Synopsis "Listen to the Light: Courage in Recovery"
Listen To The Light: Courage in Recovery makes the case, from the perspective of the author, that while recovery from addictions may be painful as it requires enormous courage and honesty, sobriety provides a life of renewed dignity. The case is strong and compelling for a community approach to recovery and funding of treatment. As a Jewish Mother, trained in addictions counseling, the author describes her failures as well as successes with her patients in recovery. Courage In Recovery is especially useful for nurses and others training for careers in addictions counseling. “In the midst of the largest drug epidemic in US history, one that killed 70,000 people last year from drug overdoses, Freda Warrington’s book, Listen To The Light: Courage in Recovery, adds a human face to the terrible disease of addiction...Books like Warrington’s help us tread the difficult path to recovery now that we understand that addiction is a brain disease for which recovery is possible.”—Dr. David Smith founded the Haight Ashbury Free Clinic in 1967, inaugurating the principle of “Health Care is a Right, not a Privilege.” He is Chair, Addiction Medicine & MQAC, for Muir Wood Adolescent and Family Services in Petaluma, California, a residential treatment center for teens with substance abuse and co-occurring disorders, the Medical Director for Avery Lane Healing Center for Women, as well as the Medical Director of Center Point, in San Rafael, California, a therapeutic community focused on those coming out of the criminal justice system. Dr. Smith is a Diplomate of the American Board of Addiction Medicine, a past President of the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) and the California Society of Addiction Medicine (CSAM). He is the Founding Editor of the Journal of Psychoactive Drugs and co-author of “Unchain Your Brain: 10 Steps to Breaking the Addictions that Steal Your Life.” “Freda S. Warrington deftly writes about how her experiences as an addiction therapist helped her gain special insights into the human condition. The reader follows her from the early days of her job when she was thinking of quitting to her later realization that her work could be viewed as “A Blessing.” With careful attention to detail, she describes selected types of patients, showing how each has distinctive addiction issues. The reader is encouraged to become involved in helping find and fund solutions to the country’s overall approach to addiction. She champions those dedicated to improving addiction recovery."—Joyce McPeake Robinson, Ed. D.
