The War of the Gods of Addiction, based on the correspondence between Bill W., one of the founders of Alcoholics Anonymous, and Swiss psychiatrist, C.G. Jung, proposes an original, groundbreaking, psychodynamic view of addiction. Using insights from Jungian psychology, it demonstrates why the twelve steps of AA really work. It explores, through theoretical and clinical material, modern and ancient myths, and fairy tales, the crucial process of neutralizing the archetypal shadow / archetypal evil, an aspect of all true addictions. It also explains how dreams may be used in the diagnosis and treatment of addiction. This book bridges the longstanding gap between the mental health and twelve-step recovering communities in ways that significantly encourage mutual understanding and benefit.
Frequently Bought Together
Editorial Reviews
About the Author
David Schoen, LCSW, MSSW, is a Jungian analyst who practices near New Orleans, Louisiana. He lectures and teaches nationally, is an internationally published author on the psychic significance of the hurricane, and a Louisiana poet.
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Author
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A refrshing and somewhat horrifying analysis of the nature of addiction!,
By Mr. Buck (Dahlonega, GA USA) - See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: War of the Gods in Addiction (Perfect Paperback)
I have had the opportunity to read many books on recovery and the nature of addiction. The author immediately takes the stance that true addiction is a "death sentence" and by his personal definition suggests that all addiction will eventually completely take over ones life and eventually kill the inflicted. His descriptions of the Archetypal Shadow / Archetypal Evil is such that it reinforced my already personally defined notions of the nature of addiction. I was initially drawn to the book based on its study of the correspondences between Bill Wilson (Co-Founder of Alcoholics Anonymous) and Carl Jung. David Schoen effectively used this as a spring board to take Jung's evaluation of the components of recovery and masterfully broke down the path to complete addiction and the necessary change that must occur to free oneself of servitude to the shadow. It is equally amazing that David Schoen is not a recovering addict himself. It is rare when someone that has not personally experienced the darkness firsthand can provide such a detailed and believable analysis. I would recommend this book to any member of the drug / alcohol recovery community that wants a fresh perspective that flows perfectly in line with their current 12 step program. Bravo!
30 of 38 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
A Cautionary Word,
By
This review is from: War of the Gods in Addiction (Perfect Paperback)
The author writes this book as a Jungian analyst. Had he written it simply as an unabashed advocate of AA (which he obviously is), it would not trouble me nearly as much. Although I do not consider myself a Jungian scholar, I have been a student of Jungian thought for 25+ years. I have read a smattering of Jung and many volumes by other Jungian analysts and authors. After years of seeking a spiritual alternative to the fundamentalist Christian framework of my upbringing, Jungian thought finally gave me a spiritual language that I could relate to beyond a purely materialistic and intellectually abstract world -- that could provide some avenue into the unknown that exists beyond fact, materialism, and science. It allowed me to move beyond a "hard choice" beyond physics and metaphysics, as well as (to use Nietzsche's words) beyond "good and evil." That conceptual dualism of pristine "good and evil," and an unrelenting battle between them, lies at the core of this book. Without that concept, the foundation for this book evaporates.So, I speak from the perspective confessed above and say that I have NEVER read a book by a Jungian that was so grounded in the sort of medieval, metaphysical dualism from which I labored to escape. I think I am being fair; I believe I am reading accurately both the lines and between the lines. Putting all of the author's disclaimers and weak assertions of an ecumenical world view aside, this book presents a fundamentalist christian(really catholic)world view of eternal transpersonal cosmic forces of pure good and pure evil, in which mortal man is buffeted and, if "addicted," must choose to surrender (yes, surrender) to the "pure good" cosmic force, or that mortal is lost. With respect -- but none the less loudly -- I object. Jung did NOT propound a "true Self" consonant with the catholic view of a "god" of "pure light," the "Good God." (p.121)" If the world could finally ever get beyond this concept of "GOD," perhaps we could get somewhere. Jung certainly sought to help us move beyond the metaphysical and theological grounding of this book. Please, if you are new to Jung, do not view this book as representative of Jung's concept of the "Self." Read someone else -- Edinger, Sanford, Johnson, Hollis, Dourley, anyone. Jung struggled to present in an acceptable and understandable way the notion of integration of light and dark, both with respect to the notion of human understanding and the "god image." In my humble view, I believe he would be appalled at the pristine dualism at the core of this work, regardless of whether he would agree that "unintergratable evil" exists. I read this book because, like so many, I often view myself as a problem drinker, a person who should investigate AA. Well, perhaps some day I will get beyond the shock of this book and consider that option again. I trust there are many, many in AA who do not think like either a 12th century monk or a 21st century protestant evangelical. At least I hope this book does not represent the theology of the good people of AA; I say with assurance that it does not speak for the world view of any Jungian I have ever read or talked with at any length.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
He does what few attempt to do,
By
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: War of the Gods in Addiction (Perfect Paperback)
and that is explore the hidden reasons for addiction in a Jungian fashion. Anyone can read the letter from Jung to Wilson (I found it here: [...]). I'm sure its not easy (for the author as an expert) to get between the two camps; the "its a disease-not your fault" and the "you're sinful-just be good not bad" models and put forth an alternative explanation that seems to me to lie reasonably between the two extremes. I'm certainly not an expert. Addiction seems to me another symptom of modernity in which God is marginalized and made to seem either simplistic or impossible to "believe in". I would venture to say that there is a war going on inside us between the side that wants to believe and the side that cannot find much firm footing on which to stand. In essence we must become our own Archimedes and find some spiritual leverage unless you are one of the lucky ones that can believe simplistically and sometimes against much evidence (at least as popularly presented). Where AA has been successful perhaps it is because it can give the addict a place to stand with others to support them in this hidden war. The Gospel According to Me: A heretic finds his way in modernity using Jungian psychology, science, dreams, and, well, the Gospels
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
Inside This Book
(learn more)
Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
