Recovery From Trauma Addiction Or Both

Addiction and trauma are two of the most common and difficult issues that people face. In this motivating book, leading expert Lisa Najavits explains the link between addiction and trauma and presents science-based self-help strategies that you can use no matter where you are in your recovery. Every chapter features inspiring words from people who have "been there," plus carefully designed reflection questions, exercises, and other practical tools. Learn how you can: *Build coping skills so that the future is better than the past. *Keep yourself safe and find support. *Set your own goals and make a plan to achieve them at your own pace. *Choose compassion over self-blame and shame. *Move toward your best self--the person you want to be. If you are a family member or friend seeking to support a loved one--or a helping professional--this book is also for you. Now in a convenient large-size format, the revised edition features added materials for professional and peer counselors. First edition title: Recovery from Trauma, Addiction, or Both. Mental health professionals, see also the author's Seeking Safety: A Treatment Manual for PTSD and Substance Abuse, which presents an evidence-based treatment approach developed specifically for PTSD and substance abuse.

Leading trauma and addiction specialist Lisa Najavits (creator of the evidence-based Seeking Safety treatment model) has trained thousands of therapists in innovative techniques to help people heal and reclaim their lives. Now she puts an array of science-based self-help strategies directly in the hands of readers. This motivating book is packed with compassionate stories and carefully designed reflection questions, exercises, and practical tools that can be downloaded and printed for ease of use. Dr. Najavits explains the links between trauma and addiction and guides people experiencing either (or both) to make meaningful changes. Each concise chapter offers practical ideas that readers will return to again and again to keep themselves safe while building skills for coping with painful past events--and finding a brighter way forward. Mental health professionals, see also the author's Seeking Safety: A Treatment Manual for PTSD and Substance Abuse, which presents an evidence-based treatment approach developed specifically for PTSD and substance abuse.

Addiction and trauma are two of the most common and difficult issues that people face. In this motivating book, leading expert Lisa Najavits explains the link between addiction and trauma and presents science-based self-help strategies that you can use no matter where you are in your recovery. Every chapter features inspiring words from people who have "been there," plus carefully designed reflection questions, exercises, and other practical tools. Learn how you can: *Build coping skills so that the future is better than the past. *Keep yourself safe and find support. *Set your own goals and make a plan to achieve them at your own pace. *Choose compassion over self-blame and shame. *Move toward your best self--the person you want to be. If you are a family member or friend seeking to support a loved one--or a helping professional--this book is also for you. Now in a convenient large-size format, the revised edition features added materials for professional and peer counselors. First edition title: Recovery from Trauma, Addiction, or Both. Mental health professionals, see also the author's Seeking Safety: A Treatment Manual for PTSD and Substance Abuse, which presents an evidence-based treatment approach developed specifically for PTSD and substance abuse.

For the past decade, author Tian Dayton has been researching trauma and addiction, and how psychodrama (or sociometry group psychotherapy) can be used in their treatment. Since trauma responses are stored in the body, a method of therapy that engages the body through role play can be more effective in accessing the full complement of trauma-related memories. This latest book identifies the interconnection of trauma and addictive behavior, and shows why they can become an unending cycle. Emotional and psychological pain so often lead to self-medicating, which leads to more pain, and inevitably more self-medicating, and so on--ad infinitum. This groundbreaking book offers readers effective ways to work through their traumas in order to heal their addictions and their predilection toward what clinicians call self-medicating (the abuse of substances [alcohol, drugs, food], activities [work, sex, gambling, etc.] and/or possessions [money, material things].) Readers caught up in the endless cycle of trauma and addiction will permanently transform their lives by reading this book. Therapists treating patients for whom no other avenue of therapy has proved effective will find that this book offers practical, lasting solutions. Case studies and examples of this behavioral phenomenon will illustrate the connection, helping readers understand its dynamics, recognize their own situations and realize that they are not alone in experiencing this syndrome. The author deftly combines the longstanding trauma theories of Van der Kolk, Herman, Bowlby, Krystal and others with her own experiential methods using psychodrama, sociometry and group therapy in the treatment of addiction and posttraumatic stress disorder. While designed to be useful to therapists, this book will also be accessible to trade readers. It includes comprehensive references, as well as a complete index.

