The Interventionist

March 14, 2011
"Addiction trumps everything. Even love of my children," confesses Gammill in this incredible story of salvation. A registered nurse and mother of two from Maryland, Gammill transforms from an out-of-control drug addict to an "interventionist" who has helped eight women and one man take their first steps toward sobriety. Gammill tells their harrowing, stories, and her own, in this memoir of success, failure, and redemption. Gammill credits her own life-saving step toward recovery to self-help guru Dr. Phil McGraw, who responded to her written plea for help with a long, painful stint in rehabâand a gig on his TV show. While she tells the stories of others, like CJ, a woman who consumes almost anything that is mind-altering, but remains determined to fight an addiction that "came "to kill, steal and destroy," it is Gammill's unsettling story that best illustrates the one enduring truth about a sickness that can alter both a person's life and personality: the recognition that even in the throes of the disease, an addict is far more than the addiction. These tales should inspire and challenge addicts as well as their caregivers and families.