What Richard Clark presents in The Addiction Recovery Handbook is long overdue. The influential books Alcoholics Anonymous and AA’s Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, have helped millions of people struggling with addiction. In the last 85 years a lot has changed. Alcoholism has become addiction and society, if it is to slow the rate of addiction, must come to terms with its demographics, the social attitudes to addiction, the politics of indifference, the negative influence of religion, failing treatment modalities, and the epidemiology of the illness.
The Addiction Recovery Handbook examines the changing historical views of addiction, outlines how this culture developed its contemporary perceptions and values, and how society contributes to this growing problem. Richard Clark proposes AA’s traditional religious model of God’s help-and-forgiveness can no longer address the needs of a diverse and largely irreligious society where atheism is becoming mainstream. His updated analysis of the traditional ‘AA’ approach proposes that self-understanding and awareness-through knowledge and education, psychology, and compassion, be the significant components of any recovery framework.
The Addiction Recovery Handbook is an interesting and readable book and is intended for everyone: addicts, medical professionals, counsellors, therapists, clients, sponsors, social workers, family members, partners, friends, employers—every stakeholder in a healthy, non-judgmental society that cares about the wellbeing of all its members.
Quoting a reader’s review:
I have read this book twice. The first time I couldn’t really believe what I was learning so I had to read it again. It is exceptional, wide-ranging and well thought out, well explained. The word that applies to this book is rigorous. In the front of the book, Richard Clark advises that the material is convoluted and seems to swing back on itself. It does and I can now see why. I will no doubt go through it again. Not since university have I read a book three times. I am also pleased that he offered so many other authors and books that are a contribution. It thoroughly reorganized my own thoughts about addiction, responsibility and society, and so it should. We are so wrong about our ideas about addiction. I think he’s in his 70s now, too bad he’s not teaching this somewhere.
(P.L., Manitoba)
For purchasing compare www.friesenpress.ca/bookstore and Amazon.
