Costa Rica Treatment Center Addiction Recovery Book Club

ADDICTION RECOVERY SUGGESTED READING LIST

We are passionate about giving our clients access to addiction recovery books that can be a fundamental part of their recovery process from substance use disorder, codependency, mental illness, and complex PTSD. Clients at Costa Rica Treatment Center will read from our selected library of inspirational literature designed to complement the recovery process from addiction. We strongly encourage family members to read our suggested books to better understand their loved one’s struggle and, more importantly, the solution.

Below you will find a suggested reading list:

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS (A.A.)

Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.) is an international mutual aid fellowship with the stated purpose of enabling its members to “stay sober and help other alcoholics achieve sobriety.”  AA is nonprofessional, self-supporting, and apolitical. Its only membership requirement is a desire to stop drinking. The AA program of recovery is set forth in the Twelve Steps.

AA was founded in Akron, Ohio when in 1935 one alcoholic talked to another alcoholic about the nature of alcoholism and a possible solution. With the help of other early members, the book Alcoholics Anonymous: The Story of How More Than One Hundred Men Have Recovered From Alcoholism was written in 1939. Its title became the name of the organization and is now usually referred to as “The Big Book”. AA’s initial Twelve Traditions were introduced in 1946 to help the fellowship be stable and unified while disengaged from “outside issues” and influences.

The Traditions recommend that members remain anonymous in public media, altruistically help other alcoholics, and that AA groups avoid official affiliations with other organizations. They also advise against dogma and coercive hierarchies. Subsequent fellowships such as Narcotics Anonymous have adapted the Twelve Steps and the Twelve Traditions to their respective primary purposes.

AA membership has since spread internationally “across diverse cultures holding different beliefs and values”, including geopolitical areas resistant to grassroots movements. Close to two million people worldwide are estimated to be members of AA as of 2016. (*source: Wikipedia)

Alcoholics Anonymous: The Big Book, 4th Edition

The Big Book, 4th Edition… Alcoholics Anonymous-The Big Book–has served as a lifeline to millions worldwide. First published in 1939, Alcoholics Anonymous sets forth cornerstone concepts of recovery from alcoholism and tells the stories of men and women who have overcome the disease. With publication of the second edition in 1955, the third edition in 1976, and now the fourth edition in 2001, the essential recovery text has remained unchanged while personal stories have been added to reflect the growing and diverse fellowship. The long-awaited fourth edition features twenty-four new personal stories of recovery.

Key features and benefits: The most widely used resource for millions of individuals in recovery -contains full, original text describing the A.A. program – updated with twenty-four new personal stories
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Twelve Steps & Twelve Traditions of Alcoholics Anonymous

Originally published in 1952, this classic book is used by A.A. members and groups around the world. It lays out the principles by which A.A. members recover and by which the fellowship functions. The basic text clarifies the Steps which constitute the A.A. way of life and the Traditions, by which A.A. maintains its unity.

AA’s program extends beyond abstaining from alcohol. Its goal is to effect enough change in the alcoholic’s thinking “to bring about recovery from alcoholism” through “an entire psychic change,” or spiritual awakening. A spiritual awakening is meant to be achieved by taking the Twelve Steps, and sobriety is furthered by volunteering for AA and regular AA meeting attendance or contact with AA members. Members are encouraged to find an experienced fellow alcoholic, called a sponsor, to help them understand and follow the AA program. The sponsor should preferably have experience of all twelve of the steps, be the same sex as the sponsored person, and refrain from imposing personal views on the sponsored person. Following the helper therapy principle, sponsors in AA may benefit from their relationship with their charges, as “helping behaviors” correlate with increased abstinence and lower probabilities of binge drinking.

NARCOTICS ANONYMOUS (A.A.)

Narcotics Anonymous (NA) describes itself as a “nonprofit fellowship or society of men and women for whom drugs had become a major problem”. Narcotics Anonymous uses a traditional Twelve-step model that has been expanded and developed for people with varied substance abuse issues and is the second-largest 12-step organization.

