with purpose, free from the baggage of the past.Perfect for those fighting a personal battle, or for family members and counselors walking with them, Reframe Your Shame sets them on a path to freedom.

Denial of addiction is the most prominent symptom of individuals who have problems with alcohol and substance abuse. Whatever its psychodynamics, their denial is reinforced by (1) fear that acknowledgment and treatment might jeopardize their professional status, and (2) the misconception that intellectual superiority constitutes a safeguard against loss of control.High achievers–doctors, lawyers, business executives, clerics, nurses, professors–are particularly vulnerable to such denial. Moreover, their spouses may share the fear that exposure could jeopardize and even undermine the family's livelihood.Some people become high achievers or overachievers in order to compensate for feelings of inadequacy and unworthiness. These feelings almost invariably surface in the substance abuser, antedating the onset of abuse. A particular challenge in treating this population is to address the negative consequences of low self-esteem without crippling the impulse to excel.Dr. Twerski demonstrates that chemical dependency is indeed an equal opportunity destroyer and he illuminates the makeup of high-achieving substance abusers as their narratives unfold. Addicted individuals will recognize themselves in these pages while providers of human services will discover ways and means to diagnose and intervene.

A lighthearted, cheeky, and judgment-free handbook from sober sexpert Tawny Lara on how to have better sex, better dates, and better partnerships—without relying on alcohol!When you’re intimidated or overwhelmed, it’s easy to turn to “liquid courage” to feel more relaxed and outgoing. But what if you want to cut back or cut out alcohol from your life? What do you do on dates? How do you soothe worries and hang-ups? And how the heck do you get up the nerve to be naked with someone new?In Dry Humping, you will learn how to have better dates, sex, and partnerships with tools like:Booze-free date ideas Scripts for awkward conversations Interviews with experts Thought-provoking prompts Perspectives from a diverse range of regular people And more!You don’t need alcohol to have a fun, carefree, fulfilling dating life. Dry Humping offers you the tools to step away from alcohol, for however long you want to, while also having more fun in and out of the bedroom.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “An unflinching examination of how our drinking culture hurts women and a gorgeous memoir of how one woman healed herself.”—Glennon Doyle, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Untamed“You don’t know how much you need this book, or maybe you do. Either way, it will save your life.”—Melissa Hartwig Urban, Whole30 co-founder and CEOThe founder of the first female-focused recovery program offers a groundbreaking look at alcohol and a radical new path to sobriety.We live in a world obsessed with drinking. We drink at baby showers and work events, brunch and book club, graduations and funerals. Yet no one ever questions alcohol’s ubiquity—in fact, the only thing ever questioned is why someone doesn’t drink. It is a qualifier for belonging and if you don’t imbibe, you are considered an anomaly. As a society, we are obsessed with health and wellness, yet we uphold alcohol as some kind of magic elixir, though it is anything but.When Holly Whitaker decided to seek help after one too many benders, she embarked on a journey that led not only to her own sobriety, but revealed the insidious role alcohol plays in our society and in the lives of women in particular. What’s more, she could not ignore the ways that alcohol companies were targeting women, just as the tobacco industry had successfully done generations before. Fueled by her own emerging feminism, she also realized that the predominant systems of recovery are archaic, patriarchal, and ineffective for the unique needs of women and other historically oppressed people—who don’t need to lose their egos and surrender to a male concept of God, as the tenets of Alcoholics Anonymous state, but who need to cultivate a deeper understanding of their own identities and take control of their lives. When Holly found an alternate way out of her own addiction, she felt a calling to create a sober community with resources for anyone questioning their relationship with drinking, so that they might find their way as well. Her resultant feminine-centric recovery program focuses on getting at the root causes that lead people to overindulge and provides the tools necessary to break the cycle of addiction, showing us what is possible when we remove alcohol and destroy our belief system around it.Written in a relatable voice that is honest and witty, Quit Like a Woman is at once a groundbreaking look at drinking culture and a road map to cutting out alcohol in order to live our best lives without the crutch of intoxication. You will never look at drinking the same way again.