Erickson - Addiction essentials: the go-to guide for clinicians and patients

with Peter J. Pociluyko, MA, CASAC, CCS

with Mark Evan Goldman, PhD

with Mark Evan Goldman, Ph.D.

with Mark Evan Goldman, PhD

with Peter J. Pociluyko, MA, CASAC, CCS

with Peter J. Pociluyko, MA, CASAC, CCS

with Mark Evan Goldman, PhD

with Peter J. Pociluyko, MA, CASAC, CCS

with Peter J. Pociluyko, MA, CASAC, CCS

with Peter J. Pociluyko, MA, CASAC, CCS

with Peter J. Pociluyko, MA, CASAC, CCS

with Peter J. Pociluyko, MA, CASAC, CCS

As a pharmacologist and former mouse researcher, and as a nonrecovering person and an addiction science educator, I am fortunate to have the privilege of interacting with key people within and outside the science community. From the best alcohol and drug researchers, to CEOs and presidents of major treatment centers, to people in recovery around the world, my presentations and writings have been influenced by their shared knowledge, insight, and friendship. I interact almost daily with other research scientists, with my colleagues and friends on the executive council of the Betty Ford Institute, with my colleagues at the Hazelden Foundation, and with my many close friends in recovery. All of this input has helped me to have a unique perspective, as an educator, on the interface among those in the throes of alcohol and other drug addiction, those in recovery from this disease, and those who are studying its causes. Anytime I see a clinician nodding in approval when I mention a new research breakthrough, I know that something magical happens when the science explains the symptoms. For decades, it seems that those who were working on treating people with alcohol and drug problems had no use for research. It was as if they were saying, we have all the tools to help, and you scientists are just spending money that could better be used for treatment. Today, evidence-based programs are beginning to dominate treatment philosophy and outcomes. Even though 12-step programs still predominate in helping people with addiction, as they should at this point in history, people now understand that new scientific findings are helping those who cannot or will not be helped by 12-step programs. It is the education of the clinicians and their patients by scientists who are making this happen.

My close friends in recovery every day remind me of the importance of spreading new science to clinicians and students, as well as to the public. John O., Hank M., Mike R., John A., and Kyle E.you are the inspiration behind my work.

Two colleagues, both of whom are premier educators, have helped make this book a reality. My first graduate student at the University of Texas at Austin, Mark Evan Goldman, is now a distinguished scientist in his own right living in San Diego. He volunteered to help me write several of the chapters in this book. Mark and I of course think much alike, and he wrote chapters where I was lagging, and even gave me a draft of a chapter that neither he nor I knew much about so that I could finish it. On the other side of the country, my longtime colleague in Albany, Peter Pociluyko, is one of the best clinician-educators I have ever met. Peter had helped me with the clinical vignettes in my last book, so I was aware of his clinical knowledge and accuracy, two characteristics that were critical in writing this book. Peter was able to contribute with those chapters where I was not an expert. Both of these gentlemen insisted not only on helping me write the book, but also on helping me edit it, and to have a final look at the chapters before sending it to the publisher. I will forever be indebted to these two Samaritans who unselfishly added to the excellence of this manuscript.

While many of my colleagues are still searching for book publishers, somehow the people at W.W. Norton saw something in my knowledge and writing that caused them to take a chance on me to write a second book for them. This is to my advantage, since Deborah Malmud is the kind of editor every author would like: supportive, respectful, and knowledgeable. It was her initiative that pointed me in the direction of this book, which is much different from my previous Norton book, The Science of Addiction: From Neurobiology to Treatment (2007). This new book is much broader, has a different audience, and was a bigger challenge to write because of its breadth and depth in several areas of addiction in which I was not trained. Thank you, Deborah.

C ARLTON K. E RICKSON , P H D
Austin, Texas

The Go-To Guide