Author: Hilarie Cash
Publisher: Gentle Path Press
ISBN: 9781732067332
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 250
Book Description
The internet, smartphones and technology are an integral part of everyday life. But for some users, what often starts out as a method to escape can eventually become a full-blown addiction. Users may find themselves retreating into videogames and other forms of technology to self-medicate loneliness, anxiety or depression, and find themselves isolated and missing out on important areas of life. In Facing Internet Addiction, some of the countries leading experts in technology addiction, adapt the groundbreaking thirty task model used by thousands of therapists worldwide, to treat technology and internet addiction. Using innovative tasks and exercises, the reader can engage in a plan designed to defeat addiction and restore lifestyle balance. This book is designed to be used as an adjunct to therapy, and also works well in conjunction with 12 step programs, or other recovery programs such as SMART recovery. Additionally, it is the first in a series, used in conjunction with recovery zone volumes 1 and 2, by Dr. Patrick Carnes.
Facing Internet Technology and Gaming Addiction: A Gentle Path to Beginning Recovery from Internet and Video Game Addiction
Author: Hilarie Cash
Publisher: Gentle Path Press
ISBN: 9781732067332
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 250
Book Description
The internet, smartphones and technology are an integral part of everyday life. But for some users, what often starts out as a method to escape can eventually become a full-blown addiction. Users may find themselves retreating into videogames and other forms of technology to self-medicate loneliness, anxiety or depression, and find themselves isolated and missing out on important areas of life. In Facing Internet Addiction, some of the countries leading experts in technology addiction, adapt the groundbreaking thirty task model used by thousands of therapists worldwide, to treat technology and internet addiction. Using innovative tasks and exercises, the reader can engage in a plan designed to defeat addiction and restore lifestyle balance. This book is designed to be used as an adjunct to therapy, and also works well in conjunction with 12 step programs, or other recovery programs such as SMART recovery. Additionally, it is the first in a series, used in conjunction with recovery zone volumes 1 and 2, by Dr. Patrick Carnes.
Publisher: Gentle Path Press
ISBN: 9781732067332
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 250
Book Description
The internet, smartphones and technology are an integral part of everyday life. But for some users, what often starts out as a method to escape can eventually become a full-blown addiction. Users may find themselves retreating into videogames and other forms of technology to self-medicate loneliness, anxiety or depression, and find themselves isolated and missing out on important areas of life. In Facing Internet Addiction, some of the countries leading experts in technology addiction, adapt the groundbreaking thirty task model used by thousands of therapists worldwide, to treat technology and internet addiction. Using innovative tasks and exercises, the reader can engage in a plan designed to defeat addiction and restore lifestyle balance. This book is designed to be used as an adjunct to therapy, and also works well in conjunction with 12 step programs, or other recovery programs such as SMART recovery. Additionally, it is the first in a series, used in conjunction with recovery zone volumes 1 and 2, by Dr. Patrick Carnes.
Recovery Zone Volume 2
Author: Patrick Carnes
Publisher: eBookIt.com
ISBN: 0983271321
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 306
Book Description
The process of therapy and treatment means stepping into an unfamiliar, new world with very different perspectives, processes and even its own language at ties. The goal of this extraordinary world is to repair, restructure, and build the internal structures to cope with losses, trauma, dysfunction, toxic stress, and addiction. The first of the Recovery Zone series focuses on the often painful and difficult internal tasks for that transition. This first book in the series by Patrick Carnes is already regarded as a classic and has been a durable best seller for the past decade. The second volume is now here, and Dr. Carnes helps with the issue of "now that I know all of this, what do I do?" How to translate the inner transformation into my everyday world? I have discovered the real "me" but what does that mean for me to integrate ideas and skills with my relationships, work, values, lifestyle -- and be happy? Much has been written about overcoming trauma, grief, dysfunctional relationships and the sinkholes of the various addictions. The sequel of Recovery Zone provides real answers about how to stay in the zone when traumatic events, toxic stress, and easy access to escape surrounds you. The goal must be an "Ultimate To Do List" so you do not miss out on the life you want and feel a genuine call to do. Core to this platform is a resilience built on ten master skills and thirty operational strategies that users describing as "defining" passage into a new life. The joke about life being what happens when you are on the way to do something else, has little reality at the end of this second volume. Dr. Carnes is widely known for his personal sharing, his warm and engaging stories, and his ability to weave complex science into something that everyone can use. These materials have evolved with the help of over two thousand therapists and the experiences of many thousands of patients. Another vintage of classic Carnes's writing.
