The Gift Of Addiction

What if your greatest affliction—your addiction—has really been your greatest gift? The Gift of Addiction offers you a new understanding of how addiction operates, why you are walking its path, and the purpose for it in your life, providing you with the comfort of knowing that you possess all the necessary components to arrive at a place where you are able to create a life beyond your wildest dreams. Within these pages you will discover the vast spiritual intelligence behind the “disease” yet to be understood in our society, and author Sherry Burditt, RN, HN-BC, explains how our current addictions epidemic is the precursor to a new discovery and human transformation. Sherry Burditt has truly given us an important gift. From cover to cover, The Gift of Addiction contains a vast amount of practical, beneficial, and illuminating information with a storyteller’s grace and a clinician’s insight. It has been masterfully researched, eloquently written, and deeply felt. —Tina Haney, RN, BSN The Gift of Addiction offers an enlightened view of healing addiction through a deep understanding of the seven energy centers in the spine—the chakras. Sherry offers practical techniques that holistically incorporate healing of mind, body, and spirit. She provides a spiritual, “heart-based” approach that aligns us to the invincible soul within, and reawakens our knowing that our lives are divinely guided, guarded, and protected by the God of our understanding. —Patricia Fleming, CAcT, RYT, CMT, CRT

You did it again. You drank. You got high. You slept with him/her. You surfed the Internet. What gift could you possibly find in so much failure? But when your helplessness drives you to turn to God and admit your need, you will experience the greatest gift of all—his presence, his kindness, his forgiveness and his peace. Author Erik Guzman ...

A 2018 Nautilus Award Winner If you're recovering from addiction, The Gift of Recovery offers quick, in-the-moment tips and tricks to help you cope with daily stress and stay firmly on the path to wellness. With this gentle, easy-to-use guide, you'll learn how to navigate relationships, take time for self-care, and build a mindful, sustainable, and joyful recovery. Deciding to get help for addiction is the first step toward recovery. But addiction recovery doesn't happen all at once--it's something that must be worked for, every day. Sometimes, it will be easy. When things are going well, you may not be tempted to give in to your cravings. But when life is stressful, you'll need strategies to help you cope. Written by the authors of The Mindfulness Workbook for Addiction, this on-the-go mindfulness guide offers fifty-two powerful and effective meditations to help you manage the stress, depression, and strong emotions that can get in the way of a full and lasting recovery. You'll also find skills based in cognitive behavior therapy (CBT), dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), and acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) to help you stay grounded, as well as links to online resources. Deciding to overcome an addiction can feel like leaving a relationship. It's hard and sometimes lonely--but it is truly an act of courage. This book will help guide you as you continue making courageous steps toward peace, joy, and fulfillment.

Treating Addiction as a personal failing or weakness is stigmatizing and doesn’t work—not for those living with it, or for their loved ones. Understanding Addiction as a primary chronic brain disease allows us to see the symptoms and behaviours as they really are, and provide treatment programs that go beyond the stigma. Whether the Addiction involves alcohol, narcotics, gambling, food, or sex, it is vital to examine what is happening in the brain, not simply focus just on correcting a person’s behaviour. This book looks at how treating Addiction as a disease can radically improve outcomes by using a holistic approach that balances the biological, psychological, social, and spiritual aspects of treatment needed for recovery. Whether you suffer from Addiction, know someone who does, or work in the healthcare field, Addiction is Addiction provides a comprehensive path to understanding, living with, and recovering from the disease. www.addictionisaddictionbook.com

Presenting addiction as a universal experience, Dr. Bucklew invites us not to stigmatize or narrowly define it. Whether we turn to heroin, food, or compulsive thought, at the heart of all addiction lies the same dynamic: an unseen resistance to our present moment experience. The Hidden Gifts of Addiction draws our deeper wisdom to the surface. Instead of trading one addiction for another, you will discover a way of living that is freeing and life-affirming, even amid craving and challenge.

