Circles of Recovery

Self-help organizations across the world, such as Alcoholics Anonymous, Croix D’Or, The Links, Moderation Management, Narcotics Anonymous, and SMART Recovery, have attracted tens of millions of individuals seeking to address addiction problems with drugs or alcohol. For the first time, this book provides an integrative, international review of research on these organizations, focusing in particular on the critical questions of how they affect individual members and whether self-help groups and formal health care systems can work together to combat substance abuse. Keith Humphreys reviews over 500 studies into the efficacy of self-help groups as an alternative and voluntary form of treatment. In addition to offering a critical, state-of-the-art review of the international body of research in this area, he provides practical strategies for how individual clinicians and treatment systems can interact with self-help organizations in a way that improves outcomes for patients and for communities as a whole.

• Integrates clinical and multidisciplinary literature about addiction self-help groups in the Pacific Rim, North America, and Europe • Covers all alcohol addiction self-help groups, from Alcoholics Anonymous and beyond • Covers organizations for substances other than alcohol, such as cocaine and nicotine

Acknowledgements; 1. Definitions, scope, and origin of the health-related self-help group movement; 2. An international tour of addiction-related mutual help organizations; 3. Does self-help group participation produce positive substance abuse, psychiatric, and medical outcomes?; 4. A different perspective on change in self-help organizations: spirituality, identity, life stories, friendship networks, and politicization; 5. Government, health care organization, and clinical interactions with self-help organizations; Epilogue: Summing up, moving forward; References; Index.

\'This book presents a clear and comprehensive international overview of the history of self-help groups and the evidence for their efficacy in recovery … This book is a must read for all addiction professionals as well as all other mental health professionals who encounter substance abuse problems in their clients.\' Psychological Medicine

\'This book presents a clear and comprehensive international overview of the history of self-help groups and the evidence for their efficacy in recovery.\' Psychological Medicine