Controlling Your Drinking: Tools to Make Moderation Work for You [Paperback]

William R. Miller Phd (Author), Ricardo F. Munoz (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 13, 2004

How many glasses of wine can you have with dinner before blowing your diet, your cool, or your budget? When it comes to alcohol use, many of us find it difficult to draw the line between problem-free enjoyment and harmful overindulgence. Studies show that 10 percent of Americans--nearly 30 million of us--drink more than we should. If you suspect it’s time to cut back but aren’t sure you want to abstain, Controlling Your Drinking provides an alternative opportunity to reflect on your habits and adjust unhealthy behaviors. Drawing on 30 years of research and nearly three dozen clinical trials, recognized experts William R. Miller and Ricardo F. Muñoz supply hard facts and current data you can use to evaluate your alcohol consumption and judge its impact on your physical and emotional health. Armed with a fresh perspective on your drinking and its consequences, you decide whether moderation fits your needs. Without resorting to labels or moralizing, Miller and Muñoz help you establish a simple, pragmatic, and adaptable plan for meeting your goals and achieving the results you want. Set apart by its science-based approach and straightforward advice, this book is the thinking person’s guide to sensible alcohol use.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Few concepts in alcohol treatment have been more controversial than the idea of "controlled" drinking. And few researchers have been more influential in the field than Miller, a Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry at the University of New Mexico. This updated (and re-titled) version of his clinically tested 1975 manual will be of great interest to people who are concerned about their drinking, as well as to family members and clinicians. Clear, concise, non-judgmental and practical, it lays out the facts that are often obscured in the heated debate over alcohol treatments. As Miller and co-author Muñoz write, under previous conceptions of alcohol problems, a person was either alcoholic or not, and "if you are an alcoholic, then it's too late for moderation. If you're not alcoholic, then you don't need a book on it." Research has since disproved these assumptions, finding that alcohol problems occur on a spectrum and that moderation, like other behavior, can be learned. (The authors stress that readers needn't concern themselves over whether they're "alcoholics" but should instead focus on changing harmful drinking behavior.) The new book offers tools for successful moderation-like spacing alcoholic drinks with non-alcoholic ones and timing drinks to maintain low levels of blood alcohol concentration-as well as tactics for dealing with common challenges, like hard-drinking friends and social anxiety. It's also been updated to better highlight the most useful techniques. Contrary to fears that offering tips on moderation might help people rationalize further heavy drinking, Miller's work and that of others has found that trying moderation helps drinkers decide for themselves if it is an achievable goal. If not, the self-discovery provoked by being unable to learn to moderate often spurs abstinence-an outcome the authors also applaud.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

"Some people with alcohol problems can learn to moderate their drinking, while others cannot drink at all without serious consequences. For people in the first category, this book provides a uniquely practical way of addressing their drinking problems. It is written with clarity and with illuminating clinical examples that will be valuable to both drinkers and their families."--Marc Galanter, MD, Division of Alcoholism and Drug Abuse, NYU School of Medicine

"If you want to build a healthier relationship with alcohol, this highly readable book is a gold mine of practical information based on the latest scientific studies. Filled with wonderfully detailed examples, tips, and tools, this is destined to become the guide for people seeking to make the best personal decisions about the role of alcohol in their lives. The discussions of overdrinking, "dumb drinking," harmful drinking, and dependent drinking are by themselves worth the price of the book. Finally, a book that eschews labels and just provides commonsense advice on how to drink smarter and how to figure out if you shouldn’t be drinking at all. The authors are to be commended for injecting a breath of reason into a long, acrimonious debate that has generated more heat than light."--William L. White, author of Slaying the Dragon

"This book is a gem for drinkers who want to cut down. Drs. Miller and Muñoz have taken a complex topic and distilled it to its essence. Unlike many self-help books that tout how easy it is to change your behavior, Controlling Your Drinking takes an honest, balanced approach. While not everyone who overdrinks can learn how to moderate their drinking, this guide tells you what you need to know and do if you are to be successful. I wholeheartedly recommend this book."--Reid K. Hester, PhD, Behavior Therapy Associates, Albuquerque, New Mexico

"Controlling Your Drinking provides something few of us are ever given: practical, nonjudgmental guidance on how to drink responsibly. The book respectfully empowers the reader with skills to take charge of problem drinking. The renowned authors offer straightforward, research-based strategies for knowing if and when controlled drinking might work, how to go about it, and what to do if the approach is not for you. This book offers a potpourri of tactics not only for managing your drinking, but also for managing your life."--Anne M. Fletcher, MS, RD, author of Sober for Good

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 226 pages
• Publisher: The Guilford Press; 1 edition (November 13, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1572309032
• ISBN-13: 978-1572309036
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 7 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #160,895 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Dr. William R. Miller is Emeritus Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry at the University of New Mexico. Fundamentally interested in the psychology of change, he has focused in particular on the development, testing, and dissemination of behavioral treatments for addictions. He maintains an active interest in pastoral counseling and the integration of spirituality and psychology. The Institute for Scientific Information lists him as one of the world's most cited scientists.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

45 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Useful for more than alcohol moderation, April 27, 2007

By 

Mark Thrice (West Virginia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Controlling Your Drinking: Tools to Make Moderation Work for You (Paperback)

I read this book as part of my biographical research on a man who was an alcoholic. It opened my eyes to the many aspects of alcohol dependency. Its intelligent, unpatronizing directions on how to reduce the amount you drink or decide for abstinence were thoughtful, and I could see how it would be helpful to those thinking through their relationship with alcohol. I think this book would be useful, too, for impulse eating and similar situations. I recommend this book highly.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Really Good Research and Information, December 30, 2011

By 

Alida Schuyler - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Controlling Your Drinking: Tools to Make Moderation Work for You (Paperback)

Controlling Your Drinking is a very useful and well written book for anyone facing problems from over-drinking. I wish I had gotten it on my 16th birthday. Instead I struggled for years to control my drinking and eventually gave it up entirely. What I love about this book is that it tells the truth about who succeeds using the methods clearly outlined in the book, and who (and why) some people eventually opt to abstain. Miller's research and work is impeccable. He has used this method with over 8,000 people and tracked their results for 3-8 years.

I will never know if I could have controlled my drinking. People whose drinking habits and problems, according to the screening and diagnostic tools in the book, were similar to mine split between successfully reducing and controlling their drinking and others who found it easier to simply quit.

As a Recovery Coach I use this book with clients who want to deal with problems related to drinking too much, but not necessarily quit. I recommend it highly.