Promoting Self-Change from Addictive Behaviors: Practical Implications for Policy, Prevention, and Treatment

Addictive behaviors result in substantial morbidity and mortality in the United States and around the world. Efforts to improve prevention and intervention continue, but the path to recovery has been difficult to predict for each individual. Whereas some individuals require multiple treatment attempts in specialized residential treatment centers, others achieve success through participation in outpatient services or mutual help groups. Recovery takes time, but the amount of treatment needed remains unclear. In addition, though sometimes overlooked in the field of addiction medicine, the editors of Promoting Self-Change from Addictive Behaviors: Practical Implications for Policy, Prevention, and Treatment assert that “many individuals with addictive behaviors overcome their problems without professional treatment or self-help groups” (p xv). In this book, Dr Harald Klingemann, of the University of Zurich, and Dr Linda Carter Sobell, of Nova Southeastern University, have gathered the latest evidence supporting the phenomenon of “self-change from addictive behaviors” into a comprehensive textbook. The editors present information related to a wide variety of problematic behaviors in a well-organized format.