Main description:

One of the few books on the topic, this updated edition offers alternatives to disease models of addiction by exploring personal pathways to recovery. Focusing on alcohol and drug problems, it provides a literature review of 40 years of studies on self-change with particular emphasis on the current decade and methodological issues (starting with how much or how little treatment constitutes "treatment"). The 24 experts keep the coverage consistently readable, and dozens of brief narratives from individuals who have successfully recovered from an addictive behavior without formal help lend valuable personal perspectives.

Contents:

Introduction
1. The phenomenon of self-change: Overview and key issues
Linda Carter Sobell
2. Self-change from alcohol and drug abuse: Often cited classics
Jan Blomqvist
3. Natural recovery or recovery without treatment from alcohol and drug problems as seen from survey data
Reginald G. Smart
4. Remission without formal help: New directions in studies using survey data
Hans-Jurgen Rumpf, Gallus Bischof, and Ulrich John
5. Natural recovery from alcohol and drug problems: A methodological review of the literature from 1999 through 2005
Jose Luis Carballo, Jose Ramon Fernandez-Hermida, Roberto Secades-Villa, Linda Carter Sobell, Mariam Dum, and Olaya Garcia-Rodriguez
6. Self-Change
6.1 Self-change: The rule among smokers
Stephanie Floeter and Christoph Kroeger
6.2 Natural recovery from problem gambling
Tony Toneatto and Jachen C. Nett
6.3 The natural course and outcome of eating disorders and obesity
Janet Polivy
6.4 Spontaneous desistance from crime
Jukka-Pekka Takala
6.5 Self-Change from Stuttering: An overview
Patrick Finn
7. One way to leave your lover: The role of treatment in changing addictive behaviors
Mark B. Sobell
8. Promoting self-change: Taking the treatment to the community
Linda Carter Sobell and Mark B. Sobell
9. Hostile and favorable societal climates for self-change: Some lessons for policy
makers
Harald Klingemann and Justyna Klingemann
10. Natural recovery: A cross-cultural perspective
Judith C. Barker and Geoffrey Hunt
11. Self-change toolbox: Tools, tips, websites, and other informational resources for assessing and promoting self-change
Andrew Voluse, Joachim Koerkel, and Linda Carter Sobell