Recommended reading

Glasses bookThis list of recommended books and other resources (where mentioned) has been complied by input from various ISAAC members. It is a great starting point for anyone looking to get a deeper understanding on issues relating to addiction and recovery.

If you are not able to find these books in stores or via online retailers like Amazon, please email us and we can help you source them.

The Life Recovery Bible

The Life Recovery Bible is a Bible in the New Living Translation and is based on the 12-step recovery model. It was created by two of today’s leading recovery experts, David Stoop, Ph.D., and Stephen Arterburn, M.Ed., to lead readers to the source of true healing―God himself.

Kicking it: Eating Disorders, Pornography, Drugs, Alcohol
David Partington

The Christian Handbook of Abuse, Addiction & Difficult Behaviour
Geary Brendan and Bryan Jocelyn

The Good Book and The Big Book
Dick B

The Good Book and the Big Book: AA’s Roots in the Bible is the most popular of Dick B’s 42 titles. It traces the precise A.A. Big Book and 12-Step language that came from the Bible. Christians and AAs alike acclaim this title’s thorough review of early AA sources showing the Bible’s role in AA’s recovery ideas. This book demonstrates how God helps alcoholics recover if they want His help.

Memories and Miracles
Mary Theresa Webb

Mary Theresa (Terry) Webb first arrived in Russia in 1989 on a peacemaking mission and had several exhilarating adventures as she got to know her new Russian friends and neighbors. But Webb wasn’t there to sightsee — she worked with missionary teams and addiction-recovery groups. Her memoir is full of stories of the dedicated people and partners who made these valuable programs work.

Sadly, some programs have been shuttered by certain authorities, but Webb retains her optimism and faith in these communities. Her story shows a different side of Russia and highlights the problems still plaguing the populace.

Alcohol, Addiction and Christian Ethics (New Studies in Christian Ethics)
Christopher C. H. Cook

Addictive disorders are characterised by a division of the will, in which the addict is attracted both by a desire to continue the addictive behaviour and also by a desire to stop it. Academic perspectives on this predicament usually come from clinical and scientific standpoints, with the ‘moral model’ rejected as outmoded. But Christian theology has a long history of thinking and writing on such problems and offers insights which are helpful to scientific and ethical reflection upon the nature of addiction. Chris Cook reviews Christian theological and ethical reflection upon the problems of alcohol use and misuse, from biblical times until the present day. Drawing particularly upon the writings of St Paul the Apostle and Augustine of Hippo, a critical theological model of addiction is developed. Alcohol dependence is also viewed in the broader ethical perspective of the use and misuse of alcohol within communities.

Insight into Addiction
Andre Radmall

Dying for a Drink
Anderson Spickard

Alcoholism And Other Addictions (also listed as “Alcohol and Other Addictions”)
Christopher C. H. Cook

Alcoholism And Other Addictions is for everyone involved in pastoral, managerial, educational and professional work including clergy, teachers, youth workers, doctors and other health professionals.

Intervention: How to Help Someone Who Doesn’t Want Help
Vernon E. Johnson

Discusses the process of intervention and how it works on chemically dependent persons, and explains how to do the intervention for a friend, relative, or co-worker who needs help. The first three chapters are a good introduction to the development of alcoholism and family dynamics.

Pills, Poppers and Caffeine: Drug Addiction and Your Family (Family Issues)
David Partington

Uppers, Downers, All Arounders: Physical and Mental Effects of Psychoactive Drugs
Darryl S. Inaba andWilliam E. Cohen

Joy Starts Here: The Transformation Zone
Wilder, Khouri, Coursey and Sutton

This book addresses – but is not intended to be solely about addiction. It gives a good description of the conditions that help addictions develop/grow – but is more focused on explaining the conditions that help make transformation possible.

Addiction and Grace: Love and Spirituality in the Healing of Addictions
Gerald G. May

This book discusses the causes and characteristics of addiction, examines its psychological, neurological, and theological aspects, and explains how grace can can help overcome addiction.

The Bondage Breaker: Overcoming Negative Thoughts, Irrational Feelings and Habitual Sins
Dr Neil T Anderson

Sin and Grace in Christian Counseling: An Integrative Paradigm
Mark R. McMinn

Stereotypical tendencies in Christian counselling include either emphasising sin at the expense of grace or grace at the expense of sin. Mark R McMinn seeks to overcome these exaggerations and enable all those in the helping professions see the proper understanding and place of both sin and God’s grace in the Christian counselling process.

Out of the Shadows: Understanding Sexual Addiction
Patrick J. Carnes PhD

Contrary to Love: Helping the Sexual Addict
Patrick J. Carnes PhD

In the Shadows of the Net: Breaking Free of Compulsive Online Sexual Behavior
Patrick J. Carnes PhD, David L Delmonico PhD, Elizabeth Griffin MA, Joseph M Moriarity

The Secret Sin: Healing the Wounds of Sexual Addiction
Mark Laaser

Wired for Intimacy: How Pornography Hijacks the Male Brain
William M Struthers

The Genesis Process
www.genesisprocess.org

The NET Institute
www.netinstitute.org

Wired for Relationships
Ed Khouri

This contains an overview of the brain, addiction, trauma and recovery. It covers alcohol, other drugs and a variety of other addictions.

Pleasure Unwoven: An Explanation of the Brain Disease of Addiction
Kevin McCauley

The important question about addiction is: “Is it really a “disease?” This video essay, filmed in high-definition and recipient of NAATP’s Michael Q. Ford Journalism Award 2010, presents the arguments for and against this question. Reviews all the latest research about addiction along the way. Uses the spectacular landscape of Utah’s State and National Parks to describe the brain areas involved in addiction, turns complex neuro-scientific concepts into easy-to-understand visual images that will help people in recovery feel better understood, and their families and friends feel hope that recovery is possible.

Restarting – Home Version
Jim Wilder and Ed Khouri

This is the 12 lesson introductory video to the recovery series in “Thriving”. The video also explains the link between trauma and addiction.

If you would like to recommend a resource to be added to this ‘must-read’ list, please email us.