Product Description

Finally someone has gone straight to the real experts: hundreds of men and women who have resolved a drinking problem. Best-selling author Anne M. Fletcher asked them a simple question: how did you do it? The result: the first completely unbiased guide for problem drinkers, which shatters long-held assumptions about alcohol recovery. Myth #1: AA is the only way to get sober. Reality: More than half of the people Fletcher found recovered without AA. Myth #2: You cant get sober on your own. Reality: Many people got sober by themselves. Myth #3: To get sober, you have to admit youre an alcoholic. Reality: Many people - even some with very serious drinking problems - recovered without calling themselves alcoholics. Myth # 4: One drink inevitably leads right back to the bottle. Reality: A small number of people find they can have an occasional drink. Myth #5: Theres nothing you can do for someone with a drinking problem until he or she is ready. Reality: Family and friends can make a big difference if they know how to help. Weaving together the success stories of ordinary people and the latest scientific research on the subject, Fletcher uncovers a simple truth: no single path to sobriety is right for every individual. There are many ways to get sober - and stay sober. The most comprehensive book on alcohol recovery available, SOBER FOR GOOD includes - motivational strategies from former problem drinkers - suggestions on what to do if youre not ready to quit - advice for family and friends of problem drinkers - a complete "Consumer Guide" to the many recovery options - how to find what's right for you. SOBER FOR GOOD is for anyone who has ever struggled not to drink, coped with someone who has a drinking problem, or secretly wondered, "Do I drink too much?" An award-winning health and medical journalist, Anne M. Fletcher is the author of the best-selling THIN FOR LIFE and EATING THIN FOR LIFE. She is the former executive editor of the Tufts University Health & Nutrition Letter and a former contributing editor to Prevention magazine.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #490809 in Books
• Published on: 2001-03-18
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 288 pages

From Amazon.com
Anne M. Fletcher resolved her own drinking problem without Alcoholics Anonymous and was fascinated by other people who had found alternative methods to stop drinking. In the spirit of her first book, Thin for Life, for which she interviewed "masters" who had lost weight and kept it off, she decided to find people who formerly had drinking problems and learn how they got and stayed sober. She interviewed a range of ex-drinkers, from high-functioning people with mild or moderate alcohol problems to hardcore cases who had hit bottom. The amount of alcohol consumed ranged from three daily drinks to two daily quarts of vodka. Almost all these 222 "masters" had stayed sober for 5 years or more, averaging 13 years of sobriety.

Sober for Good presents their stories: when they started drinking, how much they drank, how it affected their lives, why they decided to stop, what they tried, what finally worked for them, and their perspective now. The stories are compelling on their own, and Fletcher organizes them according to common themes and strategies. She also includes helpful information about different programs available and relevant research studies.

This book takes some controversial stances. Fletcher chooses to use phrases like drinking problems and alcohol problems rather than alcoholic because she sees alcoholic as both outmoded and pejorative. Many of the masters found sobriety through AA, but more found alternative solutions, leading Fletcher to dispute the one-path solution. And although most of the masters abstain from alcohol completely, some have alcohol occasionally, challenging the accepted contention that abstinence is the only solution. Read what the masters say and judge for yourself. --Joan Price