As of May 2018 there were more than 70,000 NA meetings in 144 countries.

Meetings

Regular meetings, hosted by NA groups, are the basic unit of the NA fellowship. Meetings are held in a variety of places such as church meeting rooms, libraries, hospitals, community centers, parks, or any other place that can accommodate a meeting.

Members who attend the same meeting on a regular basis to establish a recovery network and reliable routine understand this to be their “Home Group”. Group members are able to participate in the group’s business, and play an important role in deciding how the group’s meetings should be conducted.

Service

NA literature suggests that service work is an essential part of a program of recovery. Service is “doing the right thing for the right reason,” and is the best example of “good will”, which is the basis for the freedom only from active addiction by the NA program. Service work is usually chairing a meeting but may be as simple as cleaning up after the meeting, putting away chairs, or answering a phone. Additionally, there are basic, formalized service positions at the group level to help the group perform its function: examples include treasurer, secretary and Group Service Representative (GSR) who represents the group in the larger service structure.

The NA service structure operates at area, regional and world levels. These levels of service exist to serve the groups and are directly responsible to those groups; they do not govern. World services is accountable to its member regions, who are in turn responsible to member areas. Area service committees directly support member groups and often put on special events, such as dances and picnics. Area service committees also provide special subcommittees to serve the needs of members who may be confined in jails and institutions, and will also provide a public interface to the fellowship. (*source: Wikipedia)

Narcotics Anonymous 6th Edition

Just as with alcoholism, there is no “cure” for narcotic addiction, but recovery is possible through a program adapted from the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions of Alcoholics Anonymous. This book, written by addicts, for addicts, about addicts, sets forth the spiritual principles of Narcotics Anonymous that hundreds of thousands of addicts have used in recovery. Intended as a complete guide for every addict seeking recovery, Narcotics Anonymous describes the N.A. program and how it works. It includes the N.A. Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, as well as many personal stories of men and women who have found freedom from addiction through Narcotics Anonymous.

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The Sermon On The Mount: A General Introduction To Scientific Christianity In The Form Of A Spiritual Key To Matthew V, VI And VII

What did Jesus teach? Distilled from years of study and lecture, affirmed by nearly a million readers over the last fifty years, Emmet Fox’s answer in The Sermon on the Mount is simple. The Bible is a “textbook of metaphysics” and the teachings of Jesus express –without dogma– a practical approach for the development of the soul and for the shaping of our lives into what we really wish them to be. For Fox, Jesus was “no sentimental dreamer, no mere dealer in empty platitudes, but the unflinching realist that only a great mystic can be.”

In his most popular work, Emmet Fox shows how to: Understand the true nature of divine wisdom. Tap into the power of prayer. Develop a completely integrated and fully expressed personality. Transform negative attitudes into life-affirming beliefs. Claim our divine right to the full abundance of life.

The Obstacle Is The Way: The Ancient Art Of Turning Adversity To Advantage

The title of the book is drawn from a quote from Meditations, a series of personal writings by Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius: “The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.” Holiday draws from Meditations, Aurelius, and the philosophy of stoicism to expand the idea that how we respond to obstacles is what defines us. Holiday argues that obstacles don’t inhibit success, they create success and that readers should see “through the negative, past its underside, and into its corollary: the positive.”

The Obstacle Is The Way is structured around three disciplines: perception, action and will. Each section uses historical anecdotes and figures from politics, commerce, sports, and history including Theodore RooseveltDemosthenesJohn D RockefellerAmelia EarhartLaura Ingalls WilderUlysses S. GrantBarack ObamaSteve Jobs, among others.

In May 2014, Holiday had the title of the book tattooed to his forearm. The book was included in Gear Patrol’s “10 Best Books of Summer”, and named one of Entrepreneur Magazine‘s must read holiday books.[12]

The audiobook of The Obstacle Is The Way was later published by Tim Ferriss.

