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Healing and Hope [Hardcover]

Betty Ford (Author)
4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)


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Book Description

November 6, 2003
The compelling and deeply personal stories of six women's journeys through alcoholism and drug addiction, with commentary by Betty Ford.

The Betty Ford Center is widely regarded as the nation's leading addiction treatment hospital, and since it opened in 1982, over 56,000 people have been treated there. Yet little has been written about what actually happens during treatment at the hospital.

Last year, during an alumni reunion, six women who had gone through the center and with whom Betty Ford had close relationships, decided to share their remarkable stories.

These are regular women, not celebrities, and they cross a broad spectrum of race, age, and class. One is a schoolteacher, another a housewife, and one is a former gang member. These women were addicted to alcohol, prescription medications, illegal drugs, and some to a combination of the three. For a few of the women, their treatment was successful the first time around-for others the journey to recovery was much more arduous. Their stories are honest and open, at times funny, often heartbreaking, always compelling.

Betty Ford weaves her own commentary around these narratives, giving details about the women and their lives-what they went through at the center and what happened afterward -and sharing stories about her own battle with drugs and alcohol.

Healing and Hope is a book for anyone struggling with addiction or who knows someone who is. It chronicles the experiences of survivors, women who have fought to reclaim their lives and break free of the addictions that have held them prisoner for so long.


Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

To take readers inside the famous addiction-recovery clinic that bears her name, Ford stitches together the stories of six who have been through its program and relevant recollections of her own struggle with alcoholism. She chooses six women to point up the peculiarities of women's addiction. Compared to male addicts, addicted women are more secretive, more easily inebriated, sustain liver damage sooner, present more complex psychological problems, and are more enabled by physicians and pharmacists. The overarching difference is that expectations of virtue are higher for women; consequently, they are more likely to see themselves as failures at love, motherhood, their professions--indeed, at living. Their addictions are attempts to "medicate" their perceived failures. It is remarkable, though Ford doesn't point it out, that one or both parents of five of the women were addicted and abusive, and the family of the sixth was emotionally repressed. Whatever leads a woman to addiction, she, not society, Ford says, must get herself out of it, although the 12-step Alcoholics Anonymous regimen and the fellowship of other reforming addicts, which the Ford Center provides intensively, are crucial to making an addict realize personal responsibility for recovery. With its six powerful personal stories and Ford's warm, authoritative overview, this is a solid popular introduction to the experience of recovery from addiction. Ray Olson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About the Author

During her time as First Lady, Betty Ford was renowned for her honesty and openness. Mrs. Ford's candor didn't stop once she left the White House. In 1978, she revealed to the world her courageous struggle to recover from an addiction to alcohol and prescription pills. Resolving to help others deal with the disease of addiction, Mrs. Ford, along with former Ambassador Leonard Firestone, co-founded the nonprofit Betty Ford Center in 1982, in Rancho Mirage, California. She serves as Chairman of the Center's Board of Directors.

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 288 pages
  • Publisher: Putnam Adult (November 6, 2003)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0399151389
  • ISBN-13: 978-0399151385
  • Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.1 x 1 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
  • Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,337,155 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

8 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.9 out of 5 stars (8 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Promising collection of inspiring stories of recovery, December 4, 2003
By A Customer
This review is from: Healing and Hope (Hardcover)
The name Betty Ford is synonymous with addiction-recovery. The six stories in "Healing and Hope" do not disappoint. Millions of readers will connect with the hope, promise and power that spills from these pages. Each story gives a thorough look into the lives of six shattered women who came to Betty Ford's doorstep, looking for recovery from the various addictions that plagued them. In an unusual look into the unique psyche of female addictions, "Healing and Hope" is a must-read for any woman who has struggled with addiction. This is a truly powerful compilation of inspiring and encouraging stories of recovery unlike any I've encountered before.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars touching and mesmerizing.., December 3, 2003
By A Customer
This review is from: Healing and Hope (Hardcover)
I was so moved by this book..every woman's story was more gripping than the next, and I felt I was getting a rare inside look at addiction from a female point of view. Betty Ford has made a difference to thousands of people, and it's about time that the world learns more about this powerful woman and the lives she's touched. I'd recommend this to anyone--not just those who have struggled with addiction.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Truly inspiring, December 10, 2003
By A Customer
This review is from: Healing and Hope (Hardcover)
This book made me appreciate for the first time how very difficult it is for an alcoholic/addict to get clean and stay that way. I have a friend who is a recovering alcoholic and this book made me understand at least some of what she went through--and still goes through. All of the women in the book are so impressive--An inspiring read!
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Inside This Book (learn more)
First Sentence:
Like the swallows of Capistrano, more than one thousand Betty Ford Center alumni return to the Rancho Mirage, California, campus every autumn to celebrate their sobriety and to express their gratitude to the place where they found the strength and tools they needed to get and stay sober. Read the first page
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
medallion ceremony, all about secrets, baffling and powerful, addictive self, bad mommy, aftercare plan, recovering people, family program, good mommy
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Betty Ford Center, Big Book, Fisher Hall, Alina Lodge, Fifth Step, Kansas City, Palm Springs, West Hall, Firestone Hall, Long Beach, New York, Lou Ann, South Dakota, Alumni Reunion, Fourth Step, John Schwarzlose, Los Angeles, Twelve Steps, Admissions Office, Children's Program, Lady Black Leather, Rancho Mirage, Alcoholics Anonymous, April Assertive, James West
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