Beyond Addiction: Book review

The overall advice I've received from counsellors about how to deal with a loved one who has addictions has been that there's very little I can do: I need to stop enabling them and let them hit rock bottom; I need to detach and set boundaries; I can offer resources but otherwise it's up to them to change.

This book gives very different advice and right from the beginning it feels right. There IS something you can do: You can motivate your loved one to change through positive reinforcement. Beyond Addiction is a workbook for people who want to help a loved one who has an addiction. Its concepts are based on proven research, and they seem like common sense once pointed out.

A line from the book sums up the premise well: "You can help. Helping yourself helps. Your loved one isn't crazy. The world isn't black-and-white. Labels do more harm than good. Different people need different options. Treatment isn't the be-all and end-all. Ambivalence is normal. People can be helped at any time. Life is a series of experiments."

I highly recommend this book to anyone who has someone in their life who is struggling with addictions. The book has lots of useful takeaways and has the potential to completely change the way you see your loved one's addiction, though the authors often seem to be selling their particular business throughout, which I don't think is necessary.