Adult Children of Alcoholic Parents: An Evidence-Based Workbook to Heal Your Past

In the Introduction of “Adult Children of Alcoholic Parents” the author states, “It is an honor to walk alongside you as you learn, grow and heal.” In fact, the reader does feel as if walking alongside the author, embarking on a journey to learn, grow and heal from the trauma and abuse of growing up in an alcoholic home. The chapters are presented in a manner that is easy for the reader to follow and understand, while being given the opportunity to reflect and implement the insightful, logical worksheet exercises. The beauty of this book is that it can be used by anyone, not just adult children of alcoholic parents, who want to lead an improved, meaningful life. This book is of value to therapists as well, in guiding clients through recovery with solid insights to benefit therapy sessions. Overall, this book is a gentle and valuable guide in helping the reader realize their full potential in developing and maintaining a happy, meaningful life.

I love this workbook. It opened a lot of wounds but it healed a whole bunch, too. It forced me to look at my own life and understand why things happen in my life the way that they do. I didn’t realize my behavior was a direct result of my traumas experienced as a child of an alcoholic. Now I understand that I’m a codependent and an adult child of an alcoholic. Imagine that. Awesome workbook

This book is not only for those who grew up in an alcoholic household, but also those who grew up with some sort of dysfunction in their life. Whether it was a family member, friend, or any other type of relationship, this book guides you through step by step from self awareness to the every day applicable tools on how to cultivate healthy relationships with others, but most importantly with yourself. I encourage you to read this book regardless of the type of trauma or dysfunction you’ve experienced, as this will be a life long tool for your mental health toolkit!

For those going through recovery from growing up with alcoholism/addiction. Good guidance for remembering what happened and how you were affected.

I am the adult child of an alcoholic and was impressed at how many of the common issues are addressed in this book. It covers boundaries, loss of self-esteem, relationship/family issues, cognitive distortions, and more. I liked that it touched on so many points, but I felt that there needed to be more depth and fleshing out of them. I realize that this is a workbook and is to be used concurrent with therapy, but I think some more detail in certain areas as well as more case studies may have helped. Sometimes, the information felt very cursory and sometimes it felt very detailed. The book has a lot of white space in it (and I don't mean the blank lines for writing in - but just the layout in general). I think there should have been more content devoted in particular to building identity and what that means. It is explained, but in language which I don't think most people can relate to and in broader strokes (e.g., psychosocial identity). Still, though not perfect, I think this is a very useful book for the adult children of alcoholics in getting started in seeing their issues as a result of their upbringing.

Helpful

This book is well written in language that is easy to understand.

Arrived damaged with pages separated from the binding. Was a VERU hot day outside so could have been heat related.