Real People Real Recovery: Overcoming Addiction in Modern America

by Eric Spofford, Piers Kaniuka

Overview

The opioid epidemic is laying waste to America. Overdose deaths have decimated a generation and lowered overall life expectancy. Between the greed of Big Pharma, the war on drugs, and ineffectual treatment, addicts and their families face an uphill battle in getting the help they need. But there is a way out! Noted recovery professionals Eric Spofford and Piers Kaniuka are providing some much needed hope. In this book, they describe how they beat opiate addiction and went on to help thousands of addicts find recovery. Along the way, they discuss the root causes of the current opiate epidemic, which include dislocation, the prison industrial complex, the greed of the pharmaceutical industry, stress, racism, poverty, and much more. In addition, Real People, Real Recovery explains the difference between recovery and sobriety and what actually constitutes success in treatment.


Key Features:

• Provides useful, unique information on how to choose the right treatment center for yourself or your loved one
• Offers valuable insight from two of the leading voices in the New England recovery community as well as input from their team of experts and valued pioneers in the field
• Thoroughly explains their model of addiction treatment, which focuses on the root causes of addiction and why meaning, purpose, and connection are essential to recovery
• Analyzes and assesses the societal factors that are exacerbating the opioid epidemic in the U.S.
• Provides a unique blueprint for recovery that weds the 12 Steps and the dislocation theory of addiction

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781604271669
Publisher:	Ross, J. Publishing, Incorporated
Publication date:	06/11/2019
Edition description:	None
Pages:	280
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Eric Spofford, CEO of Granite Recovery Centers, is an expert in the fields of addiction and recovery. He’s become a leading voice and advocate for abstinence-based treatment and recovery, has testified before the United States Senate, and is regularly quoted in the press about a variety of opioid- and addiction-related issues.

Originally from Salem, N.H., he started using drugs in his early teens and became a heroin addict by age 15. He was in and out of treatment and had many run-ins with police before he got clean in 2006. Eric became a fixture in the local recovery community and started Granite Recovery Centers in 2008 when he opened The Granite House, an extended care program for men in Derry, NH. He has since opened several more facilities with a total of 280 beds for men and women and has grown Granite Recovery Centers into the largest substance abuse treatment network in New England.

Eric has been featured in the Boston Globe, the Boston Herald, WMUR, and The Union Leader, among numerous other media outlets, and hosts the weekly podcast, “Real People. Real Recovery.” He’s also featured in the documentary, The Heroin Effect, which is about how the opioid epidemic has impacted New Hampshire.
 
 Piers Kaniuka is Director–Spiritual Life at Granite Recovery Centers. He has worked in the field of addiction for over twenty years and is an expert in how to best utilize holistic practices in the treatment of addiction. Piers is the former chair of the department of Transpersonal Psychology at Burlington College and is a core faculty member in the Contemplative Spiritual Direction certificate program at the Alcyon Center in Seal Cove, Maine. He is also a co-founder of the Liberation Institute, a non-profit dedicated to training incarcerated men and women to become yoga instructors. Piers has Master's degrees in Theological Studies (Bangor Theological Seminary) and Counseling Psychology (Antioch University, New England). He is also a certified yoga instructor.

Table of Contents

Dedication iii

Acknowledgments ix

Prologue xi

Chapter 1 Introduction 1

How Did We Get Here? 1

Chapter 2 Eric's Story 5

The Escalation 7

Admitting I Had a Problem 8

My Dad's Stroke 9

Same Old Routine 10

The Methadone Farce 10

A Spark of Hope 11

A New Beginning 13

Chapter 3 Piers's Story 15

Moving to Maine 16

College Days 17

Trying to Kick the Habit 18

Rebuked 21

A New Beginning 22

Chapter 4 Eric and Piers 25

Being Understood 25

Reconnecting 27

Granite Recovery Centers 28

Together Again 29

Chapter 5 The 12 Steps Revisited 31

Chapter 6 RID and the 12 Steps 41

Step 1 44

Step 2 44

Step 3 45

Step 4 45

Step 5 46

Steps 6 and 7 47

Steps 8 and 9 47

Steps 10, 11, and 12 49

Chapter 7 Spiritual, Not Religious 53

The Oxford Group 54

William James and The Varieties of Religious Experience 56

Spirituality Not Religion 59

The Jungian Perspective 60

Moral Psychology 63

Hardwired for Spiritual Experience 65

Chapter 8 Dates and Trends 69

Timeline 70

Summary 75

Chapter 9 The Dislocation Theory of Addiction 79

Loss of Community 79

Digital Dangers 80

Stress and Alienation 81

Understanding Dislocation Theory 82

Individual Selfishness Versus Societal Sin 90

Chapter 10 Big Pharma 93

The Medicalization of Human Suffering 94

Pseudoaddiction and Other Tall Tales 97

Pill Mills 98

Summary 103

Chapter 11 The War on Drug Addicts 105

Identification 107

Ostracism 107

Confiscation 108

Concentration 110

Annihilation 114

Chapter 12 Perils and Pitfalls 117

Healing the Brain 120

Digital Addiction 122

Recovery and Initiation 125

Chapter 13 What Is Success? 129

Only a Small Percentage Seek or Receive Help 129

Lack of Quality Treatment Facilities 130

Defining Success 131

Innovation and Activism 135

A Call to Arms 137

Chapter 14 How to Choose a Treatment Center 141

The Appropriate Staff 142

Community 143

Family Support 144

Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) 145

Access to Treatment 148

Free Services 148

Aftercare 149

Chapter 15 The Mission of the Tribe 151

Recovered-Rather Than Recovering 152

Service-Inside and Outside the Halls 153

Eric Shares His Story 153

The Power of the Recovered Activist 154

A Greater Mission 156

Chapter 16 Real People Real Recovery 159

Calvin's Story 160

Carolyn's Story 162

Johns Story 165

James's Story 168

Randy's Story 171

Alex's Story 173

Joe's Story 175

Summary 179

Chapter 17 Conclusion 181

The Spiritual Question 181

The Power of Dislocation Theory 183

Growing the Tribe 186

Images 187

Bibliography 203

Index 205

Editorial Reviews

"The stories and ground-breaking information that Eric and Piers deliver in these pages provide a blueprint to recovery and are essential reading for anyone touched by the horrors of addiction or concerned about the failures of our government and society—at every level—to address this crisis.”—Freeway Rick Ross


“An insightful, powerful investigation into how pharmaceutical interests create addicts and markets for their drugs: opiates and, once a psychiatric diagnosis is given to the person grappling with addiction, a panoply of psychiatric drugs. As this book makes clear, once that is understood we can start imagining different paths to real recovery.”—Robert Whitaker, author of Anatomy of an Epidemic


“As someone who has worked closely alongside Eric and seen the work he has done in the trenches to fight this epidemic, I can promise that anyone looking for some guidance or support in this fight will find it within the pages of this book.”—Frank Giunta, former New Hampshire State Representative


"Eric understands the streets, the courtrooms, and the boardrooms, and is fully aware of the massive challenges that addicts face every day. He has dedicated his life to helping others find the recovery that he has found and I’m personally thankful that he has put pen to paper in this insightful and much-needed book." —Slaine

From the Publisher