Pastor and director of re:generation--one of the largest and most effective Christ-centered, community-based recovery programs in the world--offers a 90-day addiction-breaking, spiritual-awakening process for readers to walk in daily freedom from sin struggles.

Every church is filled with people who are struggling--often secretly--with addictions of all kinds. Porn, pills, food, money, alcohol, social media, body image, status, sex, anxiety--the list goes on and on. John Elmore is no stranger to addiction. Fifteen years ago, he put a loaded shotgun to his head and later had three doctors tell him he was going to die of alcoholism. More than 15 sober years later, he leads the world's largest weekly recovery gathering, re:generation, where people journey toward healing in Christ.

In Freedom Starts Today, he makes a huge promise to the addicted: you can be free from your struggle, and much sooner than you may think. Through easily digestible readings grounded in Scripture and the practice of daily surrender, Elmore shows you how to break the cycle of addiction, make war against sin, and find your identity in who you are and not the shame of what you have done--one day at a time.

Leave behind struggles, addiction, and shame as you walk in the power of the Holy Spirit and in the love, mercy, and forgiveness of the God who is not only by your side but on your side.

A revelatory, moving narrative that offers a harrowing critique of the war on drugs from voices seldom heard in the conversation: drug users who are working on the front lines to reduce overdose deaths Media coverage has established a clear narrative of the overdose crisis: In the 1990s, pharmaceutical corporations flooded America with powerful narcotics while lying about their risk; many patients developed addictions to prescription opioids; then, as access was restricted, waves of people turned to the streets and began using heroin and, later, the dangerous synthetic opioid fentanyl. But that's not the whole story. It fails to acknowledge how the war on drugs has exacerbated the crisis and leaves out one crucial voice: that of drug users themselves. Across the country, people who use drugs are organizing in response to a record number of overdose deaths. They are banding together to save lives and demanding equal rights. Set against the backdrop of the overdose crisis, Light Up the Night provides an intimate look at how users navigate the policies that criminalize them. It chronicles a rising movement that's fighting to save lives, end stigma, and inspire commonsense policy reform. Told through embedded reporting focused on two activists, Jess Tilley in Massachusetts and Louise Vincent in North Carolina, this is the story of the courageous people stepping in where government has failed. They are standing on the front lines of an underground effort to help people with addictions use drugs safely, reduce harms, and live with dignity.

The instant New York Times bestseller | A Washington Post Notable Book | One of NPR's Best Books of the Year "Expert storytelling . . . [Pollan] masterfully elevates a series of big questions about drugs, plants and humans that are likely to leave readers thinking in new ways." -New York Times Book Review From #1 New York Times bestselling author Michael Pollan, a radical challenge to how we think about drugs, and an exploration into the powerful human attraction to psychoactive plants-and the equally powerful taboos. Of all the things humans rely on plants for-sustenance, beauty, medicine, fragrance, flavor, fiber-surely the most curious is our use of them to change consciousness: to stimulate or calm, fiddle with or completely alter, the qualities of our mental experience. Take coffee and tea: People around the world rely on caffeine to sharpen their minds. But we do not usually think of caffeine as a drug, or our daily use as an addiction, because it is legal and socially acceptable. So, then, what is a "drug"? And why, for example, is making tea from the leaves of a tea plant acceptable, but making tea from a seed head of an opium poppy a federal crime? In This Is Your Mind on Plants, Michael Pollan dives deep into three plant drugs-opium, caffeine, and mescaline-and throws the fundamental strangeness, and arbitrariness, of our thinking about them into sharp relief. Exploring and participating in the cultures that have grown up around these drugs while consuming (or, in the case of caffeine, trying not to consume) them, Pollan reckons with the powerful human attraction to psychoactive plants. Why do we go to such great lengths to seek these shifts in consciousness, and then why do we fence that universal desire with laws and customs and fraught feelings? In this unique blend of history, science, and memoir, as well as participatory journalism, Pollan examines and experiences these plants from several very different angles and contexts, and shines a fresh light on a subject that is all too often treated reductively-as a drug, whether licit or illicit. But that is one of the least interesting things you can say about these plants, Pollan shows, for when we take them into our bodies and let them change our minds, we are engaging with nature in one of the most profound ways we can. Based in part on an essay published almost twenty-five years ago, this groundbreaking and singular consideration of psychoactive plants, and our attraction to them through time, holds up a mirror to our fundamental human needs and aspirations, the operations of our minds, and our entanglement with the natural world.

