A revised and expanded edition of the recovery classic by Patrick Carnes, Ph.D., a leading expert on addictive behaviours. "The Twelve Steps tap into the essential human process of change and will be regarded as one of the intellectual and spiritual landmarks in human history. "--Patrick Carnes It was out of his reverence and respect for the wisdom and therapeutic value of the Twelve Steps that Carnes wrote A Gentle Path through the 12 Steps , now a recovery classic and self-help staple for anyone looking for guidance for life's hardest challenges. Hundreds of thousands of people have found in this book a personal portal to the wisdom of the Twelve Steps. With updated and expanded concepts and a focus on the spiritual principles that lead to lifelong growth and fulfilment, Carnes' new edition invites a fresh generation of readers to the healing and rewarding experience of Twelve Step recovery.

"The sky was painfully big, but our worlds were small, our lives little. So when we found each other in the muddle of it all, that feeling of belonging was addictive." Mal, Ama, Lewis and Oskar have grown up together; hedonistically charging through life - and any house party going - in rural Devon. They're railing against the stories that have been written for them as they stand at the precipice of adulthood. But all the space can be suffocating, and it's tough sometimes - feeling so low in a place so beautiful. The powerful poetics of Malaika Kegode and soaring music of Bristol band Jakabol combine in this autobiographical gig-theatre show directed by Jenny Davies. Genre-defying and emotional, Outlier explores the impact of isolation, addiction and friendship on young people in the often-forgotten places.

Don't Forget Me is a survival manual and a lifeline for those whose lives have been touched by substance use and addiction. With the pervasiveness of drugs today and death by overdose as the leading cause of death for people under 50 in the US, almost everyone has been directly or indirectly affected by this drug epidemic. Loving someone with substance abuse can be terrifying. Steve Grant shares what he learned during his own difficult journey to encourage and guide other parents who are living with children who are struggling with substance abuse. Don't Forget Me tells the story of Steve's two sons, Chris and Kelly, who took distinctly different paths to the same outcome: death by overdose. Steve reveals not only a highlight reel of the things he got right but takes an honest look at the mistakes he made along the way to help other parents avoid those same mistakes. Don't Forget Me offers time-tested, practical suggestions to assure family members of those struggling with substance abuse they have not lost their mind and encourages them to find hope-even on the darkest days.

The Message in the Bottle helps those who feel alone in their struggle with the drinker in their life find peace and hope. Is the drinker in your life making you crazy? Do you find that your thoughts and free time are consumed by ideas and plans to fix things so they won't want to drink? Do you feel like you can't talk with anyone about what's really going on, because they won't get it or because you can't believe the situation you're in? Stephanie McAuliffe shares her journey of growing up in a family where cocktails started by 5:00 p.m. She reveals her marriages to two alcoholics, and shows how she navigated life being surrounded by alcohol and alcoholics-and broke an unhealthy family cycle that went back at least four generations. Full of stories of survival, The Message in the Bottle is packed with support to help children and spouses of alcoholics find peace amidst the chaos.

"Abstinence from alcohol and other drugs is only the beginning of sobriety. It's the ticket to get into the theater, not the movie we are going to see." -- Passages Through Recovery

One of the most important things we learn in recovery is that there really is a way out of all the misery--if we know which way to go. But abstinence from alcohol and other drugs is just the beginning of our journey, not our destination. And, that journey can be a rough one if we don't know what lies ahead.

Based on the experiences of thousands of recovering men and women, "Passages Through Recovery" presents an action plan for preventing relapse, on that can help us understand how recovery works and what is needed to move from active addiction to sobriety.
Gorski's pioneering work describes six stages of recovery from chemical dependency and offers sound advice for working through the challenges of each stage--challenges that can create frustration and lead to relapse.

"Passages through Recovery" clearly demonstrates that sobriety is more than just healing the damage. "It's a way of thinking, acting, and relating to others,"Gorski writes, "that promotes continued physical, psychological, social, and spiritual health. The skills necessary for long-term sobriety are all directed at finding meaning and purpose in life."

