Realistic Hope

Book excerpt: If you love someone with alcoholism or any other addiction, you may be looking anywhere you can for hope. If so, this book is for you. It presents the science of addiction in terms that are easy to understand, but also focuses heavily on practical concepts and techniques that you can start using right away. It answers many of the questions that come with loving someone who has an addiction, such as: What can I do to help? Why can't they just stop? Where can I find hope? What is involved in recovery? What should I expect if my loved one goes to treatment? What practical skills can I learn to deal with addiction? How can I find peace and even happiness in the midst of all this? All these questions and more are addressed to help you navigate the difficulties of being a family member to someone with addiction. This book can help you gain the knowledge and attitude you need and find realistic hope as you do. The author, Casey, is a clinical social worker and chemical dependency counselor who has lived with and around addiction for all his life. He is now a therapist specializing in family counseling for addiction. In this book, he shares the knowledge gained from conducting hundreds of family workshops and helping thousands of family members, and also weaves in his own narrative of recovery both as an individual and a family member.