Addiction, Treatment and Recovery

This November, a new book called Healing and Hope: Six Women from the Betty Ford Center Share Their Powerful Journeys of Addiction and Recovery will be published by Putnam’s and will be available everywhere in the U.S. and Canada.

Healing and Hope puts a face – six faces, actually – on the disease of addiction. It provides a window into the world of addiction as seen through the eyes of six women who were courageous enough to face their personal demons, do battle – and win. Their stories are a poignant and profoundly moving testament to courage, compassion, and – above all – the will to survive.

The life stories told in the book are stories of regular women, not celebrities. They represent a broad cross-section of all women who have received treatment at the Betty Ford Center during its first two decades. One is a schoolteacher, another a housewife, one is a former gang member. They are black, white, Hispanic, lesbian and straight, young, middle-aged and older. Their “drug of choice” ranged from alcohol to prescription drugs to heroin.

These women have all experienced the devastating effects of the disease of addiction. Their dependence on alcohol and/or other drugs clouded their minds, broke their bodies, bent their spirit. Yet ultimately they found the strength to break free of the addictions that held them prisoner for so long.

One of many important themes in the book is the fact that a woman’s experience with addiction is different than a man’s experience. The voices of the women in the book describe how our culture reinforces the shame and guilt associated with being a female alcoholic/addict, the devastating physical effects of this illness on women, the often negative impact women’s economic circumstances have on their access to treatment, and the psychological problems that add layers of complexity to the treatment of this illness in women.

I wish to express my personal thanks to the six women who allowed themselves to be interviewed at length, trusting us to honor the intimate and profound experiences recounted in the book.

Healing and Hope is for everyone struggling with addiction and for everyone who knows someone who is. But the stories in Healing and Hope are about more than addiction, treatment and recovery – they are a compelling tribute to the enduring quality of the human spirit.

Related posts:

1. Women’s Addiction Conferences to Explore Relationships and Recovery