Dear Lilian and Murdoch (and anyone else who may read
this mail)

I'm new to this little group and i haven't bought your
book yet, although i intend to.
I have had a drink problem for many years, it started
in my Early teens and I am now nearly 40.
I agree wholeheartedly with your idea that alcoholism
is a behavior problem with its roots in childhood
trauma, and that the real problem is not actually the
behavior itself, but the underlying issues.
I have tried AA and twelve-step re-hab and these have
been of absolutely no use to me whatsoever. I am now
in long-term psychotherapy, and although things have
got better they are still not perfect.
I have cut down my drinking from every day to once or
twice a week. But I still don't have full control over
it, and still drink on my own when i am sad or
stressed out.
what i would like to ask you, and anyone on this list
who has regained control over there drinking is HOW
you did it. Did you have a period of abstinence? and
how long did it take before you regained full control?
I've been struggling with this for two years and it's
still A daily battle.

Any input would be a real help.

Thanks
Maria



--- lilianandmurdoch <LilianandMurdoch@...> wrote:

>
>
> New book proves alcoholics can recover and drink
> responsibly again
>
>
>
>
> A new book "Phoenix in a Bottle", due to be
> published on 30 May, will
> prove that alcoholism is not a disease or illness,
> but a behavior
> problem rooted in childhood, which alcoholics can
> correct and be able
> to drink responsibly again if and when they so wish.
>
>
> click here to buy our book
>
>
> The authors are former alcoholics Lilian and Murdoch
> MacDonald, a
> married couple from Ayr, Ayrshire in Scotland.
>
> Lilian and Murdoch's lives were devastated by
> alcoholism, but they
> have now recovered so completely that they now not
> only lead normal
> lives again, but are also able to drink in a
> perfectly sociable
> manner once more.
>
> That goes against the teaching of Alcoholics
> Anonymous, and of many
> alcoholism treatment centres throughout the world.
> But Lilian (61)
> and Murdoch (58) believe that lifelong sobriety is
> not the solution
> to alcoholism, as this only treats the symptoms and
> not the causes of
> the problem, and is merely a damage limitation
> exercise.
>
> The couple argue that alcoholism, in common with
> other self-harming
> disorders like bulimia, anorexia and
> self-mutilation, often stems
> from problems experienced in childhood. And if these
> problems can be
> identified and properly addressed, then the problem
> behaviour can be
> cured.
>
> Ten years ago the couple had hit rock bottom,
> sleeping rough for two
> weeks on the streets of Cambridge, where a quarter
> of a century
> previously as an undergraduate Murdoch had received
> an honours degree
> in English Literature. They had moved to Cambridge
> from Ayr with the
> idea of Murdoch doing research for a doctorate, but
> had reverted to
> their old habits, started binge drinking, and been
> thrown out of
> their lodgings.
>
> After a fortnight, and when they were just about at
> the end of their
> tether, two nurses on their way home after a
> Saturday night out took
> pity on Lilian and Murdoch, bought them a cup of tea
> and found them a
> place in a homeless hostel.
>
> They spent the next twelve months there getting to
> the roots of their
> alcoholism. They tried AA one last time, before
> concluding that it
> was a quasi-religious cult whose ideas on alcoholism
> were inadequate
> and outdated.
>
> Instead, by reading psychology, they decided that
> the causes of their
> alcoholic behaviour lay in problems experienced
> during childhood. And
> that once these problems were realised and
> addressed, there was no
> longer any need for escape through alcoholism, and
> they could even
> drink normally like other people again.
>
> Ten years after selling newspapers from a stand in
> Market Square,
> Cambridge, so that he and Lilian could get back on
> their feet
> financially, Murdoch now writes business and
> financial articles for
> three local weekly papers and also runs his own
> public relations
> consultancy.
>
> And Lilian is so keen to pass on the benefits of
> their experience to
> others who still have problems with alcohol, that
> together the couple
> wrote "Phoenix in a Bottle".
>
> Eminent American addiction expert Dr Stanton Peele
> PhD has read the
> book, and commented:
>
> "Phoenix in a Bottle is a modern version of The Days
> of Wine and
> Roses, and tells the true story of how two people
> who entered a
> period of desperate drinking stayed with one another
> in a close
> loving relationship, and emerged from their
> alcoholism able to drink
> responsibly again.
>
> "Both a wonderful love story and a challenge to
> conventional wisdom
> about how people can recover from drinking problems,
> Phoenix in a
> Bottle gives people hope, and helps them to confront
> their own
> demons - alcohol or otherwise."
>
> "Phoenix in a Bottle" by Lilian and Murdoch
> MacDonald will be
> published by Melrose Books price £16.99 on 30 May.
>
>
>
> click here to buy our book
>
> Enquiries:
>
> Ross Hilton
> Commissioning Editor
> Melrose Books
> St Thomas Place
> ELY
> Cambridgeshire
> CB7 4GG
> Telephone: 00 44 1353 646608
> E-mail: rosshilton@...
>
> Web: www.melrosebooks.com
>
> Issued by Fame Publicity Services.
>
> Fame Publicity Services
> 10 Miller Road
> AYR, Ayrshire
> Scotland KA7 2AY
> Tel.: 00 44 1292 281498
> Mobile: 07833 667322.
> E-mail: famepublicity@...
>
> Web: www.famepublicity.co.uk
>
> Lilian and Murdoch's website:
> www.alcoholicscandrinksafelyagain.com
>
> Melrose Books website:
> www.melrosebooks.com
>
> Dr Stanton Peele's website:
> www.peele.net
>
>
>
>
> Web links:
>
> http://i-newswire.com/pr8494.html
>
> http://www.24-7pressrelease.com/view_release.php?
> rID=3788&tf7sid=ce8a547a08c7011ff861cc4134c30ef1
>
> http://www.theopenpress.com/index.php?a=press&id=799
>
>
http://www.alcoholicscandrinksafelyagain.com/newpage5.html
>
> http://www.pressbox.co.uk/Detailed/24330.html
>
> http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/2/prweb213026.htm
>
>
http://www.emediawire.com/releases/2005/2/prweb213026.htm
>
>
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/AlcoholicsCanDrinkSafelyAgain/mes
> sage/23
>
>
>
>
>
>
=== message truncated ===


Maria Martin






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