Publisher: eBookIt.com
ISBN: 0983271321
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 306
Book Description
The process of therapy and treatment means stepping into an unfamiliar, new world with very different perspectives, processes and even its own language at ties. The goal of this extraordinary world is to repair, restructure, and build the internal structures to cope with losses, trauma, dysfunction, toxic stress, and addiction. The first of the Recovery Zone series focuses on the often painful and difficult internal tasks for that transition. This first book in the series by Patrick Carnes is already regarded as a classic and has been a durable best seller for the past decade. The second volume is now here, and Dr. Carnes helps with the issue of "now that I know all of this, what do I do?" How to translate the inner transformation into my everyday world? I have discovered the real "me" but what does that mean for me to integrate ideas and skills with my relationships, work, values, lifestyle -- and be happy? Much has been written about overcoming trauma, grief, dysfunctional relationships and the sinkholes of the various addictions. The sequel of Recovery Zone provides real answers about how to stay in the zone when traumatic events, toxic stress, and easy access to escape surrounds you. The goal must be an "Ultimate To Do List" so you do not miss out on the life you want and feel a genuine call to do. Core to this platform is a resilience built on ten master skills and thirty operational strategies that users describing as "defining" passage into a new life. The joke about life being what happens when you are on the way to do something else, has little reality at the end of this second volume. Dr. Carnes is widely known for his personal sharing, his warm and engaging stories, and his ability to weave complex science into something that everyone can use. These materials have evolved with the help of over two thousand therapists and the experiences of many thousands of patients. Another vintage of classic Carnes's writing.
Facing Addiction
Author: Patrick Carnes
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780982650561
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
The indespensible workbook to begin recovery from drugs and alcohol, using Dr. Patrick Carnes' pioneering thirty-task model.
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780982650561
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
The indespensible workbook to begin recovery from drugs and alcohol, using Dr. Patrick Carnes' pioneering thirty-task model.
Hooked on Games
Author: Andrew P. Doan
Publisher: Fep International
ISBN: 9781935576020
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
About the Book The multi-billion dollar video game industry is in the business of creating fun and enticing games that can be addictive. As addicted gamers feast on digital indulgences, real life is neglected and their reality crumbles around them. Headlines related to video games: ¿New Mexico mom gets 25 years for starving daughter.¿ ¿ Fox News ¿China used prisoners in lucrative Internet gaming work.¿ ¿ Guardian News ¿Online gamer killed for selling virtual weapon.¿ ¿ Sydney Morning Herald ¿South Korean dies after games sessions.¿ ¿ BBC News Hooked on Games is written by Brooke Strickland and Andrew Doan, MD, PhD, a physician with a research background in neuroscience, who battled his own addictions with video games. Dr. Doan was an addicted gamer, who at his peak, invested over 20,000 hours of playing games over a period of nine years. Dr. Doan¿s reckless compulsion to play games transformed him into a monster that almost destroyed his family, marriage, and career. He shares his expertise to educate others on the dangers of video game addiction and to provide hope for video game addicts and their families. Dr. Doan shares steps for gaming addicts to achieve recovery and steps for families and loved ones to intervene. Without attention to this quickest growing addiction, our society will suffer from the creation of Generation Vidiot, millions of people devoid of innovation and skills to live in the physical world. ¿As is true with many addictions, overuse of video games steals our valuable and limited time and minds.¿ ¿ Christie Morse, MD (Pediatric Ophthalmologist) ¿Shocking insights into the minds of hardcore gamers.¿ ¿ Daniel Hunt (Former Competitive Gamer)
Publisher: Fep International
ISBN: 9781935576020
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
About the Book The multi-billion dollar video game industry is in the business of creating fun and enticing games that can be addictive. As addicted gamers feast on digital indulgences, real life is neglected and their reality crumbles around them. Headlines related to video games: ¿New Mexico mom gets 25 years for starving daughter.¿ ¿ Fox News ¿China used prisoners in lucrative Internet gaming work.¿ ¿ Guardian News ¿Online gamer killed for selling virtual weapon.¿ ¿ Sydney Morning Herald ¿South Korean dies after games sessions.