Books About Recovery
Reviewed by
Jan Fable, MS, LADC
Fairfield Connecticut
203.255.5055
Short-term Counseling for Individuals and Couples;
12 Step Recovery Support and Intervention Services;
and Career Coaching
And a Sword Shall Pierce Your Heart: Moving from Despair to Meaning after the Death of a Child. Charlotte Mathes.
Published by Chiron Publications 2007. Mathes, a Jungian psychoanalyst, suffered a parent's worst nightmare--the
death of her child. This book describes her struggle to find meaning and wholeness and the journey which led her
to Jungian archetypal psychology and to a desire to help others come to terms with the profound grief and loss
inherent in such an event. She guides the reader through steps and archetypes that mark the process of mourning
and offers practical resources that help parents regain perspective and learn how and where to reach out for help.
Caught in the Net: How to Recognize the Signs of Internet Addiction - and a Winning Strategy for Recovery.
Kimberly S. Young. Published by Wiley, John & Sons, Inc., 1998. You may have thought Internet addiction
was only a joke, but it is real. Net addiction can destroy lives in the same way that compulsive gambling or alcoholism
can. Kimberly Young is a psychologist at the University of Pittsburgh. In this book she shares the results of her
three-year study. She supplies the reader with a questionnaire to help determine if you have a problem. She also
points out the ways that internet friendships are superficial while seeming to be the opposite, and lists a number
of recovery strategies.
Cool Water: Alcoholism, Mindfulness, and Ordinary Recovery. William Alexander. Published in paperback by Shambhala Publications, Inc., 1997. Publisher's Weekly called this book a "graceful, invitingly personal memoir and guide." The
author expands on AA's dictum to turn one's will and life over to "God as we understood him." as he describes
how insights from Zen Buddhism illuminated his recovery from alcoholism. Alexander leads workshops in "Ordinary
Recovery." He suggests that people can find a higher power in the magic and immediacy of the present moment.
He borrows the great Zen teacher Shunryu Suzuki's claim that the mindfulness and even the enlightenment that comes
with Buddhist practice is "nothing special." He tells his readers, "Recovery is ordinary. What is
recovered is the ordinary world we left behind. What we realize, drug free, is the transcendent wonder of the very
ordinary." Alexander cautions alcoholics to avoid the isolating effects of self-blame and the trap of "thinking
of yourself as 'always recovering, never recovered.'" He calls alcoholism his dark twin which is "close
dwelling, co-arising at every moment, conceived with me, born with me, and with me still." This is the story
of how his alcoholism and recovery led him to mindfulness practice and the discovery of his true humanity. the
book is unpretentious and profound. Alexander shows how simple awareness itself has the magical power to heal.
Daughters of Madness: Growing Up and Older with a Mentally Ill Mother. Susan Nathiel. Published by Praeger Publishers. 2007.
The Daily Six: Six Simple Steps to Find the Perfect Balance of Prosperity and Purpose. John Chappelear. Published by G. P. Putman's Sons, 2005. The author outlines six time-tested strategies: Willingness, Daily Quiet Time, Love and Forgiveness, Service to Others, Gratitude and Action. His premise is that this is how one can enjoy professional and financial success without becoming spiritually bankrupt.
Don't Call It Love: Recovery from Sexual Addiction. Patrick Carnes. Published in paperback by
Bantam, Doubleday, Dell Publishing Group, 1992. By Carnes's diagnosis, sexual addiction is marked by compulsive,
self-destructive behavior and takes many forms, such as child abuse, sadomasochism, reliance on erotic fantasy
as a coping mechanism, obsession with one individual, anonymous sexual encounters or cycles of disastrous affairs
alternating with sexual binging. Behavior therapist Carnes ( Out of the Shadows ) and fellow researchers targeted
some 1000 sexual addicts and their "co-dependent" partners through surveys and interviews. If you suspect
you may be sexually addicted, or know someone who is, read this clear, helpful, well-organized guide. The book
includes not only Dr. Carne's research with recovering addicts and his revealing findings, but also advice from
the addicts and co-addicts themselves. This is a positive, hopeful, and practical guide to recovery.
Embracing Uncertainty. Susan Jeffers. Published by St. Martin's Press, 2003. Written for the most part, before the attack on the World Trade Center, Jeffers' book offers breakthrough methods, in the form of exercises, for dealing with life's ambiguity and achieving peace of mind when facing the unknown. This is the perfect book for this time in the history of world events.
Getting Through the Day: Strategies for Adults Hurt as Children. Nancy Napier. Published by W. W. Norton, 1993. I took a wonderful day-long workshop with Nancy Napier in 1997 and found her to be a delightful person and a wonderful teacher. I have all ten of her early visualization tapes and regularly share them with my clients. In this book, Nancy teaches adults who were hurt as children new strategies for meeting the demands of adult living. These strategies can make this moment, right now, more manageable. Her focus is on the effects of the kind of dissociation that is the result of trauma, but these strategies will be helpful to anyone who finds that unresolved childhood feelings block living.
