Title: The Normal Alcoholic  Author: William F. Kraft, Ph.D.  ISBN: 0-8189-0853-X  Paperback: x + 145 pp.  Price: $9.95 + shipping  To Order call:  1 800-343-ALBA (2522)  Please have your Master, Visa  or American Express card ready. To order online click here.

This book is written for the "normal" alcoholic who functions relatively well and does not manifest the blatant symptoms of alcoholism. Without help, these individuals, over time, will suffer from the consequences of their drinking. This book deals with the ways in which normal and abnormal alcoholism resemble and differ from one another, how they impact on the physical, psychological and spiritual well-being of an individual, and how denial and avoidance are the person's worst enemies. Finally, it shows how individuals can help themselves and others recover from the more ordinary forms of alcoholism.

 

William F. Kraft, Ph.D., a professor of psychology at Carlow College, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, maintains a part-time private practice and lectures locally and nationally on this topic and others. Along with many articles, he has authored six books on the subject of alcoholism and spirituality including Achieving Promises: A Spiritual Guide for the Transitions of Life (Westminster Press, 1981) and  Whole and Holy Sexuality (Abbey Press, 1989).  Reviews   "Many times we tend to see the excesses of addiction, the aberrant behavior and the destructive patterns. They are real and they are destructive. This book helps us to see another group of alcoholics, the 'functional alcoholics' who seem to slide by at work, at home, in church/synagogue, and in the social events of life. We find it easier to disbelieve the stories that we have heard about their drinking, so the silences of our responses and the indifference in our choices facilitate the functional drinker to do the one thing that he or she really does well... drink. This book is essential for all counselors and educators. Clergy might rethink what they do or do not understand about addiction in their work of ministry. It may also be a way for a functional drinker or the loved one equally troubled as the drinker, but in different ways, to recognize that there is a problem, and a solution." --Rev. Dr. Richard B. Gilbert, in The World Pastoral Care Center's Resources Hotline, September 27, 1999 Top of Page