Adult Children of Alcoholics

Adult Children of Alcoholics

Ten years ago, Janet Woititz broke new ground in our understanding of what it is to be an Adult Child of an Alcoholic. Today she re-examines the movement and its inclusion of Adult Children from various dysfunctional family backgrounds who share the same characteristics. After more than ten years of working with ACoAs she shares the recovery hints that she has found to work. Read Adult Children of Alcoholics to see where the journey began and for ideas on where to go from here.

Healing The Child Within: Discovery and Recovery for Adult Children of Dysfunctional Families

Have you ever heard of your inner child? Well, this is the classic book that started it all.

In 1987, Charlie Whitfield's breakthrough concept of the child within—that part of us which is truly alive, energetic, creative and fulfilled—launched the inner child movement. Healing the Child Within describes how the inner child is lost to trauma and loss, and how by recovering it, we can heal the fear, confusion and unhappiness of adult life.

Eighteen years and more than a million copies sold later, Healing the Child Within is a perennial selling classic in the field of psychology. And it is even more timely today than it was in 1987. Recent brain research, particularly on the effects of trauma on the brain of developing children, has supported Whitfield's intuitive understanding as a psychiatrist.

About HCI Recovery Classics

HCI's recovery backlist contains some of the most important and best-selling works in the recovery field. These books are still sought after today, selling more than 100,000 copies per year. Our new line of branded books features expanded editions of our top recovery titles, new introductions, updates on pertinent recent developments in the field, and contemporary new covers and packaging.

From Binge to Blackout: A Mother and Son Struggle with Teen Drinking

ALCOHOL: The number one drug of choice for America's youth.

Throughout his college years, Toren Volkmann partied like there was no tomorrow. And like so many parents, his mother, Chris, overlooked Toren's growing alcohol problem. But when he graduated, Toren realized that he had become a full-blown alcoholic with a college diploma.

Written from the viewpoints of both mother and son, this is a riveting, enlightening, and heartbreakingly true story of a family that was able to confront the fear, pain, and denial that threatened to destroy them-and survive the epidemic of teenage drinking that is putting America's future at risk.

Perfect Daughters (Revised Edition)

This new edition of Perfect Daughters, a pivotal book in the ACoA movement, identifies what differentiates the adult daughters of alcoholics from other women.

When this groundbreaking book first appeared over ten years ago, Dr. Ackerman identified behavior patterns shared by daughters of alcoholics. Adult daughters of alcoholics-"perfect daughters" -operate from a base of harsh and limiting views of themselves and the world. Having learned that they must function perfectly in order to avoid unpleasant situations, these women often assume responsibility for the failures of others. They are drawn to chemically dependent men and are more likely to become addicted themselves. More than just a text that identifies these behavior patterns, this book collects the thoughts, feelings and experiences of twelve hundred perfect daughters, offering readers an opportunity to explore their own life's dynamics and thereby heal and grow.

This edition contains updated information throughout the text, and completely new material, including chapters on eating disorders and abuse letters from perfect daughters in various stages of recovery, and helpful, affirming suggestions from Dr. Ackerman at the end of every chapter. This book is essential for every one who found validation, hope, courage and support in the pages of the original Perfect Daughters, as well as new readers and every therapist who confronts these issues.

Also includes: a comprehensive reference section and complete index.

The Complete ACOA Sourcebook: Adult Children of Alcoholics at Home, at Work and in Love

When they were first released in the 1980s, Janet Woititz's groundbreaking works, Adult Children of Alcoholics, Struggle for Intimacy and The Self-Sabotage Syndrome, provided a new message of hope to adult children who had grown up in the shadow of alcoholic parents. Their message today is as profound and timeless as it was two decades ago.

Now, in this complete collection, readers will learn again the insight and healing power of Janet Wotitiz's words. The Complete ACoA Sourcebook is a compilation of three of Dr. Woititz's classic books, addressing head-on the symptoms of The Adult Children of Alcoholics syndrome and providing strategies for living a normal life as an adult. Readers will find help for themselves: at home, in intimate relationships and on the job. They will discover the reasons for the way they think, believe and feel about themselves; ACoAs often feel isolated, have difficulty in relationships, in the workplace and in feeling good about themselves.

