How to Beat Addiction
This program points out many actual stories of recovered addicts, virtually all of whom did it on their own. These cases come from all walks of life, and from all of my many activities. That is, some are based on interviews I have conducted with addicts or former addicts, some come from my therapy experiences, some come from e-mails from my website on addiction, some are cases described in the research by other investigators, and some are well-known ones drawn from history and literature.
But many others come from people I have known and observed. The point of this is to show ordinary people overcoming addictions without professional assistance, in the normal course of their lives. In cases I have observed or been involved in myself, of course, I disguise all names, locations, and identifying details.
The reason for this variety, and the inclusion of “ordinary” lives, is that this book is not about therapy. It is about people, many of whom have not sought and will not seek therapy. Even if they turn to therapy, their attacks on their addiction will occur mainly outside the therapy experience.
I am a psychologist and addiction therapist. I see my job as helping people build the foundation that must be in place before they successfully quit addictions. From the standpoint of would-be helpers, including therapists, friends, and parents, it is essential to get people attached to life in as many ways as possible.
People with strong values, and with the motivation to change, succeed better at quitting addictions.
People with friends, intimate relationships, and families; people with stable home and community lives; people with jobs and work skills; people with education; people who are healthy—all do better at getting over addictions, just as they do at avoiding addictions in the first place.
You need to seek and gain these advantages that non-addicted people have. When you have such assets, you are helped in overcoming an addiction by focusing on what you have and what you may lose. Some therapies—which the Life Process Program© makes use of—help you to do this. When you don’t have these things, you may need help to acquire them, which is what the Life Process program does.
In addition, you are assisted in quitting addictions by things larger than yourself and beyond your own life. One of these things is the support of those around you and your community. Another is to have and to seek greater goals in life, to commit yourself to be good to other people and to make positive contributions to the world.
In the Life Process Program readings and exercises, I detail how you may accomplish these things. In this way, the Life Process Program© provides a road map to self-cure. It is a tool that you can use in searching your life, noting what you have and what you lack, in terms of gathering the resources you need to beat an addiction.
Finally, and perhaps most important, you should find this information encouraging and empowering. Self-empowerment is the most potent anti-addiction medicine of all.
Dr. Stanton Peele, recognized as one of the world's leading addiction experts, developed the Life Process Program after decades of research, writing, and treatment about and for people with addictions. Dr. Peele is the author of 14 books. His work has been published in leading professional journals and popular publications around the globe.