Use this book as a compass in your recovery to help you stay on course.

About the Author:
Terence T. Gorky, M.A., C.A.C., is a nationally recognized lecturer, an acknowledged leader in the chemical dependency and codependency fields, and a workshop facilitator specializing in relapse prevention, intimacy in recovery, and treating chemically dependent adultchildren of alcoholics. From his more than 25 years of clinical experience and research, Gorski has developed a comprehensive approach to recovery that is revolutionizing the field of relapse prevention.

The Weight of a Feather chronicles the relationship between a mother and her son on his journey into the dark world of addiction to his final recovery years later. Lynda Araoz is ruthlessly candid about the deception, betrayal, and violence inherent in the world of addiction, as well as the pitfalls and potholes on the pathway to recovery. However, she balances out the weight of her family's struggles with lighter moments of connection to the son she once knew and the absurdities they encounter along the path to recovery. Above all, The Weight of a Feather is a testimony to the enduring strength of relationship. It brings comfort and hope to others who are going through a similar ordeal and provides insight for those who wonder why recovery seems to be so elusive. Lynda urges a fresh look at the world of addiction and a new model for its treatment in light of its impact on families across the country.

When Amy Liptrot returns to Orkney after more than a decade away, she is drawn back to the Outrun on the sheep farm where she grew up. Approaching the land that was once home, memories of her childhood merge with the recent events that have set her on this journey. Amy was shaped by the cycle of the seasons, birth and death on the farm, and her father's mental illness, which were as much a part of her childhood as the wild, carefree existence on Orkney. But as she grew up, she longed to leave this remote life. She moved to London and found herself in a hedonistic cycle. Unable to control her drinking, alcohol gradually took over. Now thirty, she finds herself washed up back home on Orkney, standing unstable at the cliff edge, trying to come to terms with what happened to her in London. Spending early mornings swimming in the bracingly cold sea, the days tracking Orkney's wildlife-puffins nesting on sea stacks, arctic terns swooping close enough to feel their wings-and nights searching the sky for the Merry Dancers, Amy slowly makes the journey toward recovery from addiction. The Outrun is a beautiful, inspiring book about living on the edge, about the pull between island and city, and about the ability of the sea, the land, the wind, and the moon to restore life and renew hope. A Guardian Best Nonfiction Book of 2016 Sunday Times Top Ten Bestseller New Statesman Book of the Year

"The Pastoral Clinic" takes us on a penetrating journey into an iconic Western landscape - northern New Mexico's Espanola Valley, home to the highest rate of heroin addiction and fatal overdoses in the United States. In a luminous narrative, Angela Garcia chronicles the lives of several Hispano addicts, introducing us to the intimate, physical, and institutional dependencies in which they are entangled. We discover how history pervades this region that has endured centuries of material and cultural dispossession, and we come to see its heroin problem as a contemporary expression of these conditions, as well as a manifestation of the human desire to be released from them. Lyrically evoking the Espanola Valley and its residents through conversations, encounters, and recollections, "The Pastoral Clinic" is at once a devastating portrait of addiction, a rich ethnography of place, and an eloquent call for a new ethics of care.

Allen Carr's Easyway is the most successful self-help stop-smoking method of all time. It has helped millions of smokers all over the world to quit, and has since been used to treat other addictions such as drinking and gambling. Allen Carr's Easyway method works by unravelling the brainwashing that leads us to desire the very thing that is harming us, meaning that we are freed from the addiction rather than merely restricting our behavior.

The Easyway method has now been applied to the problem of emotional eating. With Allen Carr's Easyway method, you can eat as much of your favorite foods as you want, whenever you want, as often as you want, and be the exact weight you want to be, without dieting, special exercise, using willpower or feeling deprived.

Do you find that difficult to believe? Read this book.

