Click on the cover or title to buy now from Amazon! |
Dry: A Memoir by Augusten Burroughs
|
| |
| I have been practicing therapy for over 15 years, and I have never yet read a textbook or self-help book on alcoholism that captures the essence of the problem-the rationalizations, the self-deceptions, the false hopes-like this book does. Dry is a true story, based upon the author's own experiences confronting his alcoholism and navigating his way through the less than impressive system of rehab programs and AA. The author's primary purpose is to entertain more than educate; but in the process he does a lot of both. |
Recommendation Level:   |
| . |
Click on the cover or title to buy now from Amazon! |
The Truth About Addiction and Recover by Stanton Peele
|
| |
| Stanton Peele offers an alternative to the disease model of alcoholism. Instead of claiming that it’s genetic, or due to the lack of a “Higher Power,” he asserts that alcohol abuse is simply a poor way of coping. It may not be the message you want to hear, but it is the message which can help you recover and take charge of your life. Peele shows that addictive behavior is a way of coping with situational stress. It can be, and often is, overcome without medical treatment or 12-step groups.
|
| Recommendation Level: |
| . |
Click on the cover or title to buy now from Amazon! |
Obsessive Love by Dr. Susan Forward
|
| |
| Learn to avoid the "connection compulsion" and build healthier relationships. Susan Forward provides vivid case studies, and focuses on both men and women. She identifies mistaken thinking patterns in individuals "caught in the grip of obsessive passion."
|
| Recommendation Level: |
| . |
Click on the cover or title to buy now from Amazon! |
Bodily Harm: The Breakthrough Healing Program For Self-Injurers by Karen Conterio & Wendy Lader, Ph. D.
|
| |
| Although the authors tend to endorse the medical model of psychiatry, they also directly confront the horrifying problem of literal, physical self-mutilation and self-destruction. They recognize that such behaviors serve a psychological "purpose," even if an irrational one, and they place the responsibility for change squarely on the troubled individual. Although they likely overstate the magnitude of this problem among the population, they do grasp some of the motives which could lead an individual to such extreme self-destruction.
|
| Recommendation Level: |
| . |
Click on the cover or title to buy now from Amazon! |
When AA Doesn't Work for You : Rational Steps to Quitting Alcohol by Albert Ellis, Emmett Velten
|
| |
| Do you want to place faith and responsibility in yourself rather than The Pack or some elusive Higher Power? Then take heart. Rational Recovery and the principles of cognitive therapy can help you. The way you think determines how much you drink.
|
| Recommendation Level: |
| . |
Click on the cover or title to buy now from Amazon! |
The Small Book by Jack Trimpey
|
| |
| Rational Recovery relies upon the individual-rather than group conformity or allegiance to a Higher Power-as a means of taking responsibility for and resolving a substance problem. Rational Recovery believes you can control what you do with your hands, your arms, and your mouth.
|
| Recommendation Level: |
| . |
Click on the cover or title to buy now from Amazon! |
The Codependency Conspiracy by Stan J. Katz, Aimee E. Liu
|
| |
| The Recovery movement is based upon a flawed, self-contradictory foundation. "Stop drinking, take charge of your life-while surrendering yourself to a Higher Power and the group." Katz & Liu offer Recovery-addicts an alternative of independence and self-responsibility.
|
| Recommendation Level: |
| . |
Click on the cover or title to buy now from Amazon! |
Diseasing of America by Stanton Peele
|
| |
| We are becoming a society of people defined by our mental defects, rather than by our strengths. We call errors in judgment and moral failings "diseases"-and we actually rationalize that this is good for "self-esteem." Provocative reading.
|
| Recommendation Level: |
| . |
Click on the cover or title to buy now from Amazon! |
Moderate Drinking by Audrey Kishline, Dr. Stanton Peele (Introduction)
|
| |
| The official handbook of Moderation Management, a national self-help program that supports moderate drinking as a reasonable and attainable recovery goal for problem drinkers. Not for everyone, but meant to fill the gap between overdrinking and complete abstinence.
|
| Recommendation Level: |
| . |
Click on the cover or title to buy now from Amazon! |
Codependent No More by Melody Beattie
|
| |
| Aside from improperly canonizing The Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous, Beattie's self-help classic has much of value to offer. She shows how selflessness is unhealthy. She also demonstrates how obsessive caring for others usually, at its root, represents a desire to evade taking responsibility for your own needs.
|
| Recommendation Level: |
| . |
Click on the cover or title to buy now from Amazon! |
I'm Dysfunctional, You're Dysfunctional by Wendy Kaminer
|
| |
| Kaminer criticizes the trend of turning people into mindless victims. She also identifies the authoritarian tendencies underlying such a trend. Think about it. If somebody wants you to view yourself as a helpless victim, with no control over your life or mind, what must their real motive be? One strong likelihood is that they want to control you. If you have no mind or will of your own, they can, after all, rule you.
|
| Recommendation Level: |
| . |
Click on the cover or title to buy now from Amazon! |
The Art and Science of Rational Eating by Albert Ellis, Ph.D.
|
| |
| Albert Ellis applies the principles of rational-emotive therapy to the problem of compulsive eating. He asserts, with evidence, that overeating is due to a complex interplay between psychological factors (distorted thinking, irrational beliefs) and physiological factors. Humorous, educational case vignettes are included.
