| View Larger Image | The Heart of Addiction: A New Approach to Understanding and Managing Alcoholism and Other Addictive Behaviors | Paperbackby Lance M. Dodes (Author)
| List Price: | $12.99 | | Price: | $9.35 | | You Save: | $3.64 (28%) | | | Available: | Usually ships in 24 hours |
| | Binding: | Paperback | | Publisher: | Harper Paperbacks | | Page Count: | 272 Pages | | Publication Date: | January 01, 2003 | | Sales Rank: | 42,447nd |
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FEATURES | - ISBN13: 9780060958039
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
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EDITORIAL REVIEWS |
Product Description
Nobody has had an answer for why people with addictions continue to repeat them -- until now. For more than twenty years, distinguished psychiatrist Dr. Lance Dodes has been successfully helping people master their addictions -- alcoholism, compulsive gambling, smoking, sexual addiction, and more with a radical approach. Dr. Dodes describes how all addictions have, at their heart, unrecognized emotional factors that explain: Why we feel the impulse Why we feel it when we do What alternatives (really) work in that critical moment In this refreshing book filled with compelling case studies, Dr. Dodes debunks several such widely accepted myths as: Addictions are fundamentally a physical problem. People with addictions are different from other people. You have to hit bottom before you can get well. You are wasting your time if you ask "why" you have an addiction. |
Amazon.com Review
It may be time for a closer look at some of our assumptions about addiction. Between the predominance of 12-step programs and incorrect information issued by the press, thousands of people are getting misinformation instead of the help they need. Lance Dodes, in his book The Heart of Addiction, reexamines common myths and provides a world of new recommendations aimed at helping anyone with an addiction, be it to gambling, alcohol, or prescription medications. Rather than focusing on the specific object of addiction, he chooses instead to look at the common desires and emotions present in anyone with addiction issues. Through years of private practice and work in substance-abuse clinics, Dodes has noticed a pattern behind addiction--a pattern of anger, helplessness, and shame, coupled with a desire for immediate escape from these feelings. In presenting multiple composite cases, he shows us repeatedly that addiction is more than an uncontrollable desire for the substances; it is a behavior pattern with deeply emotional roots. Included are detailed explanations of differences between physical tolerance, abuse, and addiction, as well as an unusual questionnaire that focuses on the underlying reasons for drinking, rather than the more traditional one that covers specific amounts, methods, and results of imbibing. Separate chapters discuss particular issues of teens and couples, and special recommendations for seeking treatment are also included. --Jill Lightner |
CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.5 based on 20 reviews)
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Refreshing, insightful perspective on addiction by S. Falor (Miami, FL)  5 Stars
July 07, 2008
I found this book refreshing and very insightful regarding the issue of addiction. Anyone could use the insight contained here, whether or not you are an addict. I would encourage friends and family members of addicts to read this to get a better understanding of the real heart issues behind addiction.
It's time for the mental health community to recognize that treatment must get to the root of the problem - the heart, or drive, behind the negative behavior. Meds and meetings won't solve the issue; they just control the 'symptoms' of a broken heart.
If you are suffering from an addiction, read the book and start journaling as though you are talking to a therapist like the author (if you currently don't have a therapist like him). Ask for truth to be revealed as you do this. It may be that you can find the point of helplessness that drives you to your addiction. It's worth a try. The main message of the book is very powerful. A must read for students of addiction.
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This book can kill people trying to recover - BEWARE!! by James Patterson (Houston, Texas)  1 Stars
May 28, 2008
I am licensed as a therapist specializing in chemical dependency and have worked in the field of addiction for many years and have treated hundreds of people and thousands of family members. I read about addiction constantly, review all research and I must say that although this book is very well written is fraught with the same misconceptions and twists of logic that have been around and answered for many years. This is just a more stylish manner of refuting redundant research and twisting logic by lumping terms together and holding out the hope that if an addict or alcoholic can address their inner demons they can use in moderation. The book equates compulsive obsessive behaviors such as sex addiction with alcoholism. It tries to convince you that apples are the same as oranges. It suggests that problems cause addiction when the opposite is true. This book would be totally refuted if openly subject to scientific review alone. It doesn't even address AA. They book is written by a therapist who wants to "treat" you for your "addictions" that are caused by your own supposed "inability to cope". Although this may be true of sexual compulsivity or hand washing, it simply does not fit with known and documented bio genetic predispositional properties and cellular bio mechanical attributes of chemical dependency. Ask a responsible therapist if individual counseling works on addicts. It almost always ends in failure. Why not address AA? Perhaps because it does not entirely jive with the premise of this book; That people can "learn" or be "therapized" into wellness from drug and alcohol addiction, which is not only irresponsible, but potentially hazardous to the alcoholic who is desperate to learn how to drink "normally". I guess, if not for the intentional misinformation, it could be an entertaining read for someone with OCD issues. The book perpetuates ignorance and false hopes about chemical addiction. A better read can be found in Milam and Ketcham's milestone book "Under The Influence."
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What a terrific book by Scott P. Weiner 5 Stars
December 28, 2007
I don't usually buy books of this nature but it was recommended to me by a friend. Even if you don't have an issue of addiction this book will help you understand and cope with others that do in your life. I have a degree in Applied Behavior and I can say this is one of the most useful books I've ever read. The examples of real people and reasoning is extremely sound.
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An Important Perspective by Eileen J. Stenzel (Oak Lawn, IL United States) 5 Stars
August 04, 2007
The field of addiction counseling has struggled with how to understand and treat addiction for decades. For some, addiction is best understood as a disease that can respond to the standardized treatment of detox, group work and self-help programs, AA in particular, that focus primarily on addictive behavior. For others, addiction is a behavior driven by underlying conflicts and issues that need to be addressed in a treatment process designed for each individual, one that addresses his/her specific underlying psychological dynamics. This book is a comprehensive presentation of that second perspective. It is a thorough discussion of the psychology of addiction. Whether one agrees fully with the perspecitve is less important than the importance of understanding what it contributes to efforts to develop effective intervention with persons struggling with addictive disease. This book does provides the reader with an opportunity to make that assessment.
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An enlightening and straight forward examination of addiction by Pamela Demarest (Sacramento, CA) 5 Stars
April 04, 2007
A respectable service to addiction by questioning tradition thoughts and treatments. Without trashing other systems, the author transers years of insight and research from his own practice into a framework that is logical, consistent and practical. He deftly removes the overtones of religion, shame and isolation that can (and has) resulted in what I call 'orphaned addicts'. His content inspires rethinking of the addictive process and yields to constructive self-examination without 'preachiness'. A safe-read for anyone who may be questioning their own addictive behavior and a must-read for those familiar with traditional addiction methods.
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