Sober But Stuck: Obstacles Most Often Encountered That Keep Us from Growing in Recovery

Book is not what was advertised and the book sent to me has a different cover and is in terrible condition!

When I came into AA a year ago, I heard from others with good, solid sobriety that even though the alcohol is gone, the "ism" keeps popping up in other places.... man oh man, is that true for me! The minute I opened this book and saw chapters with titles like "Fear of Intimacy", Feelings of Inadequacy", "Fear of Rejection and Abandonment" and "The Need to Control Others" I just knew I had to have this book. Within each topic are personal narratives, like the stories in "The Big Book", in which men and women in recovery share their lives before and after coming into AA, and how they discovered and solved the problems that came up, even after years of sobriety and working the program. They have very specific ways that they worked them through, which are generously shared, and easy to identify with. I'd recommend this book to anyone in any stage of recovery, though it seems to be aimed at helping those that are "stuck" after some years of sobriety. In my case, as a newcomer, it's helped me tremendously to deal with all the secondary addictive behaviors and issues (and Feelings) that have inevitably surfaced without the numbing affect of alcohol to keep them at bay. Can't recommend it enough.

The stories in this book got me from year 5 to year 11 in my sobriety. Everyone faces struggles in life, including the path of sobriety. What matters is what one does during the difficult times, and the wisdom reaped from going through them successfully. This is a great book of stories from people gaining wisdom from growing through challenges that they could not have even uncovered in their original fourth steps.

If you are "sober but stuck," then this book really may be for you. I know when I was sober nine years, I felt like I was slogging through mud; I wasn't happy and I felt somewhat hopeless to expect things to improve. I mentioned this feeling and somebody recommended that I read this book. I took their advice (uncharacteristically for me at the time) and got it, and I am very glad I did. Reading it and taking some of the suggestions found within really gave me a needed boost in my sobriety. The book is organized like the book "Alcoholics Anonymous," story by story, and features personal contributions from men and women on each of many tough topics that alcoholics face in recovery after they have gotten to a place of steady sobriety. Many alcoholics survive active addiction only to find they have channeled their disease into other destructive outlets like gambling, sex addiction, codependency, etc. Even if you haven't had to deal with secondary addictions, it is a highly worthy title on the recovery bookshelf, and I recommend it for any struggling alcoholic in recovery.