¿ ¿ BBC News Hooked on Games is written by Brooke Strickland and Andrew Doan, MD, PhD, a physician with a research background in neuroscience, who battled his own addictions with video games. Dr. Doan was an addicted gamer, who at his peak, invested over 20,000 hours of playing games over a period of nine years. Dr. Doan¿s reckless compulsion to play games transformed him into a monster that almost destroyed his family, marriage, and career. He shares his expertise to educate others on the dangers of video game addiction and to provide hope for video game addicts and their families. Dr. Doan shares steps for gaming addicts to achieve recovery and steps for families and loved ones to intervene. Without attention to this quickest growing addiction, our society will suffer from the creation of Generation Vidiot, millions of people devoid of innovation and skills to live in the physical world. ¿As is true with many addictions, overuse of video games steals our valuable and limited time and minds.¿ ¿ Christie Morse, MD (Pediatric Ophthalmologist) ¿Shocking insights into the minds of hardcore gamers.¿ ¿ Daniel Hunt (Former Competitive Gamer)
Loving an Addict, Loving Yourself
Author: Candace Plattor
Publisher: Being At Choice Consultants
ISBN: 0981385087
Category : Self-Help
Languages : en
Pages : 162
Book Description
Are you feeling exasperated and helpless about your family member's addiction? Are you at your wit's end, having tried everything you can think of to make them stop? If someone you love is engaging in addictive behaviors such as alcohol and drug misuse, eating disorders, smoking, gambling, Internet addiction, sex addiction, compulsive overspending, or relationship addiction, you are undoubtedly experiencing unpredictability in your relationship. Some of the most common emotions you will experience include: - Guilt and shame - Anger and anxiety - Confusion and powerlessness Whether the addict in your life is your spouse, partner, parent, child, friend, or colleague, the key to changing this reality for yourself lies in shifting your focus from your loved one's addiction to you own self-care. This book presents a dramatically fresh approach to help you get off the roller-coaster chaos of addiction, maintain your own sanity and serenity, and live your best life.
Publisher: Being At Choice Consultants
ISBN: 0981385087
Category : Self-Help
Languages : en
Pages : 162
Book Description
Are you feeling exasperated and helpless about your family member's addiction? Are you at your wit's end, having tried everything you can think of to make them stop? If someone you love is engaging in addictive behaviors such as alcohol and drug misuse, eating disorders, smoking, gambling, Internet addiction, sex addiction, compulsive overspending, or relationship addiction, you are undoubtedly experiencing unpredictability in your relationship. Some of the most common emotions you will experience include: - Guilt and shame - Anger and anxiety - Confusion and powerlessness Whether the addict in your life is your spouse, partner, parent, child, friend, or colleague, the key to changing this reality for yourself lies in shifting your focus from your loved one's addiction to you own self-care. This book presents a dramatically fresh approach to help you get off the roller-coaster chaos of addiction, maintain your own sanity and serenity, and live your best life.
Inner Engineering
Author: Sadhguru
Publisher: Harmony
ISBN: 0812997808
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 288
Book Description
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Thought leader, visionary, philanthropist, mystic, and yogi Sadhguru presents Western readers with a time-tested path to achieving absolute well-being: the classical science of yoga. “A loving invitation to live our best lives and a profound reassurance of why and how we can.”—Sir Ken Robinson, author of The Element, Finding Your Element, and Out of Our Minds: Learning to Be Creative NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY SPIRITUALITY & HEALTH The practice of hatha yoga, as we commonly know it, is but one of eight branches of the body of knowledge that is yoga. In fact, yoga is a sophisticated system of self-empowerment that is capable of harnessing and activating inner energies in such a way that your body and mind function at their optimal capacity. It is a means to create inner situations exactly the way you want them, turning you into the architect of your own joy. A yogi lives life in this expansive state, and in this transformative book Sadhguru tells the story of his own awakening, from a boy with an unusual affinity for the natural world to a young daredevil who crossed the Indian continent on his motorcycle. He relates the moment of his enlightenment on a mountaintop in southern India, where time stood still and he emerged radically changed. Today, as the founder of Isha, an organization devoted to humanitarian causes, he lights the path for millions. The term guru, he notes, means “dispeller of darkness, someone who opens the door for you. . . . As a guru, I have no doctrine to teach, no philosophy to impart, no belief to propagate. And that is because the only solution for all the ills that plague humanity is self-transformation. Self-transformation means that nothing of the old remains. It is a dimensional shift in the way you perceive and experience life.” The wisdom distilled in this accessible, profound, and engaging book offers readers time-tested tools that are fresh, alive, and radiantly new. Inner Engineering presents a revolutionary way of thinking about our agency and our humanity and the opportunity to achieve nothing less than a life of joy.