***As seen on NBC's TODAY Show*** When Loose Girl author Kerry Cohen reached her early 40s, she realized she was drinking too much. Her alcohol dependence was not obvious - she was still getting her kids to school in the morning and working a full day as a clinical psychologist. But when five o'clock rolled around, she was more than ready for a glass of wine. Or maybe two. Or maybe the whole bottle. And while she may have been drinking alone, Cohen realized she was not alone in her struggle. Lush is a fiercely honest exploration of the nature of alcoholism and alcohol recovery among middle-aged women, and Cohen's decision to use the controversial moderation management program to curb her nightly binges. For any woman who has wondered how much wine is too much wine, Cohen provides a provocative and eye-opening look at the culture of drinking through the lens of her own experience.

Get the latest information on new and emerging modalities for treating drug-involved offenders! Treating Substance Abusers in Correctional Contexts: New Understandings, New Modalities analyzes the shift in policy and attitude away from two decades of the harsh punishment that characterized the war on drugs toward a more treatment-oriented medicalization of the problem. Edited by Dr. Nathaniel J. Pallone, editor of the Journal of Offender Rehabilitation (Haworth), the book presents an overview of new and emerging models for treatment of drug-involved offenders in a variety of settings. An international panel of authors examines the rather treat than fight approach to the war on drugs proposed by the voters of California, the Governor and criminal court judges of New York, and Gen. Barry McCaffrey, former Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. Treating Substance Abusers in Correctional Contexts looks at treatment modalities available to offenders inside and outside correctional institutions, with community organizations and mental health and social service agencies enlisted in a continuum of care as the courts and criminal justice system provide oversightand often, funding. The book explores types of treatment that operate under the surveillance of courts and the criminal justice system, ranging from in-house programs for offenders under confinement in prisons and jails to residential substance abuse treatment (RSAT) and substance abuse treatment (SAT) programs in the community. Through qualitative, exploratory, and descriptive studies, outcome assessments, event-history analysis, and intensive interviews, the book examines recovery relapse prevention, rehabilitation, diversion, therapeutic justice, and the impact of prison-based substance abuse treatment programs. Treating Substance Abusers in Correctional Contexts also examines: the impact of deterrence versus rehabilitation on recidivism in the Drug Treatment Alternative-to-Incarceration Program (DTAP) in a major metropolitan area criminal violence and drug use in residential treatment facilities Residential Substance Abuse Treatment (RSAT) programs for young offenders the long-term effectiveness of an adult drug court program illicit drug and injecting equipment markets inside English prisons and a clinical case report on children exposed in utero to crack cocaine Treating Substance Abusers in Correctional Contexts: New Understandings, New Modalities is must reading for graduate and undergraduate courses in criminal justice, corrections, offender rehabilitation, and substance abuse. The book is equally valuable as a primary textbook for continuing education coursework for counselors, psychologists, social workers, corrections officers, correctional administrators, and policymakers.

Most drinkers are convinced that it's almost impossible to stop drinking and to free themselves from addiction; they also feel unable to solve any of the widespread problems drinking causes. The wonderful news is that this book shows them how to stop immediately, painless and permanently.

Addiction Intervention: Strategies to Motivate Treatment-Seeking Behavior shows you how to use the tools of intervention--the words, the steps, and the strategies--to be a change agent in the lives of individuals with alcohol and drug addictions. It is full of effective strategies and case studies coming from widely respected specialists across several disciplines. You'll learn how you can get people to seek help for their chemical dependence, resolving the cause of their problems rather than temporarily fixing the symptoms or side effects of their addictions.Whether you're an alcohol and drug educator, intervention trainer, physician, nurse, social worker, employer, lawyer, judge, or counselor, Addiction Intervention will help you find ways to confront chemically dependent people and motivate them to change their lives. You will find the tools of intervention easier to wield than you might otherwise think as you read about: how physicians can assess symptoms using various diagnostic tools, initiate conversation with a patient, and overcome resistance to referral how clinical therapists can develop response-specific intervention strategies that are appropriate to clients'behavior pathology conducting effective performance-related workplace interventions the development and design of impaired professional committees alternative models for peer and administrative interventions the methodologies of student assistance programs and teams brief, structured therapy for the family of an addicted person recent changes in the criminal justice system that have encouraged judges to refer individuals to treatment the One-Stop Re-Employment Social Services Center Addiction Intervention brings within your reach results-oriented intervention. Don't continue to offer band-aid solutions or skirt around the real problem of addiction. This book will help you help people get their lives back on track permanently.

