Achievement and Addiction strives to answer those difficult questions, and, in so doing, to provide mental health professionals with the expertise necessary successfully to guide this unique population on their journey toward recovery

Are you an achievement addict? It's hard not to be one given our collective obsession with success.Students fear that the ATAR will sum up not just their schooling career, but also their individual worth. Australians aren't just mad for sporting victory - skyrocketing house prices show we're equally hooked on owning property. Then there are the furious work habits of Silicon Valley CEOs, violin prodigies, and tiger mums.Why do we constantly strive for our significance - and could you quit the habit if you tried?

The creator of the Unmistakable Creative podcast makes a counterintuitive argument: By focusing your creative work on pleasing yourself, you can increase your productivity, happiness, and (eventually, paradoxically) the size of your audience. Creating for your own pleasure--whether you're writing a novel, composing songs, or painting a landscape--can seem pointless. It's tempting to focus on pursuing money and fame, rather than the process itself. But as Srini Rao warns, creating then turns into a chore that can harm your self-esteem and suck the pleasure out of life, rather than being a source of joy. Rao, host of the podcast The Unmistakable Creative, argues that we should counter this thinking by intentionally creating art for ourselves alone--an audience of one. In this book he shares the fascinating true stories of creatives who took this path, along with actionable tips and the research of creativity experts. You'll learn, for example: How Oprah's intentional focus on her own work rather than the opinions of everyone else catapulted her into one of the most popular talk shows of all time. How being process-driven can not only help you produce more work, but can make you happier outside of your creative time. How to put together a creative "team of rivals" whose feedback can help you hone your craft and filter out useless feedback. By playing to an audience of one, we can find more happiness, increased productivity, and a greater sense of community.

Discover the six guiding principles that are key to lasting recovery from addiction to alcohol and other drugs. Learn why they’re important, how they relate to the Twelve Steps, and why they work. Anyone who has recovered from addiction to drugs or alcohol knows that getting sober is only the beginning. Working the Steps, patching life back together, and living sober are where the real work lies. While the Twelve Steps provide a program of lifelong recovery, recovery experts Sterling Shumway and Thomas Kimball have identified six essential values, or principles, that reinforce the Steps and that are key to achieving lasting recovery: Hope: A reawakening after despair; to live with greater confidence Healthy Coping Skills: Managing the pain and stress of life Sense of Achievement and Accomplishment: Moving beyond the limits of addiction toward personal goals Capacity for Meaningful Relationships: The positive support and connection with family and peers Unique Identity Development: The emergence of a unique positive identity Reclamation of Agency: The internal knowledge that you have choices in your behavior Using their research, personal stories, and guided journals and exercises, Shumway and Kimball thoroughly unlock these complex principles for recovering addicts and their families, and provide practical steps for applying them to a long-term recovery program.

The opioid epidemic, now several decades in the making, continues to cause pain and suffering for millions of Americans. Each year, thousands of individuals die from overdose, and thousands more grieve from these losses. Opioid use disorder (OUD) can lead to a complete interruption of day-to-day activities, including caring for one's family, maintaining a job or career, or keeping track of basic necessities, such as health care and finances. This report, the first in a series of three, examines four of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)'s grant programs that help alleviate suffering due to opioids and improve treatment quality and access. It offers recommendations about the existing reporting tools used by these programs and and proposes additional metrics and outcomes that should be considered.

Confronted by omnipresent threats of job loss and change, even the brightest among us are anxious. Packed with practical advice and inspiring stories, "Flying Without a Net" explains how to draw strength from vulnerability.

Not everyone who experiments with substance use or risky behavior becomes addicted, and many who are addicted have been able to recover. This authoritative book, now revised and updated, has given tens of thousands of professionals and students a state-of-the-art framework for understanding the journey both into and out of addiction. From Carlo C. DiClemente, codeveloper of the transtheoretical model (TTM), the book identifies the stages and processes involved in initiating, modifying, maintaining, or stopping any pattern of behavior. Grounded in extensive research, and illustrated with vivid case examples, the book shows how using the TTM can help overcome obstacles to change and make treatment and prevention more effective. New to This Edition *Incorporates 15 years of research advances, contemporary prevention and treatment approaches, and the ongoing development of the TTM. *Chapter on current developments in intervention research. *Expanded discussions of neuroscience; self-regulation; behavioral economics; self-help, mutual help, and spirituality; motivational issues; "process addictions" (gambling and sex addiction); and more. *Deeper coverage of risk and protective factors across adolescent and young adult development.

Runner-up winner of the Hamilton Book Author Award, this book is a comprehensive overview of the neurobiology behind addictions. Neuroscience is clarifying the causes of compulsive alcohol and drug use––while also shedding light on what addiction is, what it is not, and how it can best be treated––in exciting and innovative ways. Current neurobiological research complements and enhances the approaches to addiction traditionally taken in social work and psychology. However, this important research is generally not presented in a forthright, jargon-free way that clearly illustrates its relevance to addiction professionals. The Science of Addiction presents a comprehensive overview of the roles that brain function and genetics play in addiction. It explains in an easy-to-understand way changes in the terminology and characterization of addiction that are emerging based upon new neurobiological research. The author goes on to describe the neuroanatomy and function of brain reward sites, and the genetics of alcohol and other drug dependence. Chapters on the basic pharmacology of stimulants and depressants, alcohol, and other drugs illustrate the specific and unique ways in which the brain and the central nervous system interact with, and are affected by, each of these substances Erickson discusses current and emerging treatments for chemical dependence, and how neuroscience helps us understand the way they work. The intent is to encourage an understanding of the body-mind connection. The busy clinical practitioner will find the chapter on how to read and interpret new research findings on the neurobiological basis of addiction useful and illuminating. This book will help the almost 21.6 million Americans, and millions more worldwide, who abuse or are dependent on drugs by teaching their caregivers (or them) about the latest addiction science research. It is also intended to help addiction professionals understand the foundations and applications of neuroscience, so that they will be able to better empathize with their patients and apply the science to principles of treatment.

Treating Drug Problems, Volume 2 presents a wealth of incisive and accessible information on the issue of drug abuse and treatment in America. Several papers lay bare the relationship between drug treatment and other aspects of drug policy, including a powerful overview of twentieth century narcotics use in America and a unique account of how the federal government has built and managed the drug treatment system from the 1960s to the present. Two papers focus on the criminal justice system. The remaining papers focus on Employer policies and practices toward illegal drugs. Patterns and cycles of cocaine use in subcultures and the popular culture. Drug treatment from a marketing, supply-and-demand perspective, including an analysis of policy options. Treating Drug Problems, Volume 2 provides important information to policy makers and administrators, drug treatment specialists, and researchers.

Substance use among college students can result in serious academic and safety problems and have long-term negative repercussions. This state-of-the-art volume draws on the latest research on students' alcohol and drug use to provide useful suggestions for how to address this critical issue on college campuses. Leading researchers from multiple disciplines examine the prevalence and nature of substance use by students; biological and neuropsychological considerations; psychological and social aspects; prevention; and policy. Exemplary programs are presented -- including brief interventions, comprehensive prevention programs, and recovery support programs -- enhancing the utility of the book for campus-based clinicians and administrators. This title is part of The Duke Series in Child Development and Public Policy, edited by Kenneth A. Dodge and Martha Putallaz.