Must-Read Books On Substance Abuse Counseling

I’ve recommended this book for years to patients, it’s not an easy read (it will bring up things for a person), but really gets you thinking about your substance abuse.

This book is the author’s own diary from a year as a rock star and his heroin use. It gives you a great insight into what an addict is going through in their mind.

David Sheff writes a brilliant defense of addiction as a disease, and the need to banish the stigma and moralizing that fails to address that. His book is full of statistics, facts, personal stories, research and experience from his time as a professional working with addicts, and the organizations that are supposed to help them. His points about the damaging impact of punishing substance abuse instead of treating it is a blunt condemnation of the current system. While he admits there is no single way to treat addiction, he gives some idea on how to start.

Writing from a neuroscience perspective, Maia Szalavitz gives a fascinating new theory on the nature of addiction. According to her book, Unbroken Brain, she says that addiction in all forms is not a matter of disease, but a learning disorder. One that falls on a spectrum similar to Autism, and has to be addressed the same way. Her biggest argument is one the flouts the modern belief that there is an “addictive personality”.

Treatment planning can be tough, so this is such an important book for anyone working with addiction. It allows you to create effective treatment plans with tangible goals, objectives, and interventions.

I recommend this book because you can’t begin to understand addiction without understanding the core concepts of co-occurring disorders. This book balances useful case studies with practical tips for helping your clients.

This is a great book if you’re running groups in a rehab setting or with adolescents. It’s mostly full of ice breakers and other useful conversations about addiction.