Recovery Books & CD/DVDs

This book is for the hidden victims of addiction--families. For families of addicts, feeling of fear, shame, confusion over a loved one's addiction can cause deep anxiety, sleepless nights, and even physical illness. And the emotional distress family members suffer is often compounded by the belief that they somehow caused or contributed to their loved one's addiction--or that they could have done something to prevent it. As the heart-wrenching personal stories in this book reveal, family members do not cause their loved one's addiction. Nor can they control of cure addiction.

Enough Already! is an easy read that educates alcoholics and addicts on precisely what to do to get and stay sober. After learning about the disease of alcoholism/addiction and time-tested tools of recovery, the reader is introduced to relapse prevention strategies, the 12 Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous and other 12 Step programs, and coping skills to deal with uncomfortable emotions that often lead to drug and alcohol use. This is followed by specific instructions on how to get started in recovery and a final inspiring chapter entitled "The Miracle."

What happens to the "we" of a family when one member opts for the blind and single-minded "me" of addiction? In an instructive, reassuring way, Craig Nakken explains just how families and couples who have spent years building a life together can lose their cohesive identity and meaning in the wake of addiction. The perfect starting point in the healing process, this book also reminds us that recovery is possible--for individuals, couples, and whole families--if only we know what to do.

This book is very inspirational and yet practical. It is full of clear help on how to combat persistent negative thinking and includes a motivational narrative about the help of 12-Step programs, prayer, professional guidance and volunteering. The motivation supplied by the text is augmented by helpful exercises.

Many books cover these same topics but this one is especially useful and uplifting.

An insightful and empowering guide to supporting siblings that are in all stages of alcoholism or recovery.

Dr. Gant presents his three-stage recovery program to reduce or eliminate addictions through nutritional supplements that restore the proper balance of neurotransmitters in the brain. The program can help to reduce or eliminate drug and alcohol cravings, detoxify with an over-the-counter remedy that helps cleanse the body, and correct secondary nutritional imbalances to ensure long-term results. Questionnaires help readers identify which appropriate supplements will help them regain control of their lives.

The authors, a psychiatrist and nutritional expert, advocate using a balanced diet and natural supplements/herbs such as kava, ginseng, choline, and DMAE to improve ones vitality, focus and state of mind. These natural alternatives act as stress busters, energizers, and mood enhancers without the consequences of addiction to substances such as caffeine, sugar, nicotine, alcohol, or drugs. The positive effects, rare cautions, and recommended dosages associated with each item are detailed. Other helpful mind/body lifestyle practices like meditation, massage, dance and aromatherapy are also described.

Focusing on alcoholism as a disease, Joan Mathews Larson and her colleagues at the Health Recovery Center in Minneapolis,Minnesota discovered a series of nutritional deficiencies in alcoholics. The book presents their seven-week program to break alcohol addiction and end cravings.

Written mainly as a way to reach out to the many alcoholics/addicts that are not comfortable with 12-step programs, the book describes one man’s personal journey. He discusses the pros and cons of 12-step programs and works with their basic principles. He focuses on 3 of the 12 Steps in self-help form that seemed to the author to be the most powerful and helpful: 1) We admitted we were powerless over alcohol - that our lives had become unmanageable. 2) Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him. 3) Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.

This resource for any family dealing with addiction issues tells the shared story from two perspectives of a mother and daughter recovering from addiction. It provides recovery tools and healing strategies that offer hope and guidance to those involved in the recovery process.

William Cope Moyers has come a long, long way. In 1994, he lay on the floor of an Atlanta crack house. His father had put together a search party. His worried family waited at home where Moyers had left them when he embarked on yet another binge. From that lowly, drug-hazed night, Moyers went on to become an executive at the Hazelden Foundation and travels far and wide to talk about addiction and treatment.

Broken tells the story of what happened between then and now from growing up the privileged son of Bill Moyers to his descent into alcoholism and drug addiction, his numerous stabs at getting clean, his many relapses, and how he managed to survive.

Produced by the Climbing Mountains Literature Project, this e-book is a collection of unique and inspiring stories about substance misuse recovery in Nottingham, UK. The book gives a voice to those in recovery. The stories are written by recovering addicts at different stages of recovery and describe their life changing experiences throughout the process. It is available on Amazon or at www.celandor.co.uk

Michael Givens chronicles his journey from addiction to sobriety. The story covers his descent into drug abuse and the devastation it brings to his life. It is also about redemption and life after drugs. Givens uses his experiences to offer hope to those caught in the cycle of addiction by reducing the process of addiction and recovery down to its elements. This book inspires and challenges addicts to consider the possibility of living a clean and sober life.

An honest day to day recounting of the first 30 days of recovery from addiction to drugs. Maintaining sobriety during this time is often on a day-to-day, hour-by-hour, or minute-to-minute basis. For the addict, this is a time of cravings and raw emotions that they have previously avoided or ignored. This book describes the struggles, challenges, hope and encouragement that are part of the early process of recovery.

