"New, scientifically-based approaches that recognize the biological basis of addiction have brought major advances in the treatment of addiction. Dr. Urschel is at the forefront of this treatment paradigm."
Dr. Larry Hanselka, Psychologist The Proven Scientific Approach to Conquering Addiction and Defeating the Disease Healing the Addicted Brain is a breakthrough work that focuses on treating drug and alcohol addiction as a biological disease—based on the Recovery Science program that has helped thousands of patients defeat their addictions over the past 10 years. It combines the best behavioral addiction treatments with the latest scientific research into brain functions, providing tools and strategies designed to overcome the biological factors that cause addictive behavior along with proven treatments and medications. Using this scientific approach, you will learn to conquer the physical factors that keep people tied to drug and alcohol addiction. The proven fact is addiction is not a moral failing or an issue of not having enough willpower. It is a disease of the brain that can and must be treated like other chronic medical illnesses —such as diabetes, hypertension, or asthma—in order to defeat the disease. This revolutionary program can triple the success rate of patients, from 20-30% to 90% There Is Hope. By understanding addiction and using 21st-century breakthroughs, for the first time drug and alcohol addiction can be, and will be, defeated. |
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 Bald and biased claims mixed with way too much marketing and self-promotion |
| Review Date: August 19, 2010 |
| Reviewer: Zachary Taylor, Virginia |
Urschel's book is quite simply intellectually dishonest. He obviously knows his stuff, but the book reads like a multi-level marketing scheme filled with a bunch of simply wrong-headed claims with no references to speak of to back them up.
"Talking therapy can help correct problems in the cortex, but it cannot influence the limbic system or other structures found deeper in the brain."
This is bogus, just bogus, and he provides no reference. Where is he coming up with this??? As a therapist who studies neuroscience, he's just flat wrong. There's not a neuroscience lab in the world that would agree with this statement. Look at the work of Richie Davidson at U of Wisconsin, Jim Coan at U of Virginia, Daniel Siegel at UCLA, Dacher Keltner at UCLA, Jon Kabat-Zinn at U of Mass., and the list goes on and on.
His constant use of "talking therapy" to refer to psychotherapy and counseling, and the contexts in which he used it felt a little bit denigrating after a while, again from a guy who obviously has a severe case of money-making agenda-itis.
Reading the book felt like he was just trying to discredit everything except his "wonder drug" and his highly expensive website services.
Apart from that, if you're an addict or looking for help for an addict, just go to his website and see what it costs to sign up -- if you want to pay that, then get the book. But there are a lot better books out there and some great research (despite what Urschel says) that are showing excellent results...I would pass on this guy's magic pill. |
Awesome
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| Review Date: July 22, 2010 |
| Reviewer: abryant, |
Very important subject; tools to assist in the recovery of substances are extremely valuable. New information is necessary to keep us all up to date.A Synchronous Memoir of Addiction and Recovery
Aaron Bryant: BSW, CSAC Author |
Not for reasonably intelligent people
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| Review Date: April 14, 2010 |
| Reviewer: CyberCrone, Dead Cat, AZ USA |
| Before you buy this book, click on the "Look inside!" link and choose First pages, and if you are aren't offended by the writing style then go ahead and buy the book. I am looking for concrete science-based explanations, not condescending blather addressing me as if I were a not-very-bright adolescent, with expressions like "talking cells" and "listening cells". Really? What ARE these cells? What precisely does he mean by "talking" and "listening"? I was so offended I didn't buy the book, especially after looking in index as well and finding that dopamine, a key player in addiction, is mentioned on only three pages in the book. |
A thoroughly modern take on substance abuse.
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| Review Date: February 12, 2010 |
| Reviewer: Patricia Hester Wiggins, Olympic Peninsula, WA USA |
| Years of dealing with individuals attempting to walk the straight and narrow path of sobriety have led to many insights into addiction and recovery. Yet, as I have introduced clients to the recovery process, I have not had a sound source of scientific evidence to explain the changes in their brains and the basis for their anxiety and cravings. In clear and understandable terms the author of Healing the Addicted Brain reveals the scientific underpinnings of addiction, withdrawal, and recovery. Now I know why high anxiety marks every waking hour of the addict in recovery and how cravings lead to relapse. Being able to explain the process in lay terms to a hard core addict is one of the most difficult parts of my job. This book is a fantastic resource to assist in the education of clients and to use as a guide through the difficult days of early recovery. |
Addicts and Loved One's as Cash-Generating Machines?
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| Review Date: October 2, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Eric, Denver, CO, USA |
I expected more from a doctor that has made it his career to "help" alcoholics and addicts.
Throughout the book, the author repetitively tells the reader to access more information and resources at the EnterHealth's (the rehab facility the author is affiliated with) website... of course the author never once mentioned that to access that information and those resources would cost $95 and rapidly escalate up for telephone support (and given the track record, that access will probably point the reader to residential rehab at EnterHealth's facility). Most sales brochures are free, but this one puts the addict and family back about $11.
Also, the climax of this book seems to be the author's fascination with Vivitrol (injectible naltrexone). Author (page 73): "Vivitrol is the breakthrough medicine that will revolutionize the treatment of alcoholism." Really? In its page-after-page of glowing review the author fails to mention any real downside. Such as throughout a randomized trial of Vivitrol craving persisted (leaving patients to struggle over obsessive thoughts and addictive craving that carry the risk of relapse and death) and there was no progressive decrease in heavy drinking days after the end of the trial. [Source: "Naltrexone treatment for alcohol dependency," Journal of the American Medical Association 294(8) (August 24/31, 2005): 899-900] And, those with liver issues should not take Vivitrol, ... a problem for a certain percentage of people that are alcoholic. That the author doesn't even mention some fascinating research into other medications, such as Baclofen -- a generic no less, shows either bias or ignorance of current trends in research and thought.
I was trying to look for some positive information from the book to make this review seem more balanced, but all such information can be retrieved elsewhere (other contemporary addiction recovery books or online).
Unnecessarily taking money from people struggling with alcoholism or addiction should be considered unethical.
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