The Heart of Addiction: A New Approach to Understanding and Managing Alcoholism and Other Addictive Behaviors
Friday, July 9th, 2010 at
11:22 am
- ISBN13: 9780060958039
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
Product Description
Nobody has had an answer for why people with addictions continue to repeat them — until now. For 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: Why we feel the impulse Why we feel … More >>
Tagged with: Addiction • addictive. • Alcoholism • Approach • Behaviors • Heart • Managing • Understanding
Filed under: Detox from Alcohol
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As a licensed social worker and certified substance abuse counselor, I found the author’s presentation intriguing–for both professional mental health providers and for those struggling with issues of addiction. He makes the case for more individualized treatment, especially the integration of past history with present issues. (In other words, WHY does the addict want to use WHEN he/she does?) According to the author, addiction is a personal and unique response to learned helplessness.) His conceptualization of addiction is one I’d like to see offered as an option to consider for all people seeking treatment for addiction, especially those who struggle with maintaining sobriety and feel stuck in the revolving door.
That said, his limitation is derived from his strength; he focuses solely on the individual. Unfortunately, he does not address what I see as an equally important consideration, the individual in the environment. Addiction will remain such an attractive alternative, especially to our youth, as long as we focus only on negative behaviors such as addctions, and neglect to provide ready access to programs that develop competencies in a wide range, good community recreational programs, and options for training and jobs.
The case history presentation makes for easy reading. The author’s credentials and experience merit consideration from a wide range of readers.
Rating: 4 / 5
You do not have to see a therapist to benefit from this book! This is the best book I have ever read about addiction. I found it to be different from every other book I’ve ever seen about this topic, and it has been enormously helpful to me, which I have to say was a big surprise given my experience with other books. The author is thoughtful, fair-minded, and compassionate, and the case histories are wonderful. This book really is in a class by itself, because it talks about the emotional basis of addictions in a way that I haven’t seen anywhere else. If you are involved with 12-step programs, I personally think this book is perfectly compatible with them. But whether you have been in 12-step programs or not, this is a must-read book. I highly recommend it to anyone with addictive or compulsive behavior.
Rating: 5 / 5
What a brilliant book! Dr. Dodes crafts an incisive, kind and compelling thesis about what drives addictions. The book is filled to bursting with illuminating case studies, many of which will apply to yourself or loved ones. Whatever the problem, he’s got you covered. The writing is pitch perfect and the thinking is lucid. Dodes is the first author I’ve read who is really on to something. This book should be required reading for anyone touched by addiction.
Rating: 5 / 5
A must read for clinicians and those who imagine themselves to be “addicted” and therefore helpless. Dr. Dodes work is a major contribution to our developing understanding that “addiction” does not have to mean helplessness.
Rating: 5 / 5
The first 25 pages of this book describe and summarize the nature of addiction so well it struck me like a ton of bricks. Although I do believe that 12 steps and meetings can be helpful, there is never just one way to solve a problem. With addiction, it is certainly a difficult problem with a deep seated emotional root. I could relate to his descriptions, as well as his main theme, the “rage at helplessness” that triggers addictive behaviors. Whether or not you are in a 12-step program, or even if you are simply interested in addiction as an academic, this is the book to get.
Rating: 4 / 5