The Therapeutic Community: Theory, Model, and Method Review

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(More customer reviews)I have been working in the addiction treatment field for over 20 years, including in the Therapeutic Community setting. This book is the best overview of the model ever done. It provides a balance of the theory behind the philosophy and interventions of the TC, while also speaking to the specific activities which take place. If you really want to read about the premise of this approach, this book is the place to start.

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The Possibility of Fireflies Review

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(More customer reviews)It's a thrill to be totally captivated by a first novel and to miss the narrator when you finish. This compelling story of a very perceptive young teenager struggling to find her place in a world of insensitive and uncaring adults will appeal to adult readers as well as the "young adults" who are the readers suggested on the book jacket. Ellie, like Sal in "Walk Two Moons" and Scout in "To Kill a Mockingbird," is a wise and witty observer of the adults in her life who severely disappoint but also provide hope. Her story will stay with you for a long time!


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Spelldown: The Big-Time Dreams of a Small-Town Word Whiz Review

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(More customer reviews)I confess that I am a personal friend of the author, Karon Luddy. I have known her since 1976, and she was a student in several of my English classes. What follows is a paragraph I wrote to her after reading SPELLDOWN. The "crummy little novel" remark was just part of our competing-authors banter from previous emails. WARNING -- the end of the paragraph contains a "spoiler" of sorts. My recommendation: buy it and read it.
"I am so proud of you. Your crummy little novel is absolutely brilliant. I'm a thousand percent jealous! I loved every page, every paragraph, every sentence. The wordplay is mind-boggling! It is so intelligent, so beyond intelligent. But mostly I just loved Karlene. Right from the beginning, so intelligent and independent-minded, half-child, half-adult manque, an astute observer, and yet she does the dishes without complaint and chops down and hauls home and decorates a Christmas tree without feeling sorry for herself. The details you incorporated make it all seem so undeniably real, and Southern, and personal. And I love that at the heart of the novel is the girl's search to understand love, especially family love. She's surrounded by it, immersed in it, but can't comprehend it. At the end, she seems to let go of the need to get an intellectual grip on it and just accepts it, happy that it's real."

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Full Recovery: Creating a Personal Action Plan for Life Beyond Sobriety Review

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(More customer reviews)This book is a life changer!
Real life testaments of alcoholism and addiction will bring the reader's personal addictions, struggles and battles to the surface, making these negative issues easier for each and every reader to grasp, understand, and work to resolve within themselves.
READ THIS BOOK WHETHER YOU HAVE A SERIOUS ADDICTION OR NOT! It will make you a better person and guide you to living a happier and healthier life.
I strongly recommend reading this!!!
If you desire to rid your life of the evils of addiction, alcoholism, etc; I emplore you to read this book!
Your future happiness, health, and sobriety are waiting on you to take action.
Your new life begins on page one of this amazing book!
Pick it up like I did and your happiness will soon follow : )

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You've been able to stay alcohol and drug free for a period of time, but something's still missing. Addiction is a physical, spiritual, and emotional disease. Detox deals with the physical aspect, and a 12-step or some other type of spiritually based program teaches you how to remain abstinent. But what about the emotional or mental challenges that must be overcome? Are you ready to move beyond financial scarcity? Are you floundering in an unfulfilling career or personal relationship? These real-world challenges often lead to an uninspired, mediocre recovery and can be major contributors to relapse. It's time to move forward, discover your life's purpose, and reach your full potential. This book is designed to help you design an action plan, create momentum, and achieve results. The universal truths presented here have taken me from being a low-bottom alcoholic/addict to a successful entrepreneur and author with twenty years of continuous sobriety. The suggestions and exercises I present have worked for me and countless others. They will work for you if you choose to let them. So you're sober; what's next? No doubt you achieved sobriety with guidance from someone who knew how to get and stay sober. I speak your language; let me do the same for you on the next step to full recovery. Let me be your life coach on your journey to abundance. Everyone loves a great comeback story. Achieving full recovery is the greatest comeback story you'll ever tell because it will be your own.Full Recovery is a valuable book not only for those in recovery from addictions but also for those looking to grow toward their full potential. This book fills a void in recovery literature specifically addressing life after getting sober. Recovery principles and spiritual concepts are effectively integrated into a framework for readers to apply to their career, relationships, and spirituality. Through real-life examples and action plans, Full Recovery inspires readers to use challenges and adversity as sources of motivation toward creating a productive, meaningful, and successful life.-Sarah Allen Benton, MS, LMHC, author of Understanding the High-Functioning Alcoholic, therapist at the McLean Residence at The Brook, Waltham, Massachusetts (affiliated with Harvard Medical School), and licensed mental health counselor in private practice at Confidential Care, Norwell, MassachusettsFull Recovery is a must-have resource not only for anyone who wishes to deal with addiction but also anyone who wishes to live a full, abundant, and amazing life. Brian McAlister's personal story will inspire those who think they're 'too far gone' to keep going and know that there is hope.-Melissa Bradley, MS, NCC, BCETS, FAAETS, psychotherapy and international clinical trainer on resilience and healingOne of the best how-to books I have read in a long time. This book abounds with information and exercises to live a more abundant life. With Brian's advice, you can't miss.-Frederick T. Reihl, CEO, Freedom House, drug and alcohol treatment center