A new model of addiction that incorporates neurobiology, social relationships, and ecological systems. Understanding addiction is no longer just about understanding neurons or genes, broken brain functioning, learning, or faulty choices. Oliver J. Morgan provides a fresh take on addiction and recovery by presenting a more inclusive framework than traditional understanding. Cutting- edge work in attachment, interpersonal neurobiology, and trauma is integrated with ecological- systems thinking to provide a consilient and comprehensive picture of addiction. Humans are born into connection and require nourishing relationships for healthy living. Adversities, however, bring fragmentation and create the conditions for ill health. They create vulnerabilities. In order to cope, individuals can turn to alternatives, “substitute relationships” that ease the pain of disconnection. These can become addictions. Addiction, Attachment, Trauma, and Recovery presents a model, a method, and a mandate. This new focus calls for change in the established ways we think and behave about addiction and recovery. It reorients understanding and clinical practice for mental health and addiction counselors, psychologists, and social workers, as well as for addicts and those who love them.

An inclusive, research-based guide to working the 12 steps: a trauma-informed approach for clinicians, sponsors, and those in recovery. Step 1: You admit that you're powerless over your addiction. Now what? 12-step programs like Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and Narcotics Anonymous (NA) have helped countless people on the path to recovery. But many still feel that 12-step programs aren't for them: that the spiritual emphasis is too narrow, the modality too old-school, the setting too triggering, or the space too exclusive. Some struggle with an addict label that can eclipse the histories, traumas, and experiences that feed into addiction, or dismisses the effects of adverse experiences like trauma in the first place. Advances in addiction medicine, trauma, neuropsychiatry, social theory, and overall strides in inclusivity need to be integrated into modern-day 12-step programs to reflect the latest research and what it means to live with an addiction today. Dr. Jamie Marich, an addiction and trauma clinician in recovery herself, builds necessary bridges between the 12-step's core foundations and up-to-date developments in trauma-informed care. Foregrounding the intersections of addiction, trauma, identity, and systems of oppression, Marich's approach treats the whole person--not just the addiction--to foster healing, transformation, and growth. Written for clinicians, therapists, sponsors, and those in recovery, Marich provides an extensive toolkit of trauma-informed skills that: Explains how trauma impacts addiction, recovery, and relapse Celebrates communities who may feel excluded from the program, like atheists, agnostics, and LGBTQ+ folks Welcomes outside help from the fields of trauma, dissociation, mindfulness, and addiction research Explains the differences between being trauma-informed and trauma-sensitive; and Discusses spiritual abuse as a legitimate form of trauma that can profoundly impede spirituality-based approaches to healing.

This manual presents the first empirically studied, integrative treatment approach developed specifically for co-occurring PTSD and substance abuse. For persons with this prevalent and difficult-to-treat dual diagnosis, the most urgent clinical need is to establish safety--to work toward discontinuing substance use, letting go of dangerous relationships, and gaining control over such extreme symptoms as dissociation and self-harm. The manual is divided into 25 specific units or topics, addressing a range of different cognitive, behavioral, and interpersonal domains. Each topic provides highly practical tools and techniques to engage patients in treatment; teach "safe coping skills" that apply to both disorders; and restore ideals that have been lost, including respect, care, protection, and healing. Structured yet flexible, topics can be conducted in any order and in a range of different formats and settings. The volume is designed for maximum ease of use with a large-size format and helpful reproducible therapist sheets and handouts, which purchasers can also download and print at the companion webpage. See also the author's self-help guide Finding Your Best Self, Revised Edition: Recovery from Addiction, Trauma, or Both, an ideal client recommendation.

Women and girls are now becoming addicted at greater rates than ever before, and until very recently women in recovery were dependent on treatment models based solely on work with men. Harvard addiction and trauma expert Lisa M. Najavits offers this step-by-step program to help women overcome the often-overlooked problems associated with their drug and alcohol addictions, such as body image, trauma and violence, relationships, stress, and thrill-seeking. She explores how women differ from men in their addiction and recovery, and adapts this information to help you embark on your journey to healing. A chapter on co-occurring emotional problems allows you to evaluate whether you have any of the key disorders common among women with addiction, such as depression, post-traumatic stress, eating disorders, or phobias. With this strengths-building workbook, begin to come to terms with your personal addiction story. Healing exercises in four areas--feelings, beliefs, action, and relationships--help women build self-respect. Exercises include "Listen to That Small Quiet Voice," "Extreme Self-Care," "Self-Soothing," "Become Friends with Women," "Rethink," "Take Charge," "Share Responsibility," and "Mourn." In addition to these exercises and techniques, the book offers valuable resources of recovery support information.