Title: Alcoholism's Children  Author: Sean Sammon, F.M.S.  ISBN: 0-8189-0545-X  Paperback: xx + 112 pp.  Price: $4.95 + shipping  To Order call:  1 800-343-ALBA (2522)  Please have your Master, Visa  or American Express card ready

This book is written for adult children from alcoholic families (ACoA's) and those who know and care about them. It provides a simple and straight-forward explanation of the difficulties such persons face in life and what they must do to overcome them. While addressed to all ACoA's, the book pays particular attention to those who are priests and men and women religious. Both life choices provide a framework where ACoA's may live out the debilitating patterns of behavior learned during their formative years in a family where at least one parent was an alcoholic. ACoA's who read this book will come away convinced of the fact that the "disease" they once thought might ruin their lives forever may well be the very thing which makes their lives worth living.

 

Brother Sean D. Sammon, F.M.S., former Provincial of one of his Institute's U.S. provinces and past President of the Conference of Major Superiors of Men, is a Marist Brother who currently serves in Rome as Vicar General. Holding a PhD in Clinical Psychology from Fordham University, he was for a number of years on the staff of the House of Affirmation, serving for a time as its International Clinical Director. A well-known lecturer on issues of interest to religious, he is the author of a number of books including  An Undivided Heart: Making Sense of Celibate Chastity (Alba House, 1993), and  Life After Youth: Making Sense of One Man's Journey through the Transition at Mid-Life (Alba House, 1997). He has also produced several workshops on video and audio cassettes for Alba House including  Coping with the Genuinely Difficult Person,  Alcoholism's Children,  Fidelity, and  An Undivided Heart  Reviews "Here is a book that deserves whole-hearted recommendation to anyone with first-hand or second-hand problems with alcohol, written in language anyone can follow. It gathers together very helpful information. But, not content with what it offers, it goes further and provides reading lists organized around specific areas of interest. The areas it covers are alcoholism as a disease, alcoholism and the family, and recovery." --Advocate Magazine  "As Sammon develops his material, he includes numerous vignettes from men and women in religious life. Such examples can be reassuring validations for persons struggling with the disease of alcoholism itself or with the impact of another's alcoholic behavior on their lives." --Sheila Murphy, PhD in Review for Religious  "A highlight of this book is that each chapter ends with reflection questions that foster self-awareness rather than mere parroting of the text. For example, Sammon invites his readers to reflect on and to discover the strengths they have developed in their family roles. Sammon's research, the specificity of his examples, and the simplicity of the book's purpose and style make this work a powerful tool for religious, priests, and lay ministers alike." --Sr. Rea McDonnell, SSND in Human Development  "This book notes that one of eight Americans is a child of an alcoholic and looks at the special ramifications that has for ACoA's in religious vows. There are chapters on disease information, family life, role playing in addicted families, the recovery process (for ACoA's), the intervention process and how it can be a stepping stone to growth and unique strengths." --Crux of the News    Top of Page