The Tao of Sobriety: Helping You to Recover from Alcohol and Drug Addiction (Paperback)

~ David Gregson (Author), Jay S. Efran (Author), G. Alan Marlatt (Author) "This workbook is intended for those of you who want help with serious drug or alcohol problems..." (more)
Key Phrases: mind demons, mind committee, discovery exercise, Retracing the Journey, Sister Mary, Attaining Balance (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Getting and Giving HelpIn The Tao of Sobriety: Helping You to Recover from Alcohol and Drug Addiction, longtime therapists David Gregson and Jay S. Efran offer a self-help book designed either to work in tandem with 12-step programs or to help addicts get sober without group help. After a brief explanation of Taoism (a Chinese philosophy and religion whose practitioners seek inner peace), the authors present the Tao, a Chinese term meaning "the way," as an ideal vehicle for attaining and maintaining freedom from substance addiction. Replete with anecdotes, exercises (meditations, questions to explore, affirmations) and real-life applications of Taoist precepts (letting go of attachments to guilt and other "self-condemnation" behaviors that lead to substance abuse), this guide uses the firm but gentle approach that is the trademark of many Eastern practices.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Review

"A clear, accessible, and insightful guide that draws on the profound wisdom of the Eastern world." -- Stephanie S. Covington, Ph.D., author of Helping Women Recover and A Woman's Way Through the Twelve Steps

"A compassionate guide to self-love and acceptance." -- Claudia Black, Ph.D., author of It Will Never Happen to Me

"This book has more ideas about recovery than you're likely to find in any other ten books. Highly readable, too." -- Robert F. Forman, Ph.D., director of the Technology Transfer Treatment Research Institute and Assistant Professor of Psychology in Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania

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Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin; 1st edition (January 21, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312242506
• ISBN-13: 978-0312242503
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #78,024 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Tao of Sobriety, March 9, 2002

By	Charles E. Gallagher (Ardmore, PA USA) - See all my reviews

Although a therapist and a student of Zen practice for over 25 years, this book gave me a deeper level of compassion for people who suffer a life of addiction. I was impressed with how direct and yet nuturing the book spoke to the everyday difficulties of a person suffering from addiction.

I found the exercises and the related discussions practical, realistic and powerful. This book can help addicts and their loved ones to experience the great joy of substance free, moment to moment living. As a family member who has experienced the pain of another family member's addiction, it help me to change my interactions, conversations and start a new relationship based on honest expression and loving actions.

Read it, apply it and this book with change you!

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thought-Provoking and Practical, July 8, 2002

By	Mark Schenker "Mark Schenker" (Lafayette Hill, PA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I found "The Tao of Sobriety" to be extremely helpful on several counts. With over 20 years experience in the substance abuse treatment field, I found Gregson and Efran articulating ideas that I'd been working with in a coherent and practical framework. Their section on establishing "innocence in spirit" among patients who are plagued with guilt about their addiction is especially powerful and has been well received by several of my patients. The use of actual exercises makes the book useful as well as stimulating. The message of this book is relevant whether one is working a 12-Step program, (in which case it fits neatly into the "prayer and meditation" of the 11th Step), or is seeking an alternative approach to recovery. In fact, most of the concepts have relevance beyond the substance abuse area, and have already found a way into my practice with both addicted and non-addicted patients. I recommend this book highly.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If you are feeling lost and bad about yourself, June 20, 2005

By	Janice Digs "beepark1" (Van Nuys, CA United States) - See all my reviews

I love to read and re-read this book. It's not just about being sober, it's about being human. I feel like I have a personal private therapy session every time I pick up this book to read various passages. It is like you are being personally addressed and all your issues are diminished and you get "freed up". I only wish these authors were "on the road" giving seminars or something but, alas, don't find anything online about that. A truly, loving, supportive, forgiving friend is found when reading these pages. Thank you.