Publisher: Harmony
ISBN: 0812997808
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 288
Book Description
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Thought leader, visionary, philanthropist, mystic, and yogi Sadhguru presents Western readers with a time-tested path to achieving absolute well-being: the classical science of yoga. “A loving invitation to live our best lives and a profound reassurance of why and how we can.”—Sir Ken Robinson, author of The Element, Finding Your Element, and Out of Our Minds: Learning to Be Creative NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY SPIRITUALITY & HEALTH The practice of hatha yoga, as we commonly know it, is but one of eight branches of the body of knowledge that is yoga. In fact, yoga is a sophisticated system of self-empowerment that is capable of harnessing and activating inner energies in such a way that your body and mind function at their optimal capacity. It is a means to create inner situations exactly the way you want them, turning you into the architect of your own joy. A yogi lives life in this expansive state, and in this transformative book Sadhguru tells the story of his own awakening, from a boy with an unusual affinity for the natural world to a young daredevil who crossed the Indian continent on his motorcycle. He relates the moment of his enlightenment on a mountaintop in southern India, where time stood still and he emerged radically changed. Today, as the founder of Isha, an organization devoted to humanitarian causes, he lights the path for millions. The term guru, he notes, means “dispeller of darkness, someone who opens the door for you. . . . As a guru, I have no doctrine to teach, no philosophy to impart, no belief to propagate. And that is because the only solution for all the ills that plague humanity is self-transformation. Self-transformation means that nothing of the old remains. It is a dimensional shift in the way you perceive and experience life.” The wisdom distilled in this accessible, profound, and engaging book offers readers time-tested tools that are fresh, alive, and radiantly new. Inner Engineering presents a revolutionary way of thinking about our agency and our humanity and the opportunity to achieve nothing less than a life of joy.
Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8
Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309324882
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 587
Book Description
Children are already learning at birth, and they develop and learn at a rapid pace in their early years. This provides a critical foundation for lifelong progress, and the adults who provide for the care and the education of young children bear a great responsibility for their health, development, and learning. Despite the fact that they share the same objective - to nurture young children and secure their future success - the various practitioners who contribute to the care and the education of children from birth through age 8 are not acknowledged as a workforce unified by the common knowledge and competencies needed to do their jobs well. Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8 explores the science of child development, particularly looking at implications for the professionals who work with children. This report examines the current capacities and practices of the workforce, the settings in which they work, the policies and infrastructure that set qualifications and provide professional learning, and the government agencies and other funders who support and oversee these systems. This book then makes recommendations to improve the quality of professional practice and the practice environment for care and education professionals. These detailed recommendations create a blueprint for action that builds on a unifying foundation of child development and early learning, shared knowledge and competencies for care and education professionals, and principles for effective professional learning. Young children thrive and learn best when they have secure, positive relationships with adults who are knowledgeable about how to support their development and learning and are responsive to their individual progress. Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8 offers guidance on system changes to improve the quality of professional practice, specific actions to improve professional learning systems and workforce development, and research to continue to build the knowledge base in ways that will directly advance and inform future actions. The recommendations of this book provide an opportunity to improve the quality of the care and the education that children receive, and ultimately improve outcomes for children.