"The most lacerating tale of drug addiction since William S. Burroughs' Junky." The Boston Globe

"Again and again, the book delivers recollections that leave the reader winded and unsteady. James Frey's staggering recovery memoir could well be seen as the final word on the topic." San Francisco Chronicle

"A brutal, beautifully written memoir." The Denver Post

"Gripping ... A great story ... You can't help but cheer his victory." Los Angeles Times Book Review

From a junkie addicted to methamphetamines to a federal judge, Mary Beth O'Connor's memoir shares her inspiring journey from rock bottom to resilience as she forged a personal path to recovery from trauma and addiction. Searing, unsettling, and ultimately triumphant, Judge O'Connor's debut memoir takes readers on a wild ride through the rock-bottom underbelly of intravenous drug addiction to the hallowed halls of justice where she rose to the pinnacle of success as a federal judge. With wit and unabashed honesty, O'Connor shares her remarkable three-phase journey: the abuse and trauma that drove her to teenage drug use, the chaos that ensued from her addiction; and how she developed a personalized secular recovery plan that led to twenty-nine years of sobriety. Her story proves any addict can recover and anyone can build a productive and happy life, no matter how low the bottom or how deep the pain. Within a week of being born, O'Connor was dropped off at a convent. When she was brought into her home, her mother focused on her own needs and desires, ignoring her young child. When she was nine, her stepfather kicked her in the stomach for spilling milk, beat her when she didn't clean a plate to his satisfaction, and molested her when she was twelve. A few months later, with her first sip of Boone's Farm Strawberry Hill wine, her life changed. She felt euphoric and relaxed. So she got drunk as often as possible, adding pot, then pills, then acid. At sixteen, she found her drug of choice--methamphetamine. With her first snort, she experienced true joy for the first time. When this high was no longer sufficient, she turned to the needle and shot up. During the next sixteen years, she descended into a severe meth addiction, working her way down the corporate ladder, destroying relationships, and shattering her physical and emotional well-being. At thirty-two, she entered rehab, where she was ordered to submit to the 12-steps of Alcoholics Anonymous. As an atheist, turning her will and her life over to a higher power was not an option, and she refused to agree she was powerless. Told to comply or fail, she bravely created a new path that combined ideas from multiple programs and even incorporated some AA concepts. Clean and sober now for more nearly three decades, she is proof that anyone can find their sober self, their best self, no matter how far they have fallen. Along with her inspiring story, she offers a comprehensive checklist of questions for readers to ask themselves as they take the brave steps toward recovery, offering a powerful blueprint for personal change.

Be happier, healthier and more productive by taking a break from booze! An illustrated day-by-day guide packed with inspiration and practical help, The 28 Day Alcohol-Free Challenge is the only book you need to reset your drinking habits and discover a hangover-free world of quality time to achieve your goals. Drawing on their own experiences of ditching the drink, and bringing together the collective experience of the thousands of people they have helped, Andy and Ruari bring you unparalleled insight into how you can make your break from alcohol an empowering, life-changing experience.

Andy Ramage and Ruari Fairbairns started their website One Year No Beer to connect with like-minded people who no longer wanted to deal with the adverse effects of drinking alcohol. In The 28 Day Alcohol-Free Challenge Andy and Ruari share their extensive experience of going alcohol free, including having a great time at parties, resisting appeals from friends to 'just have the one', and, most importantly, how to make the most of the health benefits of going sober.

Healing and Recovering from Co-dependency, Addiction, Enabling, and Low Self-Esteem This story is told through the jagged peephole of the author's awareness, examining her formative wounds and influences from the perspective of a woman who has now gained experience and wisdom. As she peers over her soul's shoulder, she recalls the chaos of her once-fragile childhood mind. She shudders as she is reminded of the sting of her lonely childhood, her feelings of abandonment, and her painful memories of being bullied. Her childhood self was once so lost that she even contemplated suicide. As the years progress, her mind is riddled with obsession, compulsion, and a crippling sense of low self-esteem. A turning point arrives many years later, after marriage and the birth of three children. This story is about healing the faulty programming of childhood. It is about recovery from relationship addiction, food addiction, anxiety, and constant fear. It is a human story that will resonate with readers from all walks of life, and which offers hope to anyone who has felt imprisoned by the past.

