Wasted: An Alcoholic Therapist's Fight for Recovery in a Flawed Treatment System

by Michael Pond, Maureen Palmer

Overview

Psychotherapist Michael Pond is no stranger to the devastating consequences of alcoholism. He has helped hundreds of people conquer their addictions, but this knowledge did not prevent his own near-demise. In this riveting memoir, he recounts how he lost his practice, his home, and his family—all because of his drinking. After scores of visits to the ER, a tour of hellish recovery homes, a stint in intensive care for end-stage alcoholism, and jail, Pond devised his own personal plan for recovery. He met Maureen Palmer and together they investigated scientific alternatives to the rigid abstinence doctrine pushed by 12-Step programs.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781771641975
Publisher:	Greystone Books
Publication date:	01/21/2016
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	320
Sales rank:	500,920
File size:	903 KB

About the Author

Michael Pond has a private therapy practice in Vancouver, where he specializes in addiction treatment. He has a degree in psychiatric nursing and a Masters in Social Work. Maureen Palmer is a critically-acclaimed documentary filmmaker and former radio and television producer at CBC. In 2002, she co-founded Bountiful Films. She lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, with partner Michael Pond.

Table of Contents

Preface xi

Part I The Couch of Willingness

1 Three Mile Beach 3

2 The Visit 6

3 Bonnie and Clyde Go to Jail 12

4 Getting Here 17

5 Sandy Lake 28

6 Come Down Here, Mr. Pond 34

7 I Don't Want to Go to Rehab 43

8 Good Luck, Mr. Pond 58

9 The We Surrender Addiction Recovery Society 68

10 A We Surrender Christmas 82

11 Harold 92

12 Leaving Today 100

13 Coming Back 109

14 Crazy Mike 114

15 Rock Bottom 128

16 I'm Done 136

17 Mission Possible 145

18 Checkout 152

19 Crazy Mike Walks Again 158

20 Cloverdale House 166

21 A Second Chance 181

22 Pay Day 200

23 Piss Test 207

24 Back to Work, Week Two 214

25 The Last Date 222

26 The Last Bender 231

27 Death's Door 238

28 Fifty-Six 245

29 The Universe Cuts Me a Break 250

30 Your Honour 258

31 The Fraser Regional Correctional Centre 262

32 Christmas 282

33 Life Goes On 287

34 The Prodigal Father 292

35 Spiritual Enlightenment 295

36 I Know That Walk 303

Part II Searching For New Treatment

37 The Party 311

Maureen:

38 The Real Story of Addiction 323

39 Shaming and Blaming Only Makes the Problem Worse 325

40 Abstinence Doesn't Mean Success 330

41 How AA'S Standard of Success is Now the Culture's 334

42 Most Doctors Don't Know How to Treat Addiction 338

43 The Modern Theory of Addiction 341

44 Drugs Approved to Treat Addiction 345

45 Could Vivitrol Work for Mike? 349

46 Motivational Interviewing 351

47 Community Reinforcement and Family Training (CRAFT) 356

Mike:

48 Why I Relapsed 365

49 Why Me? 367

50 Training Doctors in Addiction Medicine 377

51 My Relationship With AA 381

52 Our Relationship With Alcohol 385

53 The Challenge with Evidence-Based Treatments 387

54 Hope 389

Acknowledgments 391

Endnotes 395

Editorial Reviews

02/29/2016
Pond's memoir recounts his painful journey through alcoholism, hospitalization, poverty, homelessness, incarceration, various addiction treatment centers, and the Alcoholics Anonymous program. He also explores reasons why the treatment programs didn't work for him. Pond was a successful psychotherapist living with his wife and their three sons in a beautiful home in British Columbia's Okanagan Valley, but he lost everything to alcoholism. Despite his 20 years counseling clients with addictions, it took several more years before he could escape the same vicious cycle. On his road to recovery, Pond met Palmer, a journalist and filmmaker, who not only stood by him personally but encouraged him to write his memoir and chronicled their search for alternative treatments in a documentary. In the last section of the book, Palmer discusses the societal tendency to shame and blame people struggling with addiction, rather than treating it as an illness from which they can recover in a number of ways. She highlights some programs that don't use abstinence as the only marker for success and others that prescribe drugs to treat addiction. Pond's insights coupled with Palmer's section on evidence-based treatments make this an invaluable resource for readers battling their own addictions or concerned about their loved ones. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly

"Pond's insights coupled with Palmer's section on evidence-based treatments make this an invaluable resource for readers battling their own addictions or concerned about their loved ones."—Publisher's Weekly

"A vividly written page-turner ...gripping and helpful"—Gabor Maté, The Globe and Mail

"Few books have captured so well the challenge of managing the disease of addiction while simultaneously negotiating an often unresponsive health care system" — Dr Keith Humphreys, former Senior Drug Policy Advisor, Obama Administration

“With tactile intimacy and surgical wit, Pond invites us to share the tragedy of his addiction with a sad smile. And then reveals a singular truth about how people quit. Truly one of a kind… A masterful job of describing the indescribable.” — Dr. Marc Lewis, Neuroscientist and Author, Memoirs of an Addicted Brain.

From the Publisher