1st Edition

Getting Beyond Sobriety Clinical Approaches to Long-Term Recovery

By Michael C. Clemmens Copyright 2005
    194 Pages
    by Gestalt Press

    194 Pages
    by Gestalt Press

    In this ground-breaking book, Michael Clemmens offers a new model of treatment for long-term recovery which goes beyond the traditional "disease" paradigm. Working from the belief that a fuller life for the recovering addict is grounded on a foundation of abstinence, the author explores a "self-modulation" approach which leads to a change in the behavior from within the individual while developing and expanding connection with others.

    Preface. Addiction and Gestalt Therapy. The Process of Addiction: The Roots of Recovery. The Challenge of Recovering Addicts as Clients. The Developmental Stages and Tasks of Recovery. Five Case Studies in Recovery. Long-Term Recovery: The Expanding Horizon. Relapse. Individual Differences. Working with the Body. Further Applications of the Self-Modulation Model.

    Biography

    Michael Craig Clemmens, Ph.D., is a psychologist in private practice in Pittsburgh, PA, specializing in addiction recovery and a faculty member of the Gestalt Institute of Cleveland. 

    "Getting Beyond Sobriety is a brilliant integration of addictive counseling and psychotherapy from a person who has obviously walked the walk.  Thoughtful, challenging, and helpful.  This reading is a must for the psychotherapist specializing in addiction." 

    - Terence T. Gorski, President, The CENAPS Corporation

    "Getting Beyond Sobriety makes a significant contribution to the field.  It is enormously helpful in understanding the living, long-term process of recovery.  The text is rich with clinical examples, which run the famut from hard-core addicts to early-phase users, from inpatient treatment settings to outpatient solo practice, and will be useful for clinicians who deal with clients in any setting."

    - James Kepner, Ph.D., author, Body Process and Healing Tasks