Main description:

Trauma and addiction are two of the most common and difficult issues that people face--but it truly is possible to heal. In this motivating book, leading expert Lisa Najavits explains the link between trauma and addiction and presents science-based self-help strategies that you can use no matter where you are in your recovery. Every chapter features inspiring words from people who have "been there," plus carefully designed reflection questions, exercises, and other practical tools. Learn how you can:

*Build coping skills so that the future is better than the past.
*Keep yourself safe and find support.
*Set your own goals and make a plan to achieve them at your own pace.
*Choose compassion over self-blame and shame.
*Move toward your best self--the person you want to be.

Mental health professionals, see also the author's Seeking Safety: A Treatment Manual for PTSD and Substance Abuse, which presents an evidence-based treatment approach developed specifically for PTSD and substance abuse.

Contents:

1. Moving Forward from Trauma, Addiction, or Both
2. Starting Out
3. "Things Turn Out OK"-David's Experience
4. It's Medical: You're Not Crazy, Lazy, or Bad
5. How Do People Change?
6. The World Is Your School
7. Listen to Your Behavior
8. Wish versus Reality
9. Find Your Way
10. Possible Selves
11. The Language of Trauma and Addiction
12. Safe Coping Skills
13. Social Pain
14. True Self-Compassion
15. Why Trauma and Addiction Go Together
16. Forgiving Yourself
17. Body and Biology
18. Getting to a Calm Place: The Skill of Grounding
19. The Culture of Silence
20. Motivation: Leverage One Problem to Help the Other
21. Tip the Scales Recovery Plan
22. Every Child Is a Detective
23. How to Survive a Relapse
24. See the Link
25. Practice
26. Identity: How You View Yourself
27. Perception: How Others View You
28. The Decision to Grow
29. Dark Feelings: Rage, Hatred, Revenge, Bitterness
30. Imagination
31. Create a Healing Image
32. Find a Good Counselor
33. Two Types of Trauma Counseling
34. What the Wounded Can Give Back
35. "We Are All in the Gutter, but Some of Us Are Looking at the Stars"
Appendix A. How Others Can Help: Family, Friends, Partners, Sponsors, Counselors
Appendix B. Resources
Appendix C. Brief Quiz on Trauma and Addiction
References
List of Exercises