Drug overdoses now kill more Americans annually than guns, cars or breast cancer. But we have tried to solve this national crisis with policies that only made matters worse. In the name of "sending the right message," we have maximized the spread of infectious disease, torn families apart, incarcerated millions of mostly Black and Brown people-and utterly failed to either prevent addiction or make effective treatment for it widely available. There is another way, one that is proven to work. However, it runs counter to much of the received wisdom of our criminal and medical industrial complexes. It is called harm reduction. Developed and championed by an outcast group of people who use drugs and by former users and public health geeks, harm reduction offers guidance on how to save lives and improve health. And it provides a way of understanding behavior and culture that has relevance far beyond drugs. In a spellbinding narrative rooted in an urgent call to action, Undoing Drugs tells the story of how a small group of committed people changed the world, illuminating the power of a great idea. It illustrates how hard it can be to take on widely accepted conventional wisdom-and what is necessary to overcome this resistance. It is also about how personal, direct human connection and kindness can inspire profound transformation. Ultimately, Undoing Drugs offers a path forward-revolutionizing not only the treatment of addiction, but also our treatment of behavioral and societal issues.

Marc Lewis's relationship with drugs began in a New England boarding school where, as a bullied and homesick fifteen-year-old, he made brief escapes from reality by way of cough medicine, alcohol, and marijuana. In Berkeley, California, in its hippie heyday, he found methamphetamine and LSD and heroin he sniffed nitrous oxide in Malaysia and frequented Calcutta's opium dens. Ultimately, though, his journey took him where it takes most addicts: into a life of desperation, deception, and crime.But unlike most addicts, Lewis recovered to become a developmental psychologist and researcher in neuroscience. In Memoirs of an Addicted Brain , he applies his professional expertise to a study of his former self, using the story of his own journey through addiction to tell the universal story of addictions of every kind.

'A masterclass in understanding' ANNIE GRACE, author of This Naked Mind Ten questions to ask yourself, right now: * Do you have a sense that something is wrong, but you don't know what it is? * Do you have a feeling that you are hollow inside, that you are empty or have a void within? * Do you react badly to rejection? * Do you often feel sad, unhappy or down for no obvious reason? * Would you describe yourself as highly sensitive? * Do you have problems with relationships and intimacy? * Do you engage in addictive behaviour - alcohol, drugs, gambling, shopping, food, sex, work, exercise? * Do you have low self-esteem or self-worth - are you not 'good enough'? * Do you have a sense of being numb to your feelings? * Do you rarely experience true joy and happiness? If you have answered 'yes' to most of these questions, there is a strong chance you have experienced emotional neglect or trauma as a child. An emotionally neglected child may struggle to form strong and secure attachments as an adult. They may feel hollow or empty, worthless (or overly important), judge themselves harshly and struggle with addictive tendencies - drinking, eating or exercising too much, for example. If this describes you, Heal Your Inner Child will change your life and give you back the love, compassion and authenticity you needed as a child, and deserve as an adult. Fomer heavy drinker turned sobriety coach Simon Chapple is - like you - a survivor of childhood trauma. His unique brand of straight-talking, practical yet reflective and relatable advice has helped thousands of people quit drinking, and he can help you now to move on from childhood emotional neglect to a place of happiness free from past trauma. How to Heal Your Inner Child is a stepped and safe approach to confronting your past, with space for reflective and supportive strategies that will help you to foster self-compassion and break free from the destructive behaviours that have blighted your life. Clinically endorsed and verified by a psychotherapist, this deeply personal, unflinchingly honest exploration is designed to unlock your own epiphany and support you as you journey to a happier, less troubled and more authentic self.

"Jade's poetry is an inspiration not only because of his perseverance and dedication in the face of such great odds but because he writes straight from the heart. Imprisoned in his suit of humanity, he finds hope and strength of the human spirit. He navigates through pain fishing for answers in this wind and liquidates our souls with desire and passion bound by wire explosions. Open these pages and dance with him in a world faded fast." - R David Stephens.