This is a large heavy book just packed
with information. There are 22
heavyweight articles written by professionals in the field of addiction – and
those 410 pages must average 500 words a page. 
As an interested amateur I hadn’t realised just how many different
flavours there are to treating addiction or addictive behaviours. Here’s a list of the articles by heading and
author.

 

PART
1: MOTIVATIONAL TOOLS

Motivational
Interventions – The Only Failure Is the Failure to Act Edward Storti

Motivational
Interviewing: Dancing, Not Wrestling David
B Rosengren, Christopher C Wagner

Computer
Assisted Interventions: Mouse as CotherapistChristopher
P Rice

 

PART
II: MEDICAL PHARMACEUTICAL TOOLS

Detoxification:
Opening the Window of Opportunity to Recovery   David
E Smith, Richard B Seymour

Medications:
One Tool in the Toolbox Douglas
Ziedonis, Jonathan Krejci

Disease
Orientation: Taking away Blame and Shame Norman
S Miller

Drug
Testing: A Review of Drug Test in Clinical Settings    Tom Mieczowski

 

PART
III: COGNITIVE BEHAVIOURAL TOOLS

Recovery
Contracts: Seven Key Elements G
Douglas Talbott, Linda R Crosby

Contingency
Management: Using Science to Motivate Change Alan
J Budney, Stacey C Sigmon, Stephen T Higgins

Cue
Exposure Treatment: New Thoughts About an Old Therapy   Cynthia A Conklin, Stephen T Tiffany

Affect
Regulation Coping Skills Training: 
Managing Mood Without Drugs Raymond
L Scott, Marc F Kern, Robert H Coombs

 

PART
IV: PSYCHOSOCIAL TOOLS

Lifestyle
Planning and Monitoring: Readiness,
Guidance and Growth Fred Zackon

Individual
Therapy: Accomplishing the Tasks of Recovery Joan
E Zweben

Group
Therapy: A Clinicians Guide to Doing What WorksArnold
M Washton

Peer
Support: Key to Maintaining Recovery Linda
Farris Kurtz

Family
Treatment: Stage Appropriate Psychotherapy Joyce
Schmid, Stephanie Brown

 

PART
V: HOLISTIC TOOLS

Nutritional
Counselling: How to Get the Big High   Joseph
D Beasley

Meditation:
The Path to Recovery through Inner Wisdom  Carol
A Snarr, Patricia A Norris, Steven L Fahrion

Spirituality
Enhancement: From Distilled Spirits to Instilled Spirit    Robert J Kus

Acupuncture:
A Venerable Nonverbal Therapy Michael O
Smith, Kathryn P White

 

PART
VI: USING RECOVERY TOOLS IN VARIOUS SETTINGS AND PROGRAMS

Harm
Reduction Programs: Progress Rather Than Perfection Arthur W Blume, Britt K Anderson, Jonathan S Fader, G Alan
Marlatt

Matching
Clients with Recovery Tools: Finding the Right Keys to Unlock the DoorReid Hester, Theresa Moyers

 

Confession: I haven’t read every chapter but I’ve read the vast majority of
them. Overall impression, what a lot of
smart interesting people there are working in this field; what a lot of
different approaches there are; what a dearth there seems to be of
demonstration that any one of them is more effective than any other.

One or other of these authors will back
up pretty much any approach you favour, I suspect. You can find helpful advice, worksheets, statements of medical practice
and suggestions for methods rather outside the normal run such as
acupuncture. I wouldn’t be so bold as
to discount any of them. Oh, I’ll make
an exception. I found the very first of
these articles “Motivational Interventions – The Only Failure Is the Failure to
Act” full of an infuriating arrogance. 
Thank goodness it’s the exception. 
Most of the other articles had more a flavour of “This is what I have
found works pretty well, you could try it.” 
And the final pair of articles seems to serve to pull it all together,
which is a help.

Who’s this book for? I think that anyone working with addiction
would find something to stimulate, provoke or intrigue him or her in this. Someone who was trying to recover from
addiction or trying to help someone close to them to recover would, I think,
end up seriously confused about what to do next. This seems very definitely a book for a person who already has
substantial awareness of addiction treatment methods or is a professional in
the field.

 

© 2002 Fred
Ashmore

Fred Ashmore is a member of the
public with a strong interest in drugs, drink and addiction and how people
recover from them. He is active as a meeting host for the SMART Recovery® program, which offers
help for people who seek to modify harmful and addictive behavior.

Categories: Addiction, MentalHealth, SelfHelp