From Publishers Weekly
Although Alcoholics Anonymous has long been the preferred (and often court-mandated) regimen for the treatment of alcoholism, its ideology isn't for everyone. As Fletcher (Thin for Life) points out, some people are put off by AA's religious tone, others by the concept of powerlessness over alcohol. And, she says, contrary to AA beliefs, many more never "hit bottom," but nonetheless choose to reconsider their relationship with drinking. Additionally, she suggests, with managed care drastically cutting coverage of inpatient treatment, people with alcohol problems need to know about outpatient alternatives to AA. Fletcher, a health and medical journalist, provides a compendium of such approaches, drawing on the voices of "masters" former problem drinkers who have resolved their problems with alcohol and been sober for at least five years. Programs such as Women for Sobriety, Rational Recovery and Moderation Management provide a variety of approaches, and the "masters" themselves offer a collection of strategies for getting and staying sober with support groups, chemical dependency counselors or a combination of treatments. Unfortunately, Fletcher draws a fuzzy line between "problem drinkers" and "alcoholics," a word she avoids because some find it "pejorative." Maintaining that the distress and dysfunction of most people with drinking problems is not as "severe" as that associated with a stereotypical drunk, she promises that, although AA proponents insist otherwise, "you can quit on your own," "you don't have to quit altogether" and "you don't have to call yourself an alcoholic." Though she sometimes appears to bash AA, Fletcher provides a useful overview of the varieties of recovery programs and practices.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From AudioFile
Transcending the mental health/ addictions genre, Fletcher uses her gift for narrative to describe the results of a disciplined survey of how 222 people got their drinking under control. Her intelligent guide to alcohol problems doesn't rely on simplistic dogma to make its points. A seamless array of superbly told stories highlights people in all segments of society who, each in his or her own way, declared their lives would be better sober. The effect is that all 9 hours (packaged in a lovely box, by the way) will encourage even the casual listener to take a heartfelt look at the many faces of alcohol abuse and recovery. T.W. © AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Customer Reviews

This Book is Dangerous
I don't know what people think of when the term Alcoholic comes up, but I see a meeting room full of people who smile and have hope in their lives for the first time ever! Do I belong to AA. Yes and No. I could, yet because I also am an addict I belong to NA. Alcohol is a drug...period!

Anne is in some kind of a fog, maybe from one of her occassional drinks on the moderate plan. Or is it that she is not an Alcoholic, which is interesting because she refuses to even acknowlege the word. Why?

Virtually MILLIONS of people Recovery with AA, and add another with NA. Which is simple: we don't use no matter what, no matter who comes up with either some "new" Scientific viewpoint, or demented thinking that seems to be intoxicated.

I take the book as a very poor excuse to drink, no matter what. If it just so happens that someone, like an alcoholic, picks up the book and decides that he or she can do likewise, then God be with them.

And as a side note: AA and NA is NOT religious, Spiritual yes, Religious no. For we know that our disease is more then just the drugs that we used. And developed an allergy to. Sheesh, you would think that someone would get some information correct on the disease first before bashing ANY 12-step Program and printing a dangerous manuel for relapse.

I would love to see her in an AA meeting and discuss her viewpoints. Just once, which I sure would be enough for her.

A very dangerous book.

Excellent Overview of Workable Options for Sobriety
The evolution away from the inaccurate and counterproductive view of a "one size fits all" mentality for substance/alcohol abuse/dependency treatment has been underway for decades: long enough for individuals sober in alternative "non 12 step" programs to recount how they accomplished their stunning and uplifting successes in achieving genuine and lasting sobriety. Anne Fletcher interviews successfully sober individuals from a variety of programs, including those based on the religiously-oriented program of 12 steps (including AA), and in the process helps elucidate the various important components of a successful life in sobriety. Contrary to the "mainstream" notion that spirituality or belief in a "higher power" are necessary to achieve sobriety, Ms. Fletcher recounts numerous examples of successfully sober individuals who required neither. Powerful (and well established) "alternative" techniques for achieving sobriety and satisfaction, such as cognitive-behavioral therapy, are presented. Anne Fletcher has provided an invaluable resource and reference for anyone looking for a way out of alcohol/substance abuse/dependency for themselves or someone they care about. Also, this book would provide tremendous insight and breadth in any training curriculum for substance abuse therapists.

If it works, don't fix it
This is a book for people who want to get sober without doing any real spiritual work. In other words, a book for drunks who want to have an excuse to relapse. If you want to get sober and stay sober, try reading "Alcoholics Anonymous" and going to some meetings. At least that approach has a track record. If it works, why fix it?