![]() ![]() He feared he would die and the evil would stay with him. One man looked back on his experience of alcoholism as “being in the grip of something unspeakably evil” (p. Several describe their experience of “using” as altering their entire constitutions. In Part 1, “Lost in the Labyrinth of Addiction”, the narrators describe their memories of the depths of their addictions, speaking of despair, degradation, and the loss of all relationship to self and life. The book amplifies Jung’s statement that “Results may appear at almost any stage of the treatment, quite irrespective of the severity or duration of the illness”. With her experience of listening to clients and finding the vulnerability under their defences, Mary Addenbrooke reminds us not to be led astray by theories or suppositions. Some may think that the focus on long-term recovery is unrealistic, as many are unable to achieve this, but I find it a useful antidote to stereotypic assumptions that addicts are hopeless, and unsuitable candidates for therapies. Only one of the subjects was still using drugs when interviewed, and his anger and defensiveness are in stark contrast to the tone of the other narratives. ![]() The inclusion of both alcohol and heroin misuse allows for a broad perspective on addictions. The stories told by the recovering patients are linked together by succinct and valuable explanations of the processes of addiction and recovery by the author, a Jungian analyst. The tenor of the book is captured in the preface: “We were all trainees at the hands of our patients as well as therapists to them”. Raj Rathod, a psychiatrist to whom the book is dedicated, saw many of these patients over time. It is based on interviews and statements from fifteen men and women in treatment for alcohol or heroin addiction and followed over many years by the Substance Misuse Project at Crawley Hospital in England. This is an important book, crafted with great care, which builds much needed bridges between psychoanalysts, addiction counsellors and people in recovery from substance abuse. It was originally published in The Journal of Analytical Psychology, Volume 57, Issue 3, 2012. This book supports the 12 Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and provides the historical relationship between Jung and AA.This is a review of the book Survivors of Addiction: Narratives of Recovery by Mary Addenbrooke. My suggestion is, if your having trouble swallowing what it has to say, approach the material metaphorically. Jungian psychology is one Western road to Enlightenment and for addicts in search of Higher Consciousness this book offers some very intriguing theories. Our inability to acknowledge greater forces at work in our lives may explain some of our failure to help addicts.Īddicts are lost in an "ocean of addiction", as Marion Woodman, Jungian analyst, calls our addicted society and unconsciousness is all too prevalent. As an alcoholic and as someone who has worked with addicts in a variety of arenas including eating disorders, alcoholism, drug addiction (primarily Meth), gambling addiction, and love and avoidancy addiction this book helds some unpleasant truths for me. Our societal fear of Spirituality and the Dark side of God makes this book an unlikely read for most people. This is a refreshing perspective on addiction that very few people will appreciate. ![]()
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