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A Room on Lorelei Street (Golden Kite Awards) Review

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(More customer reviews)A Room on Lorelai Street is a story of a young woman trying to make it from one day to the next and attempting to rise above her less-than-stellar unbringing.
Zoe once had a family consisting of a mother, a father, a younger brother and herself. By the time she was a teenager, everything had fallen apart. Her father died. Her mother turned to alcohol. Her brother was sent away to live with relatives, but Zoe had to stay, for the sake of her mother - and her overbearing grandmother.
Zoe finds a small house on Lorelai Street with a room to rent. It is owned by a kind elderly woman, and the rent is cheap, something she can afford on her salary as an afterschool waitress. She is at first hesitant to move out of her home, but when her mother does one more thing - the straw that broke the camel's back - Zoe gets out of there.
What makes protagonist Zoe remarkable is that she does not lament her childhood nor blame others. She never whines about her situation. She never drowns in self-pity. She is a likable, fallible character.
Set in modern-day and written in present tense, A Room on Lorelai Street is something which can be read cover-to-cover in one sitting. Not only that, but this book should appeal to teenagers and adults alike, reading it with different perspectives.
Anyone who has ever struggled to make ends meet, no matter what his or her age or situation, will appreciate the numbers Zoe has to crunch, the sacrifices she has to make, and the consequences she must face. Congratulations to Mary Pearson on creating a character with heart and writing a book that will stick with readers years after they have finished it.

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Last Night I Sang to the Monster Review

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(More customer reviews)For several years I worked in a therapeutic setting for male juvenile sex offenders. What a gift this book would have been back then. Before I launch into my accolades, let me state that there are elements of this book that many adults may find to be lacking in authenticity. In other words, Zach at times says things that I know someone with his troubled mind would not say. Most certainly he would not have finished this program as quickly as he does in the novel.
But remember this: the book was not written for adults although I highly recommend for adults.
The other reviews provide you with information about where Zach is and why he is there. So I will not do that. Instead I want to focus upon why we need more books like this. Millions of kids grow up in hostile homes. And so much damage is done by parents who do not have the skills needed to be effective parents. Most situations are not as overwheming as Zach's, of course, with his many addictions as well as his seeming inability to relate to anyone, to trust anyone. The reader, however, will not know the full reason until the end. In other words there is a plot.
The book is very engaging, skillfully written albeit not exactly authentic in the voice of an 18-year-old in a few places. I quite literally did not want to put it down. So I spent the entire day reading it. And now I am about to order three copies as gifts to people I think will find it a rich experience.

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The Real 13th Step : Discovering Confidence, Self-Reliance, and Independence Beyond the 12-Step Programs Review

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(More customer reviews)This book is the "Missing Link."
Dr. Tessina is absolutely correct in observing that yes - the 12 steps are an incredibly valuable program - in fact, perhaps even the only way to stop drinking.
However, one does eventually "grow out" of them in some sense. That is, drinking has stopped for a long period of time, all of the steps have been successfully worked, and the concepts are grasped and implemented into daily living. Then what? To use an analogy, AA becomes somewhat of a broken record player. Some people are ready for the next step, but aren't sure what that is.
What Dr. Tessina shares with us is how to address the mental thought patterns and dependence issues which may have triggered escape through addiction in the first place. If this is not addressed, we have nothing more than a dry drunk on our hands - someone who is not actively drinking, but who still displays qualities identified in addicts.
This book helps one to put the focus squarely on themselves, and introduces us to the concept that no one is coming to "make it better." It is our responsibility to meet our own needs. That epiphany alone is what frees us.

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Tina Tessina asserts that, despite the millions who've found relief from addictive and compulsive habits through 12-step programs, these same programs' insistence that members always keep coming back unwittingly fosters attitudes that can undermine independence, self-confidence, and self-reliance, the foundations of a long, successful, healthy life. The Real 13th Step dispels the bedrock recovery principle that some people are just born with addictive personalities. Instead, Tina Tessina targets the real problem as learned dependency, and she teaches readers how to develop the three central skills of true independence: risk-taking, problem-solving, and coping with failure. She then offers practical advice about applying these principles in every aspect of our lives: relationships, work, decision-making, and managing the continuing temptations of addiction.Readers will discover how to take control of their own lives and remain free of the fear of relapse or setback in their recovery.

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