The heart of addiction : a new approach to understanding and managing alcoholism and other addictive behaviors

__The Heart of Addiction,__ based on more than twenty-five years of clinical practice by distinguished psychiatrist Dr. Lance Dodes, presents a radical approach to understanding and harnessing the emotional forces that drive addictions. Alcoholism and other addictions are among the most important problems we face in our society. Yet, if you look beyond pat ideas about their cause, such as "alcoholism is a disease," nobody has really had an answer for why people with addictive behaviors continue to repeat them in the face of their awful consequences. This book offers an answer to the core "Why?" question of alcoholism and other addictions. Dr. Dodes sets out to change the way completely we treat alcoholism and other addictions, including compulsive gambling and sexual addiction. He describes how all addictions have at their heart certain emotional/ psychological factors that, once understood, can be successfully managed. He shows how these factors can be turned to good use to find exactly what alternatives will work for __you __as an individual. Filled with compelling case studies, Dr Dodes provides the keys to mastering addictions and answers the critical questions: Why do we feel the impulse? Why do we feel it when we do? How can we find what else to do in that critical moment?____ ____This book provides the chance for you to do what so many of Dr. Dodes's patients have done: use this new understanding and the practical tools that flow from it to take back control of your lives.____ ____**Among the myths that Dr. Dodes debunks:**____ * ____Addiction is fundamentally a physical problem.____ * ____Addiction is best treated in twelve-step programs.____ * ____People with addictions are different from other people.____ * ____People with addictions are self-destructive.____ * ____You have to hit bottom before you can get well.____ * ____You are wasting your time if you ask "why" you have an addiction____ The Heart of Addiction presents a new and extremely useful approach for understanding the drive behind alcoholism and other addictive behaviors, and helps readers regain control of their lives. Dr. Lance Dodes rejects pat explanations of alcoholism as a disease and instead explores the underlying emotions that drive addictive behaviors. Dodes contends that all addictions—from alcoholism to compulsive gambling to sexual addiction—have, at their heart, certain emotional factors that once understood can be successfully managed.

With compassion and deep understanding, Dr. Dodes provides readers with the keys to matching their addiction and helping them uncover: why they feel the impulse; why they feel it when they do; and what they can do to address these emotional needs another way. Filled with compelling case studies, the book is sure to change the way we think about and treat addictive behaviors

About the Author:
Lance Dodes, M.D., is Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, where he is a member of the Division on Addictions. He is also Director of the Center for Problem Gambling. He lives in the Boston area.

Drawn from more than twenty-five years of clinical practice, an innovative approach to fully comprehending the emotional drive behind addictions and addictive behavior provides readers with the power to master their addiction by identifying and addressing their emotional needs. "An eminent psychiatrist looks beneath the surface of alchoholism and other addictive behaviors to help people take control of their lives." Len, a forty-three-year-old man with long-standing alcoholism, had managed to stay sober for six months.