File        : We beat the bottle - without AA.doc
Description : From "The Herald" newspaper 12 May 2005

File        : Scottish couple’s new book challenges.doc
Description : "Phoenix in a Bottle"

Stanton Peele - The Only Free Person in America?

"Sometimes I feel like the only free person in America."

So says leading addiction expert Dr. Stanton Peele in the latest blog
entry shortly to be posted on his authoritative and widely consulted
addiction website.

Dr. Peele explains: "Although many question – and some virulently
oppose – the disease theory of alcoholism and addiction, only I can
speak my mind freely on this topic."

As an example of people's common reluctance to speak out against the
disease theory of alcoholism and addiction and the 12-step program,
Stanton Peele recalls the time he was hired as a forensic expert to
an attorney for a successful physician in a major medical center.

The physician had been accused by his soon-to-be-ex-wife of
alcoholism and was forced to enter a prominent treatment center.

There, he refused to concede that he was an alcoholic or to accept
the "spiritual" 12-step program. Negative consequences followed, and
he sued.

His lawyer, whom Dr. Peele describes as extremely dedicated and
smart, moved for and was granted a summary judgment against the
medical board. This attorney argued that it was a violation of the
doctor's right of privacy for a medical board to punish him for
actions which, if true, occurred in his private life and never
impacted his medical practice.

Stanton Peele continues: "When I asked whether the physician wanted
to sue the board or the treatment center to make this case public, he
declined. Why endanger a highly successful, lucrative and satisfying
medical career just to make a point?

"And this from a man who felt so strongly that his rights were being
violated that he refused to simply go along with the 12-step
principles he was force fed in order to preserve his license!"

Dr. Peele cites another example.

"I work with a prominent cleric, a man with connections reaching into
the highest levels of government. His religious orientation of self-
determination was threatened when he entered the intensive outpatient
program (IOP) at Morristown Memorial Hospital, which was typically
completely 12-step oriented and run by a recovering AA automaton. He
described incredulously the insensitivity of this woman when a female
group member reported having a glass of champagne at a wedding. The
woman running the program sarcastically asked for reactions from the
group, who took turns lambasting the female participant. She left
crying, and never returned. Another successful outcome!

"I asked this man, a gentleman and a scholar who couldn't be more
opposed to the 12-steps and this IOP on fundamental ethical grounds,
whether he could communicate his feelings to those he knew in
political power. He demurred. `I have a very visible public position
to maintain,' he reminded me."

Stanton Peele then tells of a woman he knows who has bravely moved
from her own 12-step recovery to become a motivational interviewing
(MI) and a harm reduction (HR) therapist and teacher. (These are non-
12-step treatment approaches that respect personal determination and
recognize continued use but seek to minimize potential dangers of
this use.)  She encountered a major actor who was wrestling
with "recovery" issues.  When Dr. Peele asked her if she mentioned
her own journey and current views, she said, "No, it didn't seem
appropriate to force my experience on him."

Yet this woman had previously told Dr. Peele that she fantasized
about some show business figure rejecting the standard treatment
programs in favor of seeking MI or HR treatment!

Dr. Stanton Peele concludes: "This, of course, reminds me of the most
prominent 12-step quisling of all – James Frey.  When Frey's book A
Million Little Pieces was first published, he appeared with me in
2002 on a John Stossel special, "Help Me, I Can't Help Myself."
There he declared AA and the 12 steps bullshit – as he did throughout
his book.

"But by the time he appeared on Oprah, and was selected for her book
club, there was no trace of his anti-12-step views – people who saw
him with Oprah thought he was a standard recovery story.  Amazingly,
despite the bestsellerdom of his book, no one except Amy McCarley and
I - http://www.peele.net/lib/frey.html - has ever noted this.

"So I guess America will go on for a few more decades in its perfect
ignorance that AA and the 12 steps are not the only option – and
often not even the preferred one."

[Dr. Stanton Peele's new book "Addiction-Proof Your Child" tackles
these issues for young Americans.]

http://www.addictionproofyourchild.com

http://alcoholicscandrinksafelyagain.blogspot.com

http://www.peele.net

File        : Scottish couple’s new book challenges.doc
Description : "Phoenix in a Bottle"

File        : We beat the bottle - without AA.doc
Description : From "The Herald" newspaper 12 May 2005

File        : Scottish couple’s new book challenges.doc
Description : "Phoenix in a Bottle"

File        : Scottish couple’s new book challenges.doc
Description : "Phoenix in a Bottle"

File        : We beat the bottle - without AA.doc
Description : From "The Herald" newspaper 12 May 2005

File        : Scottish couple’s new book challenges.doc
Description : "Phoenix in a Bottle"

Ayrshire authors review "Addiction-Proof Your Child" by Stanton Peele

[The following review of Dr Stanton Peele's new book "Addiction-Proof
Your Child" is by Murdoch and Lilian and Murdoch MacDonald from
Ayrshire, Scotland, authors of "Phoenix in a Bottle", an account of
their own recovery from alcoholism.]

Dr Stanton Peele's new book "Addiction-Proof Your Child" is a concise
and commonsense piece of work that does exactly what the title
suggests, and gives parents a comprehensive guide to ensure their
offspring never fall victim to drug and other addictions, including
alcoholism.

At the same time, the book provides valuable advice on how best to
help a child who is already an addict or who is showing signs of
dependency.

Although he claims at the outset that his book is not revolutionary,
Dr Peele starts off by saying that we should disregard much of what
we are told about addiction and its treatment by governments, the
media and even some elements of the medical profession itself.

Reiterating what he has argued in previous books, the author points
out that addiction can take many forms, and need not be to a
substance, citing the examples of shopping, gambling, love and sex.