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Man’s Search for Meaning

Psychiatrist Viktor Frankl’s memoir has riveted generations of readers with its descriptions of life in Nazi death camps and its lessons for spiritual survival. Between 1942 and 1945 Frankl labored in four different camps, including Auschwitz, while his parents, brother, and pregnant wife perished. Based on his own experience and the experiences of others he treated later in his practice, Frankl argues that we cannot avoid suffering but we can choose how to cope with it, find meaning in it, and move forward with renewed purpose. Frankl’s theory-known as logotherapy, from the Greek word logos (“meaning”) holds that our primary drive in life is not pleasure, as Freud maintained, but the discovery and pursuit of what we personally find meaningful.

At the time of Frankl’s death in 1997, Man’s Search for Meaning had sold more than 10 million copies in twenty-four languages. A 1991 reader survey for the Library of Congress that asked readers to name a “book that made a difference in your life” found Man’s Search for Meaning among the ten most influential books in America.

Beacon Press, the original English-language publisher of Man’s Search for Meaning, is issuing this new paperback edition with a new Foreword, biographical Afterword, and classroom materials to reach new generations of readers.

The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself

#1 New York Times Bestseller

What would it be like to free yourself from limitations and soar beyond your boundaries? What can you do each day to discover inner peace and serenity? The Untethered Soul offers simple yet profound answers to these questions.

Whether this is your first exploration of inner space, or you’ve devoted your life to the inward journey, this book will transform your relationship with yourself and the world around you. You’ll discover what you can do to put an end to the habitual thoughts and emotions that limit your consciousness. By tapping into traditions of meditation and mindfulness, author and spiritual teacher Michael A. Singer shows how the development of consciousness can enable us all to dwell in the present moment and let go of painful thoughts and memories that keep us from achieving happiness and self-realization.

Copublished with the Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS) TheUntethered Soul begins by walking you through your relationship with your thoughts and emotions, helping you uncover the source and fluctuations of your inner energy. It then delves into what you can do to free yourself from the habitual thoughts, emotions, and energy patterns that limit your consciousness. Finally, with perfect clarity, this book opens the door to a life lived in the freedom of your innermost being.

The Untethered Soul has already touched the lives of more than a million readers, and is available in a special hardcover gift edition with ribbon bookmark—the perfect gift for yourself, a loved one, or anyone who wants a keepsake edition of this remarkable book.

Visit www.untetheredsoul.com for more information.

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The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom (A Toltec Wisdom Book)

In The Four Agreements, bestselling author don Miguel Ruiz reveals the source of self-limiting beliefs that rob us of joy and create needless suffering. Based on ancient Toltec wisdom, The Four Agreements offer a powerful code of conduct that can rapidly transform our lives to a new experience of freedom, true happiness, and love.

• A New York Times bestseller for over a decade.
• Over 8.5 million copies sold in the U.S.
• Translated into 46 languages worldwide.

“This book by don Miguel Ruiz, simple yet so powerful, has made a tremendous difference in how I think and act in every encounter.” — Oprah Winfrey

“Don Miguel Ruiz’s book is a roadmap to enlightenment and freedom.” — Deepak Chopra, Author, The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success

“An inspiring book with many great lessons.” — Wayne Dyer, Author, Real Magic

“In the tradition of Castaneda, Ruiz distills essential Toltec wisdom, expressing with clarity and impeccability what it means for men and women to live as peaceful warriors in the modern world.” — Dan Millman, Author, Way of the Peaceful Warrior

Drop The Rock: Removing Character Defects – Steps Six And Seven

#1 Bestseller

A practical guide to letting go of the character defects that get in the way of true and joyful recovery.

Resentment. Fear. Self-Pity. Intolerance. Anger. As Bill P. explains, these are the “rocks” that can sink recovery–or at the least, block further progress. Based on the principles behind Steps Six and Seven, Drop the Rock combines personal stories, practical advice, and powerful insights to help readers move forward in recovery. The second edition features additional stories and a reference section.

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