Moderate Drinking: The Moderation Management (TM) Guide for People Who Want to Reduce Their Drinking [Paperback]

Audrey Kishline (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 26, 1995

The official handbook of Moderation Management, a non-profit, national self-help program that supports moderate drinking as a reasonable and attainable recovery goal for problem drinkers. Based on her own unsatisfactory experience with abstinence-based programs, Kishline offers inspiration and a step-by-step program to help individuals avoid the kind of drinking that detrimentally affects their lives.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Alcoholics Anonymous and other 12-step programs have helped thousands recover from addictive behaviors. Yet these programs do not work for everyone. These two titles offer other choices. Moderate Drinking is the official handbook of Moderation Management (MM), a nonprofit organization founded in 1993 by Kishline for problem drinkers who want to cut back. This approach, although highly controversial in America, has already been successfully implemented abroad and is making strides in this country. Kishline skillfully argues against using the disease model for alcoholism and outlines her philosophy and goals. She carefully and specifically details who should not try her methods. Overall, this is a helpful book. Still other alternatives to conventional treatments are described in Sober and Free. Kettelhack, a gay recovering alcoholic and author of several works, including First Year Sobriety (HarperSanFrancisco, 1992), uses individual case histories to illustrate his argument that recovery is possible by many methods. According to the author, each person must find the way that works best for him/her. Moderate Drinking should be purchased by all public and alcohol studies libraries. If space and budgets permit, Sober and Free should also be included. Together, these books help balance the plethora of works on abstinence and conventional treatments.
January Adams, Franklin Twp. P.L., Franklinville, N.J.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Kishline, founder and president of Moderation Management, presents a nine-step plan for those who wish to moderate their alcohol intake rather than quit altogether. She aligns herself with those scientists who believe there is no biological basis for alcoholism, which leads Kishline to the conclusion that drinking to excess is a "learned behavior" rather than a disease. However, she is careful to point out that chronic drinkers--those severely dependent on alcohol--must abstain from alcohol to see any life improvement. But problem drinkers--those who drink too much but whose lives are essentially intact--might benefit from a program of drinking reduction. Kishline's steps include setting up moderation limits, finding balance in behaviors, taking responsibility for one's actions, and setting priorities. Not for everyone with a drinking problem but meant to fill the gap between overdrinking and complete abstinence. Brian McCombie

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Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Three Rivers Press (December 26, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0517886561
• ISBN-13: 978-0517886564
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 4.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 0.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #542,816 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

47 of 53 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Did not work for me at all., July 11, 2002

By 

Futuredave "FutureDave" (Santa Monica, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Moderate Drinking: The Moderation Management (TM) Guide for People Who Want to Reduce Their Drinking (Paperback)

I bought this book in 1997 as I was becoming increasingly aware that I could not control my drinking. I did not want to go to AA or quit drinking forever. However, I tried this program and simply could not stop for 30 days (the initial pre-requisit). So, as a last resort, I went to AA. During my first week of sobriety, I went to a Moderation Management meeting. It was very small, maybe 5 people. And run by a professional counsellor. Every single person in the meeting had stories about how their drinking was still out of control, but they were learning more about themselves. It just made me sad, to be honest.

At the end of my first 30 days in AA, I had no desire to try social drinking. And here's why. For the first time in my life I could see how my brain worked and how uncomfortable I was in my own skin. I had been masking that uncomfortable feeling for years with alcohol. And I was not a DUI, job-losing, homeless drunk. I was a drink myself to sleep at night kind of guy. Which leads me to this: I believe this program and this book may be very helpful to some people. Just not me. And I would urge anyone with a drinking problem to try it, because if you do end up in AA, you will want to feel confident that you have tried everything you can to control and enjoy your drinking. If, in fact, you can control and enjoy your drinking, then good for you!

As for me, I heard a statement early on that stuck with me. It said that when alcohol is taken away from the problem drinker, the problem is solved. But when alcohol is taken away from the alcoholic, the problem is revealed. That, for me, was the main reason this book/program didn't work for me.

Bottom line: If you have a drinking problem, give this method a try. Give therapy a try. And if nothing else works, you will always be welcomed at AA.

55 of 68 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Probably not for everyone but works for me, March 21, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Moderate Drinking: The Moderation Management (TM) Guide for People Who Want to Reduce Their Drinking (Paperback)

You don't buy a book like this unless you have had some problems with alcohol. I found the author's approach quite helpful, but I suspect if you have SEVERE drinking problems...numerous DWIs, job failures, and the like...this book is probably not for you; go with AA.

The book proposes that there is an in-between solution besides total abstinence for people who drink too much. An alternative approach to the "total surrender" ethic of AA is offered. The entire regimen is described by the phrase "Moderation Management" which pretty well says it all.

By the way, there is a MM group online where the principles outlined in the book are hashed out.

20 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Critics love a tragedy, February 28, 2005

By 

Just Oneperson "Oneperson" (Nebraska) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Moderate Drinking: The Moderation Management (TM) Guide for People Who Want to Reduce Their Drinking (Paperback)

These aren't even reviews.

While I do not subscribe to all the helpful hints in this book I found its principles to be lifesaving and my doctors could not be happier. AA never worked for me. AA saved the lives of people I love however.

That there is a group of people out there happy that Audrey Kishline has failed to uphold all of her ideals and failed in such a horrible way is sick. Nothing could be worse, but it is not where the story begins or ends. AA too has had its failures and deaths which resulted from those failures, but we do not point a finger at AA. AA is one very extraordinary approach, this is another approach and one path does not work for everyone. Quit being so militant and return to being human beings.

If you have an opinion about the book, write it, otherwise this isn't the place for such arguments.