Benelong's Haven was the first residential alcohol and drug treatment program controlled and operated by an Aboriginal Australian. It was established by Val Bryant in 1974 in the Sydney suburb of Marrickville, before moving to the small township of Kinchela Creek on the mid-north coast of New South Wales three years later. The centre is one example of the different approaches Aboriginal people have developed to deal with the problem of drug and alcohol abuse in their communities, where people who have experienced problems with alcohol and drug use can leave their existing environment and come to a different place. Anthropologist Richard Chenhall first visited Benelong's Haven for two weeks in late 1997. At the invitation of Val Bryant, he returned later for an extended period of fieldwork, observing and participating in the centre's activities and getting to know staff and residents. There have been few studies that reflect Aboriginal social life in larger cities or in institutional settings. ""Benelong's Haven"" represents an attempt to examine, at the ethnographic level, the different ways in which individuals are shaped by, and interact within, the larger structures and social institutions that surround them. More specifically it documents an instance of Australian Aboriginal people trying to achieve change in their lives.

This practical, comprehensive, and easy to use book helps alcohol abusers understand their behavior, but provides practical steps that anyone can use to solve an alcohol problem. Written by a cognitive-behavioral psychologist, this book includes chapters on overcoming low self-esteem, depression, stress, attending self-help groups, and living a better life after quitting. Each chapter contains specific self-help techniques. Recommended by SMART Recovery.

Someone once asked me how I'd want to be remembered. I said, 'As the boy who grew.'

Love is a gift, isn't it? From our early childhood years to growing up and pairing off, it's a feeling we chase knowing we're better off with it. But what if love is claustrophobic and conflicting? And what if at the same time we're chasing addictions to drugs, drink, sex and chaos?

Diagnosed twice with ADHD, Jordan Stephens found his teens and twenties a whirl of career success and nurturing friendships but also a brutal pattern of self-harm, hedonism, destructive coping mechanisms and heartbreak. When he tried to live up to his own damaged expectations and his world exploded, he stepped away from his previous existence completely and allowed himself to explore the pain he'd repressed his entire life.

Unsparingly digging into the fear, tenderness and trauma he carried in his body and mind, and the confusing assumptions of what a young man should be, Jordan Stephens discovers what it means to be a modern man, why we should all open ourselves up to life, and how the price we pay for love in all its forms is worth it.

Deep down inside, each of us knows what our truths are.
It is forgivable to lose them...
it is unforgivable not to reclaim them...
"Mountain Air: Relapsing And Finding The Way Back One Breath At A Time" is a brutally honest personal narrative detailing a painful decent into relapse and a powerful journey back to recovering.
Without condemnation but with passion and purpose, Mountain Air ...
Embraces individuals who have abandoned their authentic ways of being for a life of personal neglect, indulgence, or self-destruction. Speaks to individuals who have betrayed their healing tenets - the addict who has lost his sobriety, the abused who has returned to her abuser, or the codependent who continues to rescue the uncontrollable. Reaches out to individuals who have maintained a life of stability and wellness, but who are eroding over time - and losing their sense of self and of spirit.
Mountain Air is for any individual who has experienced relapse and who is fighting to find his way back... By inviting readers to take a journey with the author as she shares time-tested lessons in the recovering process. By providing thoughtful and accountable exercises with each chapter that guide the reader in the reclaiming and sustaining of their truths.
Praise for Kenley's "Mountain Air"
..".a personal memoir out of which she extracts principles that can be generalized to all who are in recovery, inspiring them to take courage. This poetic and nature-infused account should become a standard for all therapists and all in the process of recovery."
--David Van Nuys, Ph.D., Emeritus Professor of Psychology, Host of Shrink Rap Radio
"With Holli's inspiring personal journey from relapse to recovery and her challenging questions in each chapter, the reader can examine self-defeating behaviors and beliefs that block the natural ability to walk through change, pain, and difficult times."
--Melissa Yarbray, M.A., Marriage and Family Therapist, Licensed Advanced Alcohol & Drug Counselor
Learn more at www.HolliKenley.com
From Loving Healing Press www.LHPress.com