#1 New York Times bestseller Now a Major Motion Picture Starring Steve Carell * Timothee 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 Ophelia What 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

Dr. Drew Pinsky is best known as the cohost of the long-running radio advice program Loveline. But his workday is spent at a major Southern California clinic, treating the severest cases of drug dependency and psychiatric breakdown. In this riveting book, Pinsky reveals the intimate and often shocking stories of his patients as they struggle with emotional trauma, sexual abuse, and a host of chemical nemeses: alcohol, marijuana, Ecstasy, heroin, speed, cocaine, and prescription drugs. At the center of these stories is Pinsky himself, who immerses himself passionately, almost obsessively, in his work. From the sexually compulsive model to the BMW-driving soccer mom, Cracked exposes, in fast-moving, powerful vignettes, the true scope and severity of addiction, a nationwide epidemic.

The ability to self-nurture and set effective limits is the root of human maturity, and the foundation for emotional, behavioural, and spiritual balance. Fortunately, the skills to self-nurture and set effective limits can be fine-tuned and readers will learn them via a wealth of practical examples, colourful case histories, and scientific findings that are both fascinating and easy to understand. These skills are effective for a wide range of psychological and addictive problems--from alcoholism and other addictions to overeating, overworking, overspending, and perfectionism.

The book includes research on multi-dimensional aspects of problems related to alcohol. The chapters cover a wide range of topics on the theme of Alcoholism, ranging from reasons and factors that induce alcoholism, to health risks and finally possible medical, psychological and alternative remedial measures. Various factors such as genetics, childhood influences, antisocial behaviour, and personality traits contribute to this menace of alcoholism. Cultural values, beliefs, and childhood experiences to govern thought process are indirectly related to earlier stages of alcohol addiction. Family history and life stress have implications on an individual's susceptibility to alcohol addiction. Personality traits influence the addiction in individuals. The treatment of alcoholism involves different therapies besides medicines for comprehensive and smooth recovery of the person. The important inducing factors, impact on society, individual, brain, family, nutritional deficiency and possible therapies such as body psychotherapies, herbal and natural therapy have been covered in the book in hope of a comprehensive solution. Note: T& F does not sell or distribute the Hardback in India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

As a child, Alison Weaver's life shone with surface-level perfection-full of nannies, private schools, and ballet lessons. She had all the luxuries of a wealthy Manhattan upbringing. But her childhood memories were laced with darker undertones: Her father was emotionally absent and her mother was a beautiful, aloof alcoholic. Neither parent approved of their daughter's outbursts and emotions - and in the midst of her parents' own flaws, Weaver was constantly reminded that she was a mess that needed fixing. By the time she was a teenager, Weaver had found escape in alcohol, marijuana, and late night abandon. But when her exasperated parents had her shipped away - in handcuffs - to the cultish Cascade School, everything changed. Within the surreal isolation of the school's mountain campus, she left her old self behind, warping into a brainwashed model of Cascade's mottos and ideals. Graduation two years later left her unprepared for the harshness of the real world - and she soon fell back into a mind-numbing wash of drugs. Stumbling into freefall in New York's East Village in the 1990s, Weaver's life began a downward spiral marked by needles and late-night parties, mingled with fears of HIV and death. Ultimately, faced with the reality of her rapidly escalating self-destruction, Weaver was forced to face her inner darkness head on.

Discussion questions and activities to help the reader work through the material in Breathing Under Water

This pamphlet covers AA's Step Three: ""Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him."" It goes into the obstacles that many find to making that decision, as well as how to overcome them. Step Three is one of the most important of the Twelve Steps. For some, it can also be one of the most challenging, since it has the ""God"" word in it and it refers to God as male. To decide if you're ready to take the Third Step, think back on the work you've done on Steps One and Two. You don't have to have completed these Steps perfectly before moving on to Step Three, but the Third Step will not be of much help to you unless you've already done some serious work on the first two Steps. Steps One and Two prepare you to make this decision about Step Three. All you need to begin is to be willing. Your aim is ""progress, not perfection.

This book is about gym culture, the pursuit of fit, muscular bodies and the use of drugs as a means to get there. Building on the international research literature and in-depth interviews with men who have experience of image and performance enhancing drugs (IPEDs), the book explores the fascination with muscles, motivations for using drugs to enhance them, assessments of risks, and experience of side effects. The book examines what the altered body does to the men's identity, self-image and relationships with peers and partners. Taking an evolutionary psychological approach, it also investigates the biological and psychological foundations of the fascination with the muscular body and discusses the notion of precarious manhood. Building on these analyses the book considers the political and regulatory initiatives in place to prevent the use of IPEDs and assesses those strategies' potential to reach their aims. This is essential reading for anybody with an interest in the issue of drugs in sport, the ethics of sport, sociology of sport, sociology of the body, masculinity or public health.