Synopses & Reviews
Too often, clients with substance abuse and addiction problems achieve sobriety only to relapse shortly after. As a clinician in the addiction treatment field, you are undoubtedly familiar with this common scenario, and it can be a source of extreme frustration. To make matters worse, clients may see their relapse as evidence of personal failure and inadequacy, and as a result, they may resist more treatment. What if you could break this cycle and help clients maintain their progress?
Mindfulness-Based Sobriety presents a breakthrough, integrative approach to addiction recovery to help you treat clients recovering from substance abuse and addiction using mindfulness-based therapy, motivational interviewing, and relapse prevention therapy. Research has indicated that mindfulness-based therapy is highly effective in treating emotion dysregulation, stress, depression, and griefall emotions that lie at the root of addiction. Motivational interviewing is helpful in treating addiction because it helps clients learn to change the behaviors that cause addiction. And finally, relapse prevention therapy teaches individuals with addiction to anticipate and cope with potential relapse. This book combines all three of these highly effective treatments.
This powerful manual was developed by Gateway Foundation clinicians in order to better fulfill the mission of reducing substance abuse and co-occurring mental health problems. The book provides two curricula: an outpatient treatment curriculum and a residential treatment curriculum. Both are user-friendly and can be implemented in an open group format, which means that you can say goodbye to the days of tailoring one-on-one treatment to fit a group setting.
The integrative approach outlined in this book will help your clients conquer substance abuse by identifying their own values, strengthening their motivation, and tackling other mental health problems that may lie at the root of their addiction. Furthermore, the books strong emphasis on relapse prevention means that you can help clients stay on the path to sobriety.
Review
In this book, Turner, Welches, and Conti have made a much-needed addition to the substance abuse treatment field. Integrating several of the most important new approaches to helping people change, the authors have written a concise, lucid, and practical book about their evidence-based approach.
Mindfulness-Based Sobriety details an approach that is not only effective, but one that is profoundly respectful and compassionate toward those who suffer from addiction.”
Michael Maslar, PsyD, director of mindfulness and behavior therapies at The Family Institute at Northwestern University
Review
The authors have done a thoughtful job of integrating motivational interviewing, acceptance and commitment therapy, and relapse prevention into a well-designed curriculum for outpatient and residential groups.
This is what can happen when knowledge and compassion come together.”
Stan McCracken, PhD, senior lecturer at the University of Chicago, School of Social Service Administration
Review
“The Mindfulness Workbook for Addiction is a brilliant blend of psychology and spirituality. Williams and Kraft have written a breakthrough manual, clearly and intelligently laid out, that blends the most current understanding of addiction with the powerful practices of mindfulness. One of the best books on living with integrity we have read in years.”
—Michele Hébert, author of The Tenth Door, and Mehrad Nazari, PhD, director of the Raja Yoga Institute
Review
“What a gift! This wonderful workbook will help you understand how addictions function as a false remedy for negative feelings. It is packed with stories, metaphors, worksheets, and activities that will teach you how to befriend your mind and use it as a resource for recovery and fulfillment. The authors use everyday language to describe the complexities of the human condition, and help you systematically learn and practice skills to accept your feelings, live with integrity by honoring your values, and enrich your relationships. The workbook can be used by individuals or groups and will make a great adjunct for psychotherapy.”
—Heidi A. Zetzer, PhD, director of the Hosford Counseling & Psychological Services Clinic at the University of California, Santa Barbara
Review
“Refreshing, unique, and practical. The Mindfulness Workbook for Addiction is an impressive synthesis of Eastern and Western techniques designed to help those struggling with addiction find a path towards healing and transformation. Through the use of mindfulness practices, cognitive-behavioral exercises, case examples and relevant metaphors, the authors entice readers to actively participate in their own recovery. This workbook offers creative, new ideas and practical recovery tools designed to facilitate real and lasting change. I can’t wait to use it with my clients!”
—Phylis Wakefield, PhD, psychologist, specialist in addiction and trauma and coauthor of Couple Therapy for Alcoholism
Review
“With warmth and patience, The Mindfulness Workbook for Addiction guides the reader step-by-step through a journey toward self-understanding, self-acceptance, responsibility, and healing. With practical knowledge of how painful emotions drive us to act against our own well-being and how to free ourselves from this struggle, Williams and Kraft have provided an invaluable resource for people in recovery and the therapists who aid them. Mental health professionals are offered a comprehensive map of the emotional ground traveled in recovery from addictions and other self-defeating behaviors, with spot-on teaching stories that illustrate each stage of the process.”
—Laura E. Forsyth, PhD, supervisor of psychological counseling at Moorpark College and psychologist in private practice serving adults with ADHD, depression and anxiety in Camarillo, CA
Review
“With an engaging and conversational tone, Williams and Kraft show you how to change the energy of addiction. Their practical strategies allow addictive personalities to dig deep and tackle the genesis of their destructive behaviors and trigger positive-mindset solutions for living a more powerful life.”
