The Mindful Path to Addiction Recovery: A Practical Guide to Regaining Control over Your Life

Mindfulness is a quality of attention that combines full awareness with acceptance of each moment, just as it is. Mindfulness is tremendously useful in the addiction recovery process, Dr. Lawrence Peltz explains, because at the heart of addiction is the fear of painful emotional states-addicts compulsively seek drugs and alcohol to avoid or escape emotional pain. Mindfulness, on the other hand, helps us develop greater acceptance and ease with life's challenges, as well as greater self-compassion. Drawing on his experience as an addiction psychiatrist and on the techniques of mindfulness-based stress reduction, Dr. Peltz, who is the medical director of the Bournewood Caulfield Center, a drug and alcohol treatment facility in Woburn, Massachusetts, has written an informative and inspiring book about how mindfulness can be a critical component in recovery from drug and alcohol addiction. This book is for recovering addicts, their families, and the professionals who treat them. It explores the fundamental dynamics of addiction and the stages of the recovery process, including patient stories. Dr. Peltz also explains what mindfulness is and how to use it to support recovery, including practical exercises and techniques. He reviews the recent scientific research on the benefits of mindfulness for mental health in general and for addiction recovery specifically.…