158 pg, paper,’08

This self-help book takes a critical look at dual addictions. Addiction is a serious problem, be it to drugs, alcohol, food, or even work. The co-authors of Swinging Door of Addiction: A Spiritual Guide to Recovery give readers an inside glimpse into the world of dual addictions, substance abuse and eating disorders, and show the reader positive strategies for tackling dual addictions. By sharing their own stories of recovery from alcoholism and an eating disorder, Catherine and Sandy give confidence to readers, empowering them to fight their own battles with substance abuse and ed’s. Catherine and Sandy’s experience professionally as a substance abuse counselor and a registered nurse who works with those who suffer from eating disorders, respectively, allow for the reader to gain an insider’s view of the synergistic relationship between eating disorders and substance abuse. With quotes for meditation and questions to answer at the end of each chapter, the reader is actively encouraged to write their own story about recovery from dual addiction. The authors share the stories of past patients and their recoveries from dual addictions, giving hope to readers and allowing them to track their progress. This is an inspirational book about recovery from addiction that asks not just the sufferer but also the friends and family of the sufferer to participate in the healing process.

CONTENTS:

1 – Getting to Know You: The First Step Toward Full Recovery
2 – Preparing for the Big Picture Intake: Your Life in the Mirror
3 – Tapestries of Life: Real Stories from Real People
4 – Fitting Families Into the Big Picture
5 – Cathy’s Story: How I Took Back Control of My Life
6 – Sandy’s Story: How I, Too, Found My Calling
7 – Tools for Recovery
8 – Storytellers

ABOUT THE AUTHORS:

Sandy Mullen was a member of the Peace Corps in Iran for two years after obtaining her RN degree. Sandy is also a Licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor for the state of Texas, where she worked as a charge nurse and program coordinator for the eating disorder unit. Prior to Sandy’s work at Presbyterian Hospital, she worked as a staff nurse for 9 years at Baylor Medical Center in the eating disorder program. Sandy has worked in psychiatric nursing for a total of 22 years.

Cathy Napier received her Bachelors degree from Dallas Baptist University in Dallas, Texas and her Master’s degree in counseling from Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, TX. Cathy has worked in some of the major psychiatric hospitals in the Dallas/ Fort worth area. Cathy left Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas, where she was Director of the Chemical Dependency Program, in 2003 to work under Governor Bill Richardson’s administration as director of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families substance abuse programs. Currently, Cathy is an adjunct professor of Psychology at Central New Mexico College and has a private practice in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

REVIEWS:

“In these pages, Cathy and Sandy tell the brutally honest personal stories of a number of dually addicted people who they have treated, then take the reader through the processes by which their patients achieved awareness of the presence and dangers of the hidden addiction, and describe paths taken by these people to total recovery.”
—Naomi Judd, singer, author, motivational speaker

“Sandy and Cathy have developed a book that describes how the patient and family can achieve wellness through…appropriate treatment plans that include medications, education, a therapeutic milieu and strong 12-step orientation,”
—Dr. Lynn Markle, MD, Psychiatry