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309324882
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 587
Book Description
Children are already learning at birth, and they develop and learn at a rapid pace in their early years. This provides a critical foundation for lifelong progress, and the adults who provide for the care and the education of young children bear a great responsibility for their health, development, and learning. Despite the fact that they share the same objective - to nurture young children and secure their future success - the various practitioners who contribute to the care and the education of children from birth through age 8 are not acknowledged as a workforce unified by the common knowledge and competencies needed to do their jobs well. Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8 explores the science of child development, particularly looking at implications for the professionals who work with children. This report examines the current capacities and practices of the workforce, the settings in which they work, the policies and infrastructure that set qualifications and provide professional learning, and the government agencies and other funders who support and oversee these systems. This book then makes recommendations to improve the quality of professional practice and the practice environment for care and education professionals. These detailed recommendations create a blueprint for action that builds on a unifying foundation of child development and early learning, shared knowledge and competencies for care and education professionals, and principles for effective professional learning. Young children thrive and learn best when they have secure, positive relationships with adults who are knowledgeable about how to support their development and learning and are responsive to their individual progress. Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8 offers guidance on system changes to improve the quality of professional practice, specific actions to improve professional learning systems and workforce development, and research to continue to build the knowledge base in ways that will directly advance and inform future actions. The recommendations of this book provide an opportunity to improve the quality of the care and the education that children receive, and ultimately improve outcomes for children.
Video Games & Your Kids
Author: Hilarie Cash
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Family & Relationships
Languages : en
Pages : 216
Book Description
Video Games & Your Kids is for parents who are worried that their children may be spending too much time playing video games. Based on research and the authors' clinical experience, the book explains what gaming addiction is, how much gaming is too much, and the affects gaming has on the body and brain. The authors give gaming advice on each stage of life; birth-2 years, ages 2-6, elementary school years, adolescence, and adult children still living at home. Where there is a problem, the authors provide parents with tools that will help the them successfully set appropriate limits for their children.
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Family & Relationships
Languages : en
Pages : 216
Book Description
Video Games & Your Kids is for parents who are worried that their children may be spending too much time playing video games. Based on research and the authors' clinical experience, the book explains what gaming addiction is, how much gaming is too much, and the affects gaming has on the body and brain. The authors give gaming advice on each stage of life; birth-2 years, ages 2-6, elementary school years, adolescence, and adult children still living at home. Where there is a problem, the authors provide parents with tools that will help the them successfully set appropriate limits for their children.
Thinking in Systems
Author: Donella Meadows
Publisher: Chelsea Green Publishing
ISBN: 1603581480
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 242
Book Description
The classic book on systems thinking—with more than half a million copies sold worldwide! "This is a fabulous book... This book opened my mind and reshaped the way I think about investing."—Forbes "Thinking in Systems is required reading for anyone hoping to run a successful company, community, or country. Learning how to think in systems is now part of change-agent literacy. And this is the best book of its kind."—Hunter Lovins In the years following her role as the lead author of the international bestseller, Limits to Growth—the first book to show the consequences of unchecked growth on a finite planet—Donella Meadows remained a pioneer of environmental and social analysis until her untimely death in 2001. Thinking in Systems is a concise and crucial book offering insight for problem solving on scales ranging from the personal to the global. Edited by the Sustainability Institute’s Diana Wright, this essential primer brings systems thinking out of the realm of computers and equations and into the tangible world, showing readers how to develop the systems-thinking skills that thought leaders across the globe consider critical for 21st-century life. Some of the biggest problems facing the world—war, hunger, poverty, and environmental degradation—are essentially system failures. They cannot be solved by fixing one piece in isolation from the others, because even seemingly minor details have enormous power to undermine the best efforts of too-narrow thinking. While readers will learn the conceptual tools and methods of systems thinking, the heart of the book is grander than methodology. Donella Meadows was known as much for nurturing positive outcomes as she was for delving into the science behind global dilemmas. She reminds readers to pay attention to what is important, not just what is quantifiable, to stay humble, and to stay a learner. In a world growing ever more complicated, crowded, and interdependent, Thinking in Systems helps readers avoid confusion and helplessness, the first step toward finding proactive and effective solutions.