|
| Recommendation Level: |
| . |
Click on the cover or title to buy now from Amazon! |
Breaking Free From Compulsive Eating by Geneen Roth
|
| |
| Practical, sensible methods for coping with compulsive eating (including binge-purge syndrome)--but it goes deeper as well. Insightful and original points on issues such as being judgmental with oneself, self-forgiveness, and trust. The author speaks from experience with eating compulsions. She knows which rationalizations to fight, and how to fight them.
|
| Recommendation Level: |
| . |
Click on the cover or title to buy now from Amazon! |
Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand
|
| |
| One of the best romantic dramas of all time, this play deals with the themes of romantic love, faking reality versus remaining true to it, and the insecurities of an unattractive man with a wonderful mind. |
| Recommendation Level: |
| . |
Click on the cover or title to buy now from Amazon! |
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
|
| |
| Dostoevsky's penetrating novel of an intellectual whose moral compass goes haywire, and the detective who hunts him down for his terrible crime. It is a stunning psychological portrait, a thriller and a profound meditation on guilt and retribution. Although not especially uplifting, it remains one of the most brilliant psychological novels ever written.
|
| Recommendation Level: |
| . |
Click on the cover or title to buy now from Amazon! |
Glamorgan's Tales: A Cat's Garden of Verse by Lauren Bain
|
| |
| Introducing Glamorgan, a multi-dimensional and worldly cat. Glamorgan isn't just cute. He is a cat of principle and the Principal of Catness; for Glamorgan is a moralist in the best sense: he recognizes that life means action and that actions have consequences, and that, from a cat's perspective, some things are right, some things are wrong, and some things just happen. This is the first of two books of poems about Glamorgan. Behind this work is a poet who harkens back to that grand time when poems rhymed, had meter, and celebrated life instead of nihilism. Cats, by their nature, embody the celebration of life.
|
| Recommendation Level: |
| . |
Click on the cover or title to buy now from Amazon! |
From Timber Ridge to Daymer Gardens by Thorsten Kaye & Dorothy Bridges
|
| |
| A small book of original and very personal poetry written by classically trained actor Thorsten Kaye and Dorothy Bridges (Mrs. Lloyd Bridges). The poems are romantic, rhythmic, and they celebrate beauty, not the sneering cynicism so pervasive today. Wonderful for psychological "refueling." (Also available on CD, read by Mr. Kaye, who has a magnificent speaking voice).
|
| Recommendation Level: |
| . |
Click on the cover or title to buy now from Amazon! |
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
|
| |
| Set in a frightening America of the near future where women--categorized in terms of whether or not they are able to bear children--function only in the strictly defined roles coercively imposed upon them by men. Reminds us that the evils of a totalitarian state can arise from the religious, conservative right as well as the socialistic left; only reason and individual rights can save us from either side. Compellingly written.
|
| Recommendation Level: |
| . |
Click on the cover or title to buy now from Amazon! |
In the Best Interest of the Child by Stanton Samenow
|
| |
| Every good parent approaches the painful issue of divorce with the best of intentions: you pledge to shield your child from adult concerns, safeguard your child’s tender feelings, and meet his or her emotional needs. You mean it when you say it, but divorce proceedings can and will test your resolve. Reality inevitably intrudes -- fractious custody battles, foot-dragging, anger, resentment, financial woes. And the person who may suffer the most is the one whom you love the most: your child. The first book written from the point of view of the one person in the courtroom whose sole concern is the welfare of the child of divorce, In the Best Interest of the Child gives you crucial information to protect your child and avoid common pitfalls.
|
| Recommendation Level: |
| . |
Click on the cover or title to buy now from Amazon! |
Margaret Mitchell and John Marsh: The Love Story Behind Gone With the Wind by Marianne Walker
|
| |
| Although on the surface this book is a very good biography of Margaret Mitchell, based upon letters she and her husband wrote throughout their adult lives, it's really a love story. Ms. Mitchell was an insecure woman in many ways, with some unfortunate psychological problems. What's fascinating is how these problems did not prevent her from writing her remarkable book, nor from achieving a lasting, deep love with her husband -- a love only made stronger by her staggering, overnight transition from poverty to fame. By the end of the book, you feel as if you know Mitchell and her husband personally -- and if you enjoy a love like the one they had, you are fortunate indeed.
|
| Recommendation Level: |
| . |
Click on the cover or title to buy now from Amazon! |
Saving Milly: Love, Politics, and Parkinson's Disease by Morton Kondracke
|
| |
| McLaughlin Group and Fox News personality Morton Kondracke has written one of the most beautiful love stories I have ever encountered. It's not nearly so much about politics and Parkinson's disease as it is about standing by the person who has earned your love and respect. Morton's wife Milly (a psychotherapist) has a fiery, passionate sense-of-life, but she does not face illness as a self-sacrificial martyr; she faces it honestly and just as you or I would expect to under the same circumstances. Get ready for a one-seating read.
|
| Recommendation Level: |
| . |
Click on the cover or title to buy now from Amazon! |
Asserting Yourself by Sharon Anthony Bower, Gordon H. Bower (Contributor)
|
| |
| Teaches you how to assert yourself utilizing these techniques: scripts, standing firm through negative replies, assessment worksheets, and stress-reducing skills. Illustrations help too. |
| Recommendation Level: |
| . |
Click on the cover or title to buy now from Amazon! |
Love Is Never Enough by Aaron Beck, M.D.
|
| |
| Each member of the relationship is responsible for monitoring his or her emotions-and checking them for rationality. Feelings are not necessarily objective facts. Read this book if you are seeking a more mature romantic relationship.
|
| Recommendation Level: |
| . |
