Another Chance: Hope and Health for the Alcoholic Family

Yes, there is hope and understanding. Wegscheider-Cruse gives a very detailed account of how we play out our birth roles and act them out in dysfuctional situations. Reading this book gave me the best insight of why I displayed certain behaviors. It also gave me an understanding of the roles other people play. Down right insightful! A must read.

I first read this book in 1991 for a substance abuse counseling class. It does a great job of looking at alcoholism from a family systems perspective. The text even discusses issues such as codependent/enabling counselors within the profession.Beyond it's professional usage is the fact that from the moment I started reading the book, I felt like I was reading about my own family. Finally, someone had put words to every stupid, miserable, confused feeling I had in the family I grew up in. Yes, it is a great intro text if you're planning on becoming a substance abuse counselor. But it's an even better text if you suspect that things in your family of origin weren't so normal after all. This was the book that got me started on my journey towards recovery from codependency. Since family system problems tend find their way into non alcolic families as well, this text is applicable to all kinds of people that may have found themselves growing up in the proverbial "dysfunctional family"

This book shares how alcoholism is a disease that penetrates the whole person and the whole family. Sharon Wegscheider-Cruse goes through the different roles that people act out in an alcholic family and how each breaks down unity and supports the addictive behavior of the alcoholic. Then, she gives practical ways this system can begin to heal and recover such trauma to the soul. Samuel Oliver, author of, What the Dying Teach Us: Lessons on Living

This book represents a solid foundation for understanding the hope underlying the health and recovery for the alcoholic family.Virginia Satir, a teacher of Sharon Wegscheider Cruse, and her contributions to family therapy are applied to understanding the roles within the family, the dysfunctional process, and the role of the counselor in assisting the re-emergence of hope.Alcoholism is understood as a family disease that creates heroes, scapegoats, lost children, and mascots as a means of survival. The positive impact of intervention on each of the family members describes how both dependents and individuals fare in living with feelings, and the forgiveness that occurs with the recovery of the whole person.This book made a difference in my understanding of treatment and recovery.

This book represents a solid foundation for understanding the hope underlying the health and recovery of the alcoholic family. Virginia Satir, a teacher of Sharon Wegscheider-Cruse, and her contributions to family therapy are applied to understanding the roles within the family, the dysfunctional process, and the role of the counselor in assisting the re-emergence of hope.Alcoholism is understood as a family disease that creates heroes, scapegoats, lost children, and mascots as a means of survival. The positive impact of intervention on each of the family members describes how both dependents and individuals fare in living with feelings, and the forgiveness that occurs with the recovery of the whole person.This book made a difference in my understanding of treatment and recovery.