7 Tools to Beat Addiction [Paperback]

Stanton Peele puts together a very strong case for how to beat your addictions. His basic premise is to understand that it is within your power to do something, and that it is your responsibility to do something about that. As we live in a world where others, or unknown causes are to blame, this is a refreshing and hugely workable approach.

Right from the go, the seven tools arm you with all that you need to beat your addictions. Along the way, the book also offers tips and helpful support on building your values and self-esteem, and most of all, to be the person that you deserve and want to be.

So, if you are looking to beat addiction, or know someone you want to help beat addiction, this book is an invaluable tool to make that happen

7 Tools to Beat Addiction is an excellent resource for those addicted to alcohol or other substances and want to enrich their lives while reducing or eliminating their alcohol intake.

7 Tools is much like The Truth About Addiction and Recovery, also by Peele. 7 Tools is a bit of a condensed version of the aforementioned Truth About Addiction. Nevertheless, if you read both books, you will gain information from both books. If you are feeling as if you are suffering and might not be able to focus on the more scholarly Truth About Addiction, then definitely pick up this book. You will be educated about the addiction process, about the pseudo-science that has pushed the disease model, and you will be given the tools you need to moderate your drinking or quit your drinking altogether.

Stanton Peele's research isn't based on feeling, like the AA model of alcoholism-as-a-disease. It's based on numerous studies by many different scientists done over the past several decades that have drawn the same conclusion OVER and OVER again. And, the conclusion is that it's NOT a disease-- despite the AMA and despite AA and despite every single organization that says it is. The proof lies in this point-- that there hasn't been even ONE successful study that has proven otherwise-- even when the study was created to PROVE that alcohol dependence was a disease.

AA ADMITS in it's own data that only 5% of AA members remain alcohol abstinent. The data that has been proven over and over again is that this number is LESS than those that quit drinking without AA. Additionally, a recent Harvard University Study stated that 80% of those that have quit drinking did it on their own. This goes against the disease model and AA approach. Many can moderate their drinking successfully or quit successfully altogether. This goes against the disease model and AA approach, too. Stanton Peele's book shows us the studies and data that support that once addicted DOES NOT MEAN ALWAYS ADDICTED. Unless, of course, one has bought into the AA philosophy and has now accepted that they are permanently sick and out of control. This is the crux of this argument. Studies have shown that those that have bought into this philosophy wind up having a lower self-image than those that have not, and they wind up believing they are permanently sick and completely unable to manage their lives-- thereby buying into the belief that they are "out of control". The focus is never about getting better in AA (I know they say otherwise)-- the focus is on STAYING 'sick', STAYING in AA, and STAYING permanently in a "RECOVERY" state. The focus, truthfully, is in keeping old folkwisdom alive even though every bit of evidence shows us that there are proven better ways. To add insult to injury, anyone who doubts this model is accused of being in denial, and everyone who remains alcohol abstinent without AA is accused of being a dry drunk (not "sober" according to AAspeak. Hello? Isn't this supposed to be a quit-drinking program?

The problem AAers have is that this proof (that is shown so coherently here) completely pulls their chairs out from underneath them. I understand this, too. If everything I believed was taken away from me and proven to be false, it would certainly undermine my own confidence in my ability to make decisions. And, so far, although the twelve-step "treatment" (although why we continue to call it treatment when it hasn't successfully treated anything) philosophy has continued to permeate our culture, there is absolutely no evidence at all to suggest that it is beneficial. On the contrary. The evidence proves it hasn't been and that there are better ways that have been proven to work (for instance, Community Resource and Family Training, Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy, and Cognitive Therapy, as well as other approaches) scientifically.

I read this book as I am interested in methods of battling addiction alternative/complementary to AA. I was surprised by attacks on AA linked somehow to this book and I did some research as a result. Here is what I found:

1) The author, Mr Stanton Peele, was receiving unrestricted grants from Distilled Spirits Council (DISCUS) and the Wine Institute in the years 1999-2000 and he was a Consultant at the Wine Institute in San Francisco, CA in the years 1994-2001 (scientific advisor on encouraging healthy drinking habits).

2) On March 25, 2000, Moderation Management founder Audrey Kishline killed two people while driving drunk on I-90 in Washington State. In a Dateline NBC interview aired September 1, 2006 Ms. Kishline admitted to secret binge drinking during her last five years as executive director of Moderation Management (the recovery group applying principles set out in this book).

I wouldn't recommend this book to any recovering alcoholic/addict. IMO, the idea of controlled drinking/using is simply dangerous. If you make this your goal, you will end up much worse. If you make total abstinence your goal, you may be able to control your drinking/using. Only total abstinence makes sense, even if you cannot achieve it. If you want a good book on addiction, better purchase "Willpower's not enough" by Washton and Boundy or "The Easy Way to Stop Drinking" by Allen Carr.