Beyond Addiction

How Science and Kindness Help People Change

By: Jeffrey Foote PhD, Carrie Wilkens PhD, Nicole Kosanke PhD, Stephanie Higgs PhD

Narrated by: Randye Kaye

Length: 12 hrs and 2 mins

Publisher's Summary

Beyond Addiction eschews the theatrics of interventions and tough love to show family and friends how they can use kindness, positive reinforcement, and motivational and behavioral strategies to help their loved ones change. Drawing on forty collective years of research and decades of clinical experience, the authors present the best practical advice science has to offer.

Delivered with warmth, optimism, and humor, Beyond Addiction defines a new, empowered role for friends and family and a paradigm shift for the field. Learn how to tap the transformative power of relationships for positive change, guided by exercises and examples. Practice what really works in therapy and in everyday life, and discover many different treatment options along with tips for navigating the system. And have hope: this guide is designed not only to help someone change but to help someone want to change.

©2014 Psychological Motivation and Change Group, PLLC (P)2014 Tantor

Critic Reviews

"Objectively written and conveyed with congenial authority, the book offers collective hope to families of substance abusers.... Essential." ( Kirkus)

No PDF with supplemental

Any additional comments?

The audiobook keeps referring to worksheets but the audible book has no link to do the exercises.

Not what I was looking for.

Would you try another book from the authors and/or Randye Kaye?

Yes

Would you be willing to try another book from the authors? Why or why not?

Yes, their research is good as well as the writing.

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

The narration was good.

Any additional comments?

This book was written for families and friends of addicts, not for people dealing with addiction themselves. That fact could have been made more clear in the subtitle and description.

Addiction Recovery Book of the Year!!

I have read it twice and now listened to it 3 times. That says it all!!

Helpful and different.

This helped me understand addiction from a different perspective. . . Outside of the enabler/codependent view. Those views can have a point, but there are pitfalls in them too.
The authors approach here is more based on compassion and health if all involved, not just obsession over the addiction and the ruin it causes.
This isn't for everyone, and it might look like half measures to some, but I can understand the reasoning behind it and see it as an alternative for some who might not hit the traditional "Rock Bottom".
The hardest part about this approach is seeing the substance abuser with more compassion and understanding. That might not always be warranted, and the idea of punishment and harsh labels is a powerful draw to resist for those affected by or in the clutches of addiction.
This is more about self-care and kindness rather than just viewing everything as dysfunctional and f&;$ed and something to escape.
Read the other books on addiction with the traditional view point as well. . . But definitely include this one too.

Gives hope for addiction

What did you love best about Beyond Addiction?

It is a refreshing alternative to addiction treatment

Who was your favorite character and why?

The author

What does Randye Kaye bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Personal touch

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

This book gave me hope. It made me laugh and cry.

Any additional comments?

Elightened!

Fighting Addiction

Where does Beyond Addiction rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

It's my first audiobook

What did you like best about this story?

Beyond Addiction puts real life family addiction into a workable program for the family to find what fits best for the addict and certainly what works best!

Have you listened to any of Randye Kaye’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No

What did you learn from Beyond Addiction that you would use in your daily life?

Communication ,compassion and self care

Any additional comments?

Highly recommend

Everyone should read this book!

Whether or not you have an addict in your life you should read this book. The Information in it is applicable to every day life. I got it because I have two severe opioids addicts in my family. Wether the addiction is mild or severe I think this book is an excellent resource.

Such an Important book yet a difficult listening

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

For the person interested in broadening ones mind into addiction treatment and approaches this is a reasonably good book. In that regard I would recommend it. However, something went wrong in the recording. I found it to be almost impossible to listen to. The voice of the narrator is cold, very educational, almost like a machine. The book does not flow and I just could not listen to it for more than 10 minutes at a time. It reads like a text book. I'm not sure it is suitable for an audio book

If you’ve listened to books by the authors before, how does this one compare?

I have not

Would you be willing to try another one of Randye Kaye’s performances?

Hell No!

Did Beyond Addiction inspire you to do anything?

Not at the moment

Very robotic

The speaker sounds very robotic, it seems like it’s some sort Ai created content. It’s not nice to listen to

Life saver. HOPE.

I will read this again and again. The I Information, experience description, strategies and research are all relevant, timely and honest. It helps me reclaim my life, my family’s life and hope for my loved one.