Publisher: Chelsea Green Publishing
ISBN: 1603581480
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 242
Book Description
The classic book on systems thinking—with more than half a million copies sold worldwide! "This is a fabulous book... This book opened my mind and reshaped the way I think about investing."—Forbes "Thinking in Systems is required reading for anyone hoping to run a successful company, community, or country. Learning how to think in systems is now part of change-agent literacy. And this is the best book of its kind."—Hunter Lovins In the years following her role as the lead author of the international bestseller, Limits to Growth—the first book to show the consequences of unchecked growth on a finite planet—Donella Meadows remained a pioneer of environmental and social analysis until her untimely death in 2001. Thinking in Systems is a concise and crucial book offering insight for problem solving on scales ranging from the personal to the global. Edited by the Sustainability Institute’s Diana Wright, this essential primer brings systems thinking out of the realm of computers and equations and into the tangible world, showing readers how to develop the systems-thinking skills that thought leaders across the globe consider critical for 21st-century life. Some of the biggest problems facing the world—war, hunger, poverty, and environmental degradation—are essentially system failures. They cannot be solved by fixing one piece in isolation from the others, because even seemingly minor details have enormous power to undermine the best efforts of too-narrow thinking. While readers will learn the conceptual tools and methods of systems thinking, the heart of the book is grander than methodology. Donella Meadows was known as much for nurturing positive outcomes as she was for delving into the science behind global dilemmas. She reminds readers to pay attention to what is important, not just what is quantifiable, to stay humble, and to stay a learner. In a world growing ever more complicated, crowded, and interdependent, Thinking in Systems helps readers avoid confusion and helplessness, the first step toward finding proactive and effective solutions.
In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts
Author: Gabor Maté, MD
Publisher: North Atlantic Books
ISBN: 1583944206
Category : Self-Help
Languages : en
Pages : 522
Book Description
A “thought-provoking and powerful” study that reframes everything you’ve been taught about addiction and recovery—from the New York Times–bestselling author of The Myth of Normal (Bruce Perry, author of The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog). A world-renowned trauma expert combines real-life stories with cutting-edge research to offer a holistic approach to understanding addiction—its origins, its place in society, and the importance of self-compassion in recovery. Based on Gabor Maté’s two decades of experience as a medical doctor and his groundbreaking work with people with addiction on Vancouver’s skid row, this #1 international bestseller radically re-envisions a much misunderstood condition by taking a compassionate approach to substance abuse and addiction recovery. In the same vein as Bessel van der Kolk’s The Body Keeps the Score, In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts traces the root causes of addiction to childhood trauma and examines the pervasiveness of addiction in society. Dr. Maté presents addiction not as a discrete phenomenon confined to an unfortunate or weak-willed few, but as a continuum that runs throughout—and perhaps underpins—our society. It is not a medical “condition” distinct from the lives it affects but rather the result of a complex interplay among personal history, emotional and neurological development, brain chemistry, and the drugs and behaviors of addiction. Simplifying a wide array of brain and addiction research findings from around the globe, the book avoids glib self-help remedies, instead promoting a thorough and compassionate self-understanding as the first key to healing and wellness. Dr. Maté argues persuasively against contemporary health, social, and criminal justice policies toward addiction and how they perpetuate the War on Drugs. The mix of personal stories—including the author’s candid discussion of his own “high-status” addictive tendencies—and science with positive solutions makes the book equally useful for lay readers and professionals.
Publisher: North Atlantic Books
ISBN: 1583944206
Category : Self-Help
Languages : en
Pages : 522
Book Description
A “thought-provoking and powerful” study that reframes everything you’ve been taught about addiction and recovery—from the New York Times–bestselling author of The Myth of Normal (Bruce Perry, author of The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog). A world-renowned trauma expert combines real-life stories with cutting-edge research to offer a holistic approach to understanding addiction—its origins, its place in society, and the importance of self-compassion in recovery. Based on Gabor Maté’s two decades of experience as a medical doctor and his groundbreaking work with people with addiction on Vancouver’s skid row, this #1 international bestseller radically re-envisions a much misunderstood condition by taking a compassionate approach to substance abuse and addiction recovery. In the same vein as Bessel van der Kolk’s The Body Keeps the Score, In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts traces the root causes of addiction to childhood trauma and examines the pervasiveness of addiction in society. Dr. Maté presents addiction not as a discrete phenomenon confined to an unfortunate or weak-willed few, but as a continuum that runs throughout—and perhaps underpins—our society. It is not a medical “condition” distinct from the lives it affects but rather the result of a complex interplay among personal history, emotional and neurological development, brain chemistry, and the drugs and behaviors of addiction. Simplifying a wide array of brain and addiction research findings from around the globe, the book avoids glib self-help remedies, instead promoting a thorough and compassionate self-understanding as the first key to healing and wellness. Dr. Maté argues persuasively against contemporary health, social, and criminal justice policies toward addiction and how they perpetuate the War on Drugs. The mix of personal stories—including the author’s candid discussion of his own “high-status” addictive tendencies—and science with positive solutions makes the book equally useful for lay readers and professionals.