Stanton - Addiction Proof Your Child: A Realistic Approach to Preventing Drug, Alcohol and Other Dependencies

Dr. Peele offers a smart, readable, commonsense guide for parents concerned about their children's drug and alcohol use. Persuasively rebutting the alarmist view advanced by the experts, he shows the importance of reinforcing children's independence, promoting constructive values, and fostering the ability to learn from mistakes. He also shows how to teach youth to recognize the risks in overusing substances and suggests safeguards for the small minority who are at greatest risk for addiction.

AARON T. BECK , professor of psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania, founder of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and winner of the 2006 Lasker Award

Although you may not agree with every argument in this sure-to-be-controversial book, it should be required reading for every concerned and thinking parent in America. Packed with practical advice and deep wisdom, it shatters one myth after the next. Despite what the prevention industry tells us, drugs and alcohol are not equal-opportunity destroyers: they are far less likely to ensnare teens who have adopted adult values, discipline, and a sense of purpose. In detail, Peele tells parents how to help their kids develop these strengths. Jargon-free, intelligent, and humane, this book easily doubles as an excellent primer on parenting.

SALLY SATEL, M.D. , coauthor of One Nation Under Therapy and author of PC, M.D.: How Political Correctness Is Corrupting Medicine

In this remarkable book, leading addiction expert Stanton Peele writes that much of what we will read in Addiction-Proof Your Child is common senseor would be common sense if not for the misguided programs and policies that tell us to forsake the wisdom passed down through the ages.' These are words of wisdom, and each concise chapter is indeed packed with clear, commonsense advice backed up by decades of scientific findings and Dr. Peele's own keen psychotherapeutic knowhow. Dr. Peele convincingly dispels myth after alarmist myth about addiction and replaces them with sound strategies to create a Non- Addicted America for our children and ourselves.

BARBARA S. HELD , Ph.D., Barry N. Wish professor of psychology, Bowdoin College, and author of Stop Smiling, Start Kvetching

Dr. Peele presents a succinct, incisive critique of common myths about addiction and treatment. His practical approach to the struggles we all experience emphasizes personal responsibility and a focus on values. Peele's gift for storytelling makes this a highly readable page-turner, and his examples have a genuineness and warmth that explains why he is a therapist in such high demand. The book trains readers to become better, more thoughtful, more empowering role models whether their children use drugs or not. His anecdotes and explanations show empathy for parents, clients, and teens that no other book on this topic can touch.

MITCH EARLEYWINE , Ph.D., author of Understanding Marijuana

A clear and compelling prescription for preventing addictive behaviors through the power of the parent-child relationship. Dr. Peele begins by asking the obvious but not necessarily politically correct question of what does a child need to know, believe, and experience in order to develop a healthy relationship to alcohol and other psychoactive substances? His answer to this question is both illuminating and controversial. Moreover, it is an answer that is skillfully reasoned, eminently readable, and solidly consonant with scientific opinion. will prove to be an invaluable resource to both parents and professionals.

McWELLING TODMAN , Ph.D., director, Mental Health and Substance Abuse Counseling Program at the New School for Social Research

This book was a page-turner for me. I'm an addiction psychologist, but I read it as a father. Fortunately, Dr. Peele is as supportive of parents as he is of children. If our society shifted to the commonsense approach he so clearly presents, we would have a substantially better place to live: the serious consequences of addictive behavior would be substantially reduced. Until then, while we advocate for change, at least we can protect our own families.

TOM HORVATH , Ph.D., ABPP , president, Practical Recovery Services; president, SMART Recovery; past president, American Psychological Association Division on Addictions

Sure to be controversial, this lucidly written guide is a must-read for parents who want honest, research-based information on the best ways to help their children avoid drug and alcohol problems.

MAIA SZALAVITZ , coauthor, with Bruce Perry, of The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog, and senior fellow at media watchdog group STATS

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with Marcus Grant
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with Charles Bufe and Archie Brodsky

To Anna Peele, my addiction-proof child