About the Book Trouble Is a Gift is the story of a recovered alcoholic who humbly asked for help in finding a purpose and meaning in his life, whose prayer was answered, and who then turned his dream into a reality devoted to the care and treatment of millions of sick and suffering addicts and alcoholics. James S. Cusack, alcoholic, caregiver, and astute businessman, recounts his inner struggles and self-doubt, the stages of his recovery from alcohol addiction, and the moment of clarity when his mission came to light and he saw how, with the help of God and a Twelve-Step program, he could fulfill his purpose. Cusack writes with candor and sincerity of his early upbringing in Manhattan, his family s move to Queens, and his boyhood as a tough street kid; then takes us through his difficult times in the U.S. Air Force, where he discovered the therapeutic value of discipline; and through the hard-drinking years that followed his Honorable Discharge and led to his sobriety. In the early years of his recovery, Jim focused mainly on getting sober, working and enjoying success in the trucking business and insurance sales. In time, he began helping others to sober up, meeting with them in the back room of a candy store in Astoria, Queens, and touching their lives with the love, warmth, and honesty that had been given to him. Feeling an ever-greater need to find his mission in life, in 1965, Jim brought his prayer for direction to the Shrine of North American Martyrs, in Auriesville, New York. Shortly thereafter, his prayer was answered when he was hired to manage Glen Acre Lodge in Glen Spey, NY, one of the very earliest retreat centers for alcoholics. As the success of his work gained attention, Jim became part-owner of the Lodge and landed his first big account with the New York City Police Department with the help of Msgr. Joseph Dunn, who developed the Department s Employee Assistance Program. In time, fireman, sanitation workers, and other city employees suffering from alcoholism were also sent to Jim for help getting sober. Jim s story continues through numerous twists, turns, and fateful encounters, including his first meeting with Sue, now his wife and partner in his life work, and several changes of location before coming upon the resort in the Catskills that is now known as Villa Veritas. About the Author A pioneer in the field of chemical dependency treatment, James S. Cusack, CASAC, NCAC II, NCRS, offers his story as an example to all those brave individuals determined to overcome obstacles and turn liabilities into assets. Himself a recovered alcoholic of 60 years, Jim learned through helping other alcoholics find their way to sobriety that the gift is in the giving, and made his service his career. In his 50 years working with those suffering from chemical dependency, Jim has received countless honors acknowledging his groundbreaking accomplishments. In 1981, he and his wife Sue closed on the purchase of a Catskill resort which, through their dedicated efforts, has become Villa Veritas. In 2011, Jim and Sue established the Villa Veritas Foundation, Inc., to safeguard their mission and carry on a 40-year legacy of helping and caring for the chemically dependent. Jim serves as chairman of the board of Villa Veritas Foundation, Inc., and Sue, as Foundation president. They are committed to maintaining their hands-on, individualized approach to ensure that each of the thousands of alcoholics and addicts who pass through the Villa every year receives the love, care, and opportunity to find a new life in recovery he or she deserves. Jim, at age 83, continues to do what every recovered alcoholic with a mission should be doing: He s living one day at a time, and planning his next endeavor.

Offers advice & a practical guide to making relationships work

Runner-up winner of the Hamilton Book Author Award, this book is a comprehensive overview of the neurobiology behind addictions. Neuroscience is clarifying the causes of compulsive alcohol and drug use––while also shedding light on what addiction is, what it is not, and how it can best be treated––in exciting and innovative ways. Current neurobiological research complements and enhances the approaches to addiction traditionally taken in social work and psychology. However, this important research is generally not presented in a forthright, jargon-free way that clearly illustrates its relevance to addiction professionals. The Science of Addiction presents a comprehensive overview of the roles that brain function and genetics play in addiction. It explains in an easy-to-understand way changes in the terminology and characterization of addiction that are emerging based upon new neurobiological research. The author goes on to describe the neuroanatomy and function of brain reward sites, and the genetics of alcohol and other drug dependence. Chapters on the basic pharmacology of stimulants and depressants, alcohol, and other drugs illustrate the specific and unique ways in which the brain and the central nervous system interact with, and are affected by, each of these substances Erickson discusses current and emerging treatments for chemical dependence, and how neuroscience helps us understand the way they work. The intent is to encourage an understanding of the body-mind connection. The busy clinical practitioner will find the chapter on how to read and interpret new research findings on the neurobiological basis of addiction useful and illuminating. This book will help the almost 21.6 million Americans, and millions more worldwide, who abuse or are dependent on drugs by teaching their caregivers (or them) about the latest addiction science research. It is also intended to help addiction professionals understand the foundations and applications of neuroscience, so that they will be able to better empathize with their patients and apply the science to principles of treatment.