The Tao of Sobriety

January 21, 2002
Getting and Giving Help In The Tao of Sobriety: Helping You to Recover from Alcohol and Drug Addiction, longtime therapists David Gregson and Jay S. Efran offer a self-help book designed either to work in tandem with 12-step programs or to help addicts get sober without group help. After a brief explanation of Taoism (a Chinese philosophy and religion whose practitioners seek inner peace), the authors present the Tao, a Chinese term meaning "the way," as an ideal vehicle for attaining and maintaining freedom from substance addiction. Replete with anecdotes, exercises (meditations, questions to explore, affirmations) and real-life applications of Taoist precepts (letting go of attachments to guilt and other "self-condemnation" behaviors that lead to substance abuse), this guide uses the firm but gentle approach that is the trademark of many Eastern practices.