Content
I am a lifelong anxiety sufferer who drank mainly to cope with uncomfortable feelings. No matter how I may have dressed up my dependence on alcohol, the bottom line was that I used it , starting in my late 40’s, to medicate my sometimes crippling anxiety.
- For as prevalent as drinking is, there is really only one acceptable way to get help – admit you’re an alcoholic and abstain forever.
- Stories heal, and no circle knows that more than the recovery circle.
- This book switched a floodlight on for me in terms of understanding the massive impact trauma had on my life, and it gave me so much hope and tools to drive recovery to health and peace.
- Take advantage of this service to help in your healing process and get in touch for more information.
- I recommend it for everyone who struggles with anxiety and/or addiction of any kind.
- She relied on alcohol, so now that this is no longer an option she has to re-evaluate everything in her life, which leads to some great and very witty observations on her newfound life.
For friends or family of a recovering addict, the many great books about recovery offer you some insights into what a recovering addict will experience throughout the process and how you can help foster recovery. I had to read this book in small doses because it was so intense. Bessel writes about trauma with great compassion and empathy. Through reading this book I came to better understand myself, sober living blog my body’s physical reactions, and my mental health. It’s a tough book to read due to the descriptions of horrific traumas people have experienced, however it’s inspirational in its message of hope. Van der Kolk describes our inner resilience to manage the worst of life’s circumstances with our innate survival instinct. We can survive and even thrive despite the traumas we have endured.
Books about sobriety
Choosing Therapy may be compensated for referrals by the companies mentioned below. Twelve-step programs are popular for a reason – for many, they work. This book works as a great supplement to a twelve-step program and provides better understanding of the psychotherapy behind the steps. Author Veronica Valli is an addiction therapist and recovered alcoholic herself, offering a deep and sincere understanding of an alcoholic’s journey.
- Until I read this book, I felt a combination of broken and hopeless.
- As I read the book, rather than imagining the possibility of what Marc was describing, I recognized my experience in his words.
- This book provides an amazing framework for embracing our true selves in a society that tries to tell us we’re not already whole as we are.
- Clare Pooley intertwines personal victories, research, and answers to FAQs about quitting alcohol in her memoir, The Sober Diaries.
Both books helped change my whole mindset about drinking alcohol, which I had always considered luxurious, well-deserved self-care. Dr. Harry is a physician at the Betty Ford clinic in the United States, a recovered alcoholic, and a long-term member of AA. His focus is traditional disease theory and 12 step recovery, which is not my cup of tea, but this book was was an important read for me in my first month sober.
Drinking: A Love Story by Caroline Knapp
This is a great option for clients that are in need of continued treatment, but are returning home to be with their families during this time. If you find yourself struggling with time to get much reading in, but still want to get the main takeaways of these important books, I recommend Blinkist. It’s an app that does a surprisingly good job of stripping nonfiction books down to their nitty-gritty while managing to capture the tone and style of the overall book. This is a memoir by Augusten Burroughs of Running With Scissors fame. I cracked up laughing as many times as I nodded my head in knowing, alcoholic agreement. The basic premise of this book is that she is letting us peek into her diary during her first year of sobriety. This book is beautiful, informative, and inspiring for anyone who is trying to change their relationship with alcohol.
SGS is not a recovery programme, we are peer support and offer content, online community, merch and The Sober Girl Society Handbook. Education is just the first step on our path to improved mental health and emotional wellness. To help our readers take the next step in their journey, Choosing Therapy has partnered with leaders in mental health and wellness.
Not Drinking Tonight: A Guide to Creating a Sober Life You Love
Provides a personal look into the connection between incarceration, substance use, and trauma. Her story is a beautiful reminder of how safety and support can lead the way to incredible healing. Is a beautifully written series of personal essays that describe Brian Broome’s experience growing up Black and queer in Ohio, and the effect early substance use had on his upbringing. This book tells an incredible story of not only recovery, https://ecosoberhouse.com/ but also how it connects to race and sexual identity. Sarah’s writing is sharp and relatable; a more recent, modern voice in the recovery space. So many of us look at “blacking out” as benign, or normal—an indicator of a “successful” night of drinking. In Blackout, Sarah clearly explains why there’s nothing benign about it and describes what is actually happening to the brain when we reach that point of alcohol-induced amnesia.
Most of these books are a combination of addiction/recovery biography, science, and sociology. The “How to Stop Drinking” self-help style books and books on science, psychology, and sociology are often written by people who overcame problems with addiction. Some are traditional and focus on the disease theory and alcoholism, but most are more likely to suggest alternatives to AA. This is the book for you if you’re looking for masterful prose. It is also the book for you if you consider faith to be a necessary piece for the puzzle that addiction recovery entails.
Sober Curious? Living Alcohol Free? You’ll drink up these quit-lit reads
Romily, one of the main characters in the book is without doubt a full blown alcoholic. I read Lucy’s book back in 2015 when I was struggling to stop drinking.
