This study utilizes interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) and derives meaning from the lived experiences of 5 alcoholic women with over 20 years sober from alcohol and attending Alcoholics Anonymous. Semi-structured interview questions are coded to expose themes detailing early childhood experiences, consequences related to drinking, the sense of self, and the search for wholeness. A psychoanalytic perspective informs the underlying developmental aspects of alcoholism. The interviews reveal significant emotional, physical, and sexual trauma that produced a repetition compulsion and lack of groundedness within the self. The lack of an internal structure to modulate or process anxiety, frustration, and disappointment reinforces a false sense of self. This includes implosive and explosive primary and secondary defenses: childhood tantrums, thoughts of suicide, sexual promiscuity, compulsive lying, a lack of internal wholeness, eating disorders, impulsivity, and severe loneliness. Due to the lack of a healthy mother-infant unit, participants report an inability to internalize and create autonomy. Research indicates pervasive dependent personality problems, domestic violence, and socio-economic considerations affecting a women's ability to seek treatment and remain sober. Language and gender biases in Alcoholics Anonymous and in treatment centers further hinders recovery. Research indicates that professionals working with alcoholic women need advanced training to best assist alcoholic women in creating wholeness. Research indicates the need for a recovery model that includes socioeconomic factors, cultural norms, trauma and women's stories.

A structured open-ended interview was conducted with five long-term recovered women with at least 15 years sobriety from alcoholism. the interview addressed each woman's experience of addiction and her journey along the recovery process. the women were from 34 years to 57 years of age and their length of recovery time at the completion of the interviews was from 15 years to 20 years. the women in this study discussed what led them to seek recovery from alcoholism, their affiliation with Alcoholics Anonymous, the impact of alcohol on their families, and what was and was not available to them more than fifteen years ago. Participants shared how addiction affected their personal health, their emotional well-being, their self-esteem, and their ability to manage their careers. Additionally, the women talked about where they see themselves now in relation to their addiction and how spirituality has impacted on their recovery and emotional growth. the long-term recovered women in this study shared perspectives of their experience with treatment facilities and with programs available to them at the time of their seeking help. Participants also offered opinions of how treatment modalities might be improved for women and what they would like treatment providers to know about their experience as recovering women.

A breakthrough recovery plan for women who struggle with alcoholism, based on a groundbreaking new model Tens of millions of women today drink to excess and their numbers are growing. Now Dr. Kitty Harris, an experienced counselor and therapist who is herself a recovering alcoholic with more than thirty years of sobriety, presents a new model for recovery that focuses on treating the pain in women's lives that can lead to a vicious cycle of addiction?not on the shame that fuels it. Combining her personal and professional experience, Dr. Harris offers tools that can help women who want to recover as well as friends or family members who are seeking help for a loved one. Focuses on dealing with the pain associated with alcoholism in women, not reinforcing the shame Discusses the different types of female drinking habits, including binge drinking and drunkorexia Takes a plain-language, jargon-free approach that is easy to understand and shares the stories of recovering women of all ages and from all walks of life Is written by Dr. Kitty Harris, Director of The Center for the Study of Addiction and Recovery at Texas Tech University, with twenty-five years of private clinical experience working with adults and adolescents

There are a lot of perks to becoming sober, and even more for staying sober over the long haul. Wouldn't you like to know what it is like to have 10 years free of alcohol or drugs? 25 years. 50 years! The women in 10+ tell you in their own words what it will be like being sober for decades - and they tell you much more. All kinds of women speak to you through this book: women from 32 to 83, from backgrounds of privilege and poverty, married, widowed, divorced and single, working mothers, businesswomen, and artists. They are proof that, just as no one is immune to alcoholism, no one who stops using drugs and alcohol is immune to the recovery process, either. The 10+ women encourage you by describing the signposts of recovery. You'll be with them when they experience the "moment of clarity" that jolts them into sobriety. You'll hear about their relapses and their triumphs. You'll learn how their backgrounds contributed to their problem or helped them overcome it. But best of all, you will no longer feel apart, confused, scared, or alone when you hear what will happen along the way to your recovery. There is Gabrielle, who went from state support to successful business career, and Deanne, whose huge success as an actress brought with it an even deeper plunge into alcohol - and ultimately sobriety. Some of the interviewees tell of families full of alcoholics while one says, "I was the only alcoholic I ever knew". Each of these 21 women knows that alcohol derails your life, and their advice can help the recovering alcoholic go back and become the woman she started to be. They have the insight of both experience and sobriety. 10+ divides the wise words of these women into chapters that dealwith seven important life areas: feelings, work, love, family, finances, troubles, and citizenship. Each chapter concludes with a Sober Tips List, summarizing the most important points and coping hints from the interviews, insights that will help you stay sober and make you feel good doing it. This book is a kind of portable support group, something you can pick up and carry around with you to help you out. Check the Sober Tips List when you run into a snag. 10+ will inspire you and motivate you at every stage of recovery. It is proof that there is life after sobriety - in fact, the best life.

In this much-needed text, leading international experts explore crucial aspects of people’s experience of long-term recovery from substance use. Centred around the voices of people who use substances, the book examines the complex and continuing needs of people who have sought to change their use of substances, investigating the ways in which personal characteristics and social and systemic factors intersect to influence the lives of people in long-term recovery. With perspectives from Sweden, Norway, Germany, Belgium, Iceland and the United Kingdom, it also considers the role and needs of family members, and puts forward clear recommendations for improving future research, policy and practice.

Facing life on its own terms is a goal of every recovering alcoholic; how to go about it requires the experience, strength, and hope of those who have accomplished it. Women with Long-Term Sobriety shares the wisdom of women alcoholics who have successfully maintained their sobriety for ten or more years while dealing with the ups and downs of life.