—Stacey Canfield, author of The Soul Sitter Handbook
Review
“The Mindfulness Workbook for Addiction is a practical, easy-to-read book that addresses addictions of all varieties. The workbook is rich in offering tools and insights that everyone can benefit from, whether they struggle with an addiction or not. The authors nicely use case examples and metaphors to bring the concepts alive. This will be a valuable resource to anyone seeking to learn new skills for overcoming an addiction.”
—Lee Williams, PhD, professor of marital and family therapy at the University of San Diego and co-author of Essential Assessment Skills for Couple and Family Therapists
Review
“Williams and Kraft teach readers in a clear, compassionate, and concise way how to observe painful feelings as they arise. By learning how to tolerate and investigate their present-moment experiences, readers can stop harmful behaviors and make more valued life choices. This guide will be an essential addition to the library of anyone struggling with addiction and difficult emotions, and for all therapists who want to utilize an effective approach to help people live fuller, healthier lives.”
—Shoshana Shea, PhD, clinical psychologist focusing on mindfulness-based cognitive therapy in San Diego
Review
“The authors have created a tool that can benefit all people who are dealing with addictions. The Mindfulness Workbook for Addiction integrates our best treatments for addiction and the emotional suffering that comes with it. This is a clear, step-by-step approach that will help readers move from trying (and failing) to avoid pain to living the life that they want to live, consistent with their values and free from the substance to which they are addicted. The focus on a nonjudgmental stance and acceptance of one’s self while also facing challenges and changing behaviors provides readers with the key tools needed to change their lives.”
—John R. McQuaid, PhD, associate chief of mental health at San Francisco VA Medical Center, professor of clinical psychology in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco and coauthor of Peaceful Mind
Synopsis
This comprehensive workbook explains the facts about addiction & provides simple step-by-step directions for working through the stages of the quitting process. The authors help you prepare to quit & explain how to get help & support, use the new craving blocker drugs, relax without chemicals, control and express feelings, and prevent relapse.
Synopsis
If you're thinking about quitting alcohol or drugs, this comprehensive workbook can help you get on track and reach your goals.
The Addiction Workbook starts you on your journey by explaining the facts about addiction. It shows you how you can determine if you have a problem and helps you cut through denial or ambivalence to reach a clear decision to quit. Simple, concise exercises and tips help you gather support, deal with detoxification, improve nutrition, and build a personalized exercise program. You will discover how to relax without chemicals and cope with feelings of depression, anxiety, and anger.
The book's final chapters cover conducting a personal moral inventory and making lifestyle changes to foster long-term relapse prevention.
Direct and easy to understand, for those who want to do something about their use or misuse of alcohol and other drugs.
Synopsis
Mindfulness-Based Sobriety presents a breakthrough, integrative approach to addiction recovery for clinicians who treat clients recovering from substance abuse and addiction. The book combines relapse prevention therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), and motivational interviewing to help clients conquer substance abuse by identifying their own values, strengthening their motivation, and tackling other mental health problems that may lie at the root of their addiction. The book also puts a strong emphasis on relapse prevention, so that clinicians can help clients stay on the path to sobriety.
Synopsis
The Mindfulness Workbook for Addiction offers a mindfulness-based program for treating addiction created by a psychologist who works for the Department of Veterans Affairs and a marriage and family therapist who works for Sharp Mesa Vista Hospital. This unique approach addresses the grief and loss that are often at the root of addiction.
Synopsis
Most addictive behavior is rooted in some type of loss, be it the death of a loved one, coming to terms with limitations set by chronic health problems, or the end of a relationship. By turning to drugs and alcohol, people who have suffered a loss can numb their grief. In the process, they postpone their healing and can drive themselves further into addiction.
The Mindfulness Workbook for Addiction offers readers an effective program for working through their addiction and grief with cognitive behavior therapy (CBT), dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), and acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT). Created by a psychologist who works for the Department of Veterans Affairs and a marriage and family therapist who works for Sharp Mesa Vista Hospital, this mindfulness training workbook is effective for treating the emotion dysregulation, stress, depression, and grief that lie at the heart of addiction. No matter the loss, the mindfulness skills in this workbook help readers process their grief, determine the function their addiction is serving, and replace the addiction with healthy coping behaviors.
About the Author
Rebecca E. Williams, PhD, is a clinical psychologist specializing in recovery from mental illness and addictions. She received her master’s degree from Harvard University and her PhD from the University of California, Santa Barbara. She is currently the director of the Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System’s Wellness and Vocational Enrichment Clinic. In addition, she is an associate clinical professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego, an adjunct faculty member at the University of San Diego, and coauthor of Couple Therapy for Alcoholism. She has a psychotherapy practice in San Diego, CA.
Julie S. Kraft, MA, received her master’s degree in marriage and family therapy from the University of San Diego’s School of Leadership and Education Sciences. She has provided counseling to veterans and their family members at the Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System and has provided psychotherapy to individuals, couples, families, and groups in community settings. In her current position with Sharp HealthCare, she treats clients struggling with both addiction and mental health concerns. She lives and works in San Diego, CA.
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