He goes on to deride the idea that addiction is an illness or a
disease, or that it is any kind of biological phenomenon beyond our
control, or that it has any genetic causation.

Addicts do not have a problem with heroin or with alcohol, Dr Peele
says, they have a problem with life.

He explains: "People become addicted to experiences that protect them
from life challenges that they can't deal with."

Not only should we not treat addiction as if it were a disease,
neither should we treat it as a crime.

Stanton Peele points out that alcohol and drugs are always going to
be available regardless of what society may do, and young people are
always going to be prone to experiment with them.

However, the good news is that drug use rarely leads to drug
addiction, any more so than taking a drink leads to alcoholism.

Moreover, of those people who do become dependent, the vast majority
mature out of their addiction of their own volition as their life
moves on.

So parents should think twice before rushing children with a drug or
alcohol problem into treatment, since surveys have proved that people
undergoing such treatments, particularly those based upon the 12-Step
programme of Alcoholics Anonymous, fare no better, or even not so
well as those who undertake to change their behaviour with no outside
assistance whatsoever.

What Stanton Peele says parents can and should do is to encourage
this natural maturing process by instilling their children with
positive values and a responsible attitude about themselves and their
place in society.

He says: "What kids need to protect them from addiction are the
fundamentals of a life: a sense of meaning and involvement,
purposeful activity and achievement, caring about themselves and
others, and the ability to manage themselves."

Stanton Peele goes on: "My approach includes recognising that
addiction is not limited to drugs, that people overcome addiction
when they are motivated and when their lives improve, and that
successful therapy for addiction builds on people's own motivation to
change, while teaching them better ways of coping."

Dr Peele argues that such an approach depends for success upon giving
children self-efficacy, a firm belief that they hold their destiny in
their own hands.

This is in stark contrast to the 12-Step programme, which is based
upon the false assumption that an addict is powerless against an
incurable lifelong disease.

As Dr Peele says: "Learning to assume adult responsibilities does not
mesh well with admitting powerlessness."

"No experience, including addiction, is beyond human beings' control.
People are most likely to escape addiction when their values
contradict continued addiction, and when they believe they can escape
it."

Stanton Peele's book provides much more detailed advice about how
parents can deal with offspring's addiction, and (even more
importantly) how to avoid it happening in the first place.

It claims to say little that is new, but rather to reassert some good
old-fashioned traditional virtues and values.

"Addiction-Proof Your Child" is nevertheless an urgent and much-
needed wake-up call to all parents, to the medical profession, and to
governments both here in the UK as well as in Stanton Peele's native
America.

Stanton Peele's website: http://www.peele.net

"Addiction-Proof Your Child" by Stanton Peele Phd JD is published by
Crown Publishing Group, Division of Random House Inc, price $14.95
(Ł7.39). ISBN 978-0307237576.

Murdoch and Lilian MacDonald
Ayrshire, Scotland.

Murdoch and Lilian MacDonald are the authors of "Phoenix in a
Bottle", an account of how they themselves reconstructed their own
lives after many years of chronic alcoholism.

Murdoch and Lilian's website:
http://www.alcoholicscandrinksafelyagain.com

File        : Scottish couple’s new book challenges.doc
Description : "Phoenix in a Bottle"

File        : We beat the bottle - without AA.doc
Description : From "The Herald" newspaper 12 May 2005

Hi

We are running a research blog into the diagnosis, treatment and
lifestyles of people who have been diagnosed with alcoholism.

We are really interested in the story of you or a friend's or family
member's diagnosis. It would be really great if you could spare a
few minutes to have look and share your thoughts

http://www.thepatientconnections.com/blog.asp?uid=59pbg4

Please remember that all responses are completely anonymous and this
study will help shape new research into this area.

Email me if you have any queries about this project.

Thanks

Belinda
belinda.shale@...
The Patient Connection

File        : Scottish couple’s new book challenges.doc
Description : "Phoenix in a Bottle"

File        : Scottish couple’s new book challenges.doc
Description : "Phoenix in a Bottle"

File        : We beat the bottle - without AA.doc
Description : From "The Herald" newspaper 12 May 2005

File        : Scottish couple’s new book challenges.doc
Description : "Phoenix in a Bottle"

File        : Scottish couple’s new book challenges.doc
Description : "Phoenix in a Bottle"

File        : We beat the bottle - without AA.doc
Description : From "The Herald" newspaper 12 May 2005

File        : Scottish couple’s new book challenges.doc
Description : "Phoenix in a Bottle"

File        : Scottish couple’s new book challenges.doc
Description : "Phoenix in a Bottle"

File        : Scottish couple’s new book challenges.doc
Description : "Phoenix in a Bottle"

File        : We beat the bottle - without AA.doc
Description : From "The Herald" newspaper 12 May 2005

File        : Scottish couple’s new book challenges.doc
Description : "Phoenix in a Bottle"

Did anyone see the BBC television programme on Scientology this
evening, and if so, did you notice the similarities between
Scientology and Alcoholics Anonymous?

Kind regards,

Lilian and Murdoch

http://www.alcoholicscandrinksafelyagain.com

File        : Scottish couple’s new book challenges.doc
Description : "Phoenix in a Bottle"

File        : We beat the bottle - without AA.doc
Description : From "The Herald" newspaper 12 May 2005

File        : Scottish couple’s new book challenges.doc
Description : "Phoenix in a Bottle"

File        : Scottish couple’s new book challenges.doc
Description : "Phoenix in a Bottle"

File        : We beat the bottle - without AA.doc
Description : From "The Herald" newspaper 12 May 2005