Beyond Denial

Ninety percent of alcoholics return to drinking within one year of committing to treatment. By examining the issues encountered during early recovery, Beyond Denial takes a fresh look at chemical dependency and other addictions with special focus on this distressingly high relapse rate. The book is designed to take up where traditional treatment often leaves off. The important role of the family is emphasized with specific chapters devoted to denial and the oppositional personality, codependency, adult children of alcoholics, and how the family can deal with the addict who isn't ready to seek help. The book stresses the view that addiction is a developmentally acquired condition which has its roots in the family of origin. Alcoholism and other addictions are viewed as family centered diseases that call for major changes in those whose lives are touched by the addict as well as in the addict himself.