Recovery Options: The Complete Guide

A clear and compassionate guide to overcoming substance problems

"A no-nonsense, state-of-the-art guide."--Laurie Garrett, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Coming Plague

"Comprehensive, illuminating, easy to read."--William Cope Moyers, Vice President of Public Affairs, Hazelden Foundation

In Recovery Options: The Complete Guide, Joseph Volpicelli, M.D., Ph.D., an award-winning addiction research pioneer, and Maia Szalavitz, a Pulitzer Prize-nominated journalist and former addict, provide frank and impartial appraisals of all the major treatment options, including:
* Alcoholics Anonymous
* Moderate drinking programs
* Alternative treatments
* Therapeutic communities
* Cognitive therapies
* Other 12-step programs
* Medications
* Methadone
* Harm reduction
* How families can help


In Recovery Options: The Complete Guide, you will learn what addictionis--and what it isn't. You will examine both the mechanism of addiction and how you can make the best treatment choices . . . why some people are particularly prone to substance problems . . . and the genetic and learning mechanisms that help create these conditions. You'll explore the various types of treatment and the ideas on which they are based, and find out how effective each treatment is--and which ones are not effective. Finally, you'll find supportive information on staying clean and sober, preventing relapse, and minimizing damage caused by slips that may occur. Featuring the dramatic real-life stories of patients' experiences (both good and bad) with various methods of recovery, this warm, sympathetic, and accessible guide to overcoming alcohol and other drug problems will help you and your loved ones begin the journey away from substance misuse toward a better life.

Joseph Volpicelli, M.D., Ph.D., is Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania and Senior Scientist at the Penn/VA Center for Research on Addictive Diseases. He has appeared on ABC, NBC, CNN, and CBS-TV. Maia Szalavitz has written for the Village Voice, the New York Times, and the Washington Post. She was series researcher for Bill Moyers's five-part series on addiction and has appeared as a guest on Oprah.