Readers who are familiar with Woititz's work will find wisdom once again in this classic collection. Those new to ACoA will gain fresh insight into their behavior patterns and find an avenue for self-love and healing. Noted ACoA expert Dr. Robert Ackerman, author of the best-selling Perfect Daughters and Silent Sons, provides a foreword and explains why Janet Woititz's message will continue to help millions of readers for generations to come.

It Will Never Happen to Me: Growing Up With Addiction As Youngsters, Adolescents, Adults

First published 20 years ago, It Will Never Happen to Me is the definitive book/workbook for adult children of alcoholics.

With her reassuring and informative approach, Claudia Black expertly identifies common issues faced by children who grew up in alcoholic families--shame, neglect, unreasonable role expectations, and physical abuse. Using narratives and profiles, she describes survival techniques characteristic of children raised in alcoholic families, including the unspoken laws of don't talk, don't trust, and don't feel. First explaining how such learned responses cause difficulties in adulthood, Black carefully guides readers in identifying self-defeating, destructive behaviors and finding a healthier, happier way to live.

Key features and benefits

• a proven seller by a respected recovery author
• contains easy-to-follow, useful exercises
• can be used by individuals or in a therapeutic setting

Silently Seduced: When Parents Make their Children Partners - Understanding Covert Incest

Did you have a parent whose love for you felt more confining than freeing, more demanding than giving, more instrusive than nurturing? Did you feel trapped in a "psychological marriage" with this parent? If so, you may be a victim of covert incest.

Identification of this kind of incest is difficult, since covert incest victimrs often feel idealized and privileged, not violated and abused. In Silently Seduced, Dr. Adams, through illustrative case examples and perceptive insight, provides covert incest victims a framework to understand what happened to them, how their lives and relationships continue to be affected and how to begin the process of recovery.

Changing Course: Healing from Loss, Abandonment and Fear

In Changing Course, the best-selling sequel to It Will Never Happen to Me, Claudia Black extends a helping hand to individuals working their way through the painful experience of being raised with addiction.

"How do you go from living according to the rules--Don't Talk, Don't Trust, Don't Feel--to a life where you are free to talk and trust and feel?" Black asks. "You do this through a process that teaches you to go to the source of those rules, to question them, and to create new rules of your own," she explains. Using charts, exercises, checklists, and real-life stories of adult children of alcoholics, Black carefully and expertly guides readers in healing from the fear, shame, and chaos of addiction.

Key features and benefits

• a proven seller by a trusted recovery author
• presents a clearly articulated process for healing
• excellent self-help resource for overcoming the experience of abandonment

Lifeskills for Adult Children

From the author of the New York Times bestseller Adult Children of Alcoholics -- a wonderful book that affirms and encourages AcoAs by developing skills for living.

Imagine how good you would feel if:

• You could stand up for yourself without losing your temper
• You could make a decision without second guessing yourself
• You didn't have that sense of worthlessness every time someone criticized you
• You could learn how to say no and stick with it

In Lifeskills for Adult Children you can learn how to do these things and more. This book is designed specifically for Adult Children and teaches skills to make your complex adult life easier, while improving your sense of self-worth. Examples are provided to help clarify the lessons and exercises are given to help you practice your new skills.

So, if you have difficulty:

• Asking for what you want
• Solving problems
• Handling criticism
• Saying no

read Lifeskills for Adult Children - you'll be glad you did.

Adult Children of Alcoholics Syndrome: A Step By Step Guide To Discovery And Recovery

More than 28 million Americans grew up in alcoholic families.  They bear a painful legacy of confusion, fear, anger and hurt--and they are at shockingly high risk of marrying an alcoholic or becoming alcoholics themselves.  In this authoritative book, Wayne Kritsberg shows how to recognize--and remedy--the long-term effects of the dysfunctional, alcoholic family.  His proven techniques, based on extensive clinical experience using the Family Integration System offer REAL help and REAL hope for adult children of alcoholics--and those they love.