This book chronicles the life of many people addicted to various substances who died despite their best efforts and that of their families. The authors understand that addiction is an illness that can happen to anyone and sometimes its so malignant that all current treatment fails.This book is a solace to parents who have lost a child to addiction but also potentially very helpful to parents whose children are living addicts and tempted to quit their efforts to help the child. It may also be helpful in boosting the resolve of addicts and diminishing their guilt about not being able to stop... so far.

Donna Smith not only lost her young husband to a tragic death, she spent decades trying to help and save her only child from an addict/alcoholic lifestyle and stood by helplessly as her daughter contracted one deadly disease after another from sharing needles and having unprotected sex. Yet Donna managed to find serenity through it all and despite it all. Donna's story is full of hope, encouragement and useful tools for anyone who wishes to find peace amidst turmoil and uncertainty.

In this thoroughly researched and groundbreaking biography of Bill Wilson, cofounder of Alcoholics Anonymous, Cheever creates a remarkably human portrait of a man whose life and work both influenced and saved the lives of millions of people. Drawn from personal letters and diaries, records in a variety of archives, and hundreds of interviews, this definitive biography is the first fully documented account of Bill Wilson's life story.

UNION SQUARE explores the world of seven homeless heroin addicts that live in Union Square Park in New York City. The individuals allowed the film-makers to follow and capture their trials and tribulations while living and hustling on the streets of New York City.

On June 28, 1996, Pat Holloran’s life changed suddenly and forever when Drug Control confronted her for the theft of narcotics from the hospital where she worked.

Pat was working full time on the night shift and taking care of her three children, her husband, and her severely disabled father. Stadol, a narcotic ten times stronger than Morphine, was her drug of choice. She started taking it to help her sleep. She kept taking it because she could not stop.

Walking Like a Duck reveals the agony of enduring a punitive disciplinary process to preserve her nursing license; how it impacted her sanity and her career, and how her secrets and lies traumatized her marriage of over twenty years.

Craig nakken presents the most recent information on how an individual becomes an addict-including cultural influences and genetic factors-as he examines addiction's causes, stages of development, and consequences.

Using vivid examples and case studies, the author exposes the irrational and contradictory patterns of addictive thinking, and shows how to overcome them and the barriers they create; low self-esteem and relapse.

Written by a clinical psychologist, this book provides new perspectives on how to gain back emotional stability after growing up with the trauma of addiction, abuse, and dysfunction. Dr. Dayton explains the latest research in neuropsychology and the role trauma plays on chemically altering the brain. The book teaches you how to rewire your brain to undo the negative effects trauma has on all aspects of life. As noted by Joseph R. Cruse, MD, Founding Medical Director, Betty Ford Center, "We all need to learn how to live with greater maturity and balance. In this book, Tian Dayton shows us how."

The first in a series of three recovery guides for the first three years of sobriety, First-Year Sobriety uses the voices of many women and men who are struggling in the often baffling territory of their first year of sobriety to show that despite their differing experiences, all are united in the process of giving life without alcohol or other drugs a chance.

Recovery 2 Day developed two separate recovery approaches, both presented in online books offered free on their site. The North Pass is a secular method of recovery while the South Pass is a non-secular religious approach. Both teach CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy based on the idea that we can change the way we feel and act by changing the way we think), DBT (Dialectical Behavioral Therapy which combines cognitive and behavioral therapy with Eastern mindfulness techniques), and REBT (Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy, behavioral modification based on identifying one’s perceptions, attitudes, or thoughts about outside things and determining if they are true or false). Both books address craving, disease education and recovery strategies, and only differ in their focus on either meditation to cope with emotions unearthed during self-evaluation and self-discovery or prayer and personal faith.

Written by two longtime therapists, this self-help book is designed to work with or without 12-step programs. After a brief explanation of Taoism (a Chinese philosophy and religion), the authors present the Tao, a Chinese term meaning "the way," as an ideal vehicle for attaining and maintaining freedom from substance addiction. Containing anecdotes, exercises (meditations, questions to explore, affirmations) and real-life applications of Taoist precepts, this guide shows how to apply eastern philosophy to enhance recovery from addiction to alcohol and other drugs.

A collection of hundreds of sayings and quotes heard in 12-step meetings that impart practical wisdom on maintaining sobriety and developing your spiritual life. It acts as a guide on looking deeper and a daily support in the process.

Applying the principles of Zen to the Twelve Step philosophy of recovery, this book offers inspiration to achieve spiritual fulfillment and peace. Drawing from his lifetime of experience as an abused child, alcoholic, Zen student, and dharma teacher, Ash gives readers a solid grounding in the Twelve Steps and the Eightfold Path and shows their useful similarities for those in recovery.

Alcoholics Anonymous-the Big Book-has served as a lifeline to millions worldwide. First published in 1939, Alcoholics Anonymous sets forth cornerstone concepts of recovery from alcoholism and tells the stories of men and women who have overcome the disease.

The mission of this site is to preserve the history of Alcoholics Anonymous through the Early Days recordings of Bill Wilson, Bob Smith and friends. The only remaining collection of actual reel-to-reel tapes has been remastered and digitally enhanced for the best quality sound and made available in a CD collection exclusively on this site. Samples of the talks are provided free online.

First published in April 1983, this is NA’s primary text. Book One contains ten chapters explaining the NA Fellowship and their program of recovery.