Holy Hunger. Margaret Bullitt-Jonas. Vintage Books, 1998. This is fearlessly honest memoir of a young
woman who seemed, from the outside looking in, to have had it all -- good family and superior academic achievement
-- but who was, in fact, eating herself to death. The riveting and eloquently written story tells of one woman's
journey from food addiction to recovery and spiritual fulfillment in its moving account of compulsion and the healing
process.
Imperfect Control. Judith Viorst. Simon & Schuster, 1998. The author looks with compassion, insight and
humor at our life-long struggles with power and surrender. The book examines the conflicts we all have over wanting
and taking, and loving and fearing control and our attempts to figure out when it's time to surrender. Viorst's
writing is very down-to-earth and readable.
The Mandala of Being: Discovering the Power of Awareness. Richard Moss MD. Published by New World Library,
2007. This is an important and powerful book. Dr. Moss offers the reader a practice of conscious awareness that
is very effective and can easily be incorporated into daily life. He skillfully describes how most of us humans
have come to be guarded, fearful and critical beings who are trying to live an idealized version of ourselves.
I personally had a number of "ah-hah!" moments during the reading of the book. If you wish to better
understand awareness as the path toward becoming an authentic self, and are struggling with living in the now,
this book will be an excellent aid.
My Mamma's Waltz. Agnew, Eleanor and Sharon Robideaux. Pocket
Books, 1998. The authors write about the specific issues and concerns of daughters of alcoholic mothers. They share
their own personal accounts along with the memories and experiences of hundreds of other women. This is a courageous,
powerful and unforgettable book. Although it is often wrenching and painful to read, it is filled with inspiration
and hope.
Never Good Enough. Monica Ramirez Basco PhD. Published by Free Press, 1998. Do you set impossibly high
goals and create expectations for yourself which you often cannot accomplish? The author believes that perfectionism,
which is easy to see in others but difficult to define in oneself, can serve a positive purpose in life, but can
also leave the perfectionist continually unhappy. One can be plagued by perfectionism in oneself or can be affected
by a perfection-driven spouse, co-worker, employer, or parent. The book offers a 30 question self-test to help
you determine the degree to which perfectionism affects your life and a helpful program based in Cognitive Behavioral
Therapy to help overcome perfectionistic tendencies.
Playing the Quantum Field: How Changing Your Choices Can Change Your Life. Brenda Anderson. Published by New
World Library, 2006. The author looks at life choices through the eyes of a business person, replacing the
concept of ROI, Return On Investment, with ROE, Return On Energy. She offers a differend prism through with to
view life issues and choices. The book is filled with examples taken from everyday work life.
Stop Obsessing! How to Overcome Your Obsessions and Compulsions. Edna B. Foa and Reid Wilson. Published by
Bantam Books, 1991. In this book you'll find questionnaires to help you analyze the severity of your obsessions
and compulsions, a self-help program to help overcome milder symptoms and reduce more severe cases, and an intensive
three-week program for anyone who spends more than two hours a day on obsessions or rituals, in addition to guidance
in determining if you need additional professional help.
Trauma and Recovery: The Aftermath of Violence - from Domestic Abuse to Political Terror. Judith Hermann. Published in paperback by Basic Books, 1997. Herman is a psychiatrist, author (Father-Daughter Incest 1981, 1982), and, at the time she wrote this book, Director of Training in the Victims of Violence program at Cambridge Hospital. She skillfully blends empirical research and clinical insights including sensitive and often powerful case material using the victims' own words. Herman's thesis is that basic psychological reactions to trauma remain the same, whether in domestic violence, stranger crime, combat, captivity at the hands of pornography producers, or government-inflicted torture and violence. This book should be read by everyone because it may be that one day we may need to understand our own friends or relatives who have been traumatized - or perhaps ourselves.
Traveling Hopefully: How to Lose Your Family Baggage and Jumpstart Your Life. Libby Gill. The author
shares her personal journey working through many of the important life questions we all need to address in language
that is thoughtful and inspiring. She provides information within a framework of realistic expectations.
The Zen of Recovery. Mel Ash. Published by G. P. Putnam's
Sons, 1993. This book is a wonderful blend of East and West. Ash draws from his experience as an abused child,
alcoholic, Zen student and dharma teacher. He gives us a practical synthesis of AA's twelve steps and Zen's eightfold
path. You don't have to be Buddhist to appreciate the healing power of the work. Ash speaks to the problems of
life in and engaging and practical approach. This is a must read for people in twelve-step recovery who are working
on the eleventh step and searching for spiritual growth.
Jan's training and experience expanded.
Jan Fable
203.255-5055
Fairfield, Connecticut
If you want to contact me, you can email me at JFable at forhealing.org
(There's no link to avoid spam)
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