It is common knowledge that for most alcoholics and addicts recovery programmes like AA seem to hold out the best hope of conquering addiction. Most of us also know that such programmes usually stress reliance on some sort of “higher power.” This book shows that in fact spiritual development is the central factor in the recovery of a significant percentage of substance abusers, and that spirituality is the lynchpin of many if not most recovery programmes in America. The author of this book visited many treatment centres and interviewed hundreds of recovering alcoholics and addicts, counsellors ... More

It is common knowledge that for most alcoholics and addicts recovery programmes like AA seem to hold out the best hope of conquering addiction. Most of us also know that such programmes usually stress reliance on some sort of “higher power.” This book shows that in fact spiritual development is the central factor in the recovery of a significant percentage of substance abusers, and that spirituality is the lynchpin of many if not most recovery programmes in America. The author of this book visited many treatment centres and interviewed hundreds of recovering alcoholics and addicts, counsellors, and family members, many of whose voices are heard within it. His purpose was to find out just how spirituality figures in the individual's recovery and how it is deployed by the treatment programmes. This book explores the differences among a wide range of programmes: twelve-step, Christian, Muslim, Native American, and those based in Eastern religions.