About the Book
How many glasses of wine can you have with dinner before blowing your diet, your cool, or your budget? When it comes to alcohol use, many of us find it difficult to draw the line between problem-free enjoyment and harmful overindulgence. If you suspect it's time to cut back but aren't sure you want to abstain, Controlling Your Drinking provides an alternative opportunity to reflect on your habits and adjust unhealthy behaviors. Drawing on 30 years of research and nearly three dozen clinical trials, acknowledged experts William R. Miller and Ricardo F. Muñoz supply hard facts and current data you can use to evaluate your alcohol consumption and judge its impact on your physical and emotional health. Armed with a fresh perspective on your drinking and its consequences, you decide whether moderation fits your needs. Without resorting to labels or moralizing, Miller and Muñoz help you establish a simple, pragmatic, and adaptable plan for meeting your goals and achieving the results you want. Set apart by its science-based approach and straightforward advice, this book is the thinking person's guide to sensible alcohol use.
Table of Contents:
Part I: Introduction. Thinking about Drinking. Why Change? Is Moderation for You? Part II: When You Drink. Getting Started. Keeping Track. Taking Charge. Slowing Down. Refusing Drinks. Affirming Your Progress. Moving Along. Part III: Before You Drink. Discovering Your Triggers. Places. People. Days and Times. Feelings. Other Triggers. Summary: Before You Drink. Part IV: Instead of Drinking. Changing Yourself by Living 'As If'. Maintaining Your Minimum Daily Requirement of Pleasant Activities. Talking Caringly and Wisely to Yourself. Sleeping Well. Relaxing. Managing Anxiety and Fear. Coping with Negative Moods and Depression. Maintaining a Positive Self-concept. Being Assertive. Relating to Others. Part V: How Are You Doing? When Abstinence Seems Like the Best Choice for You. Sources of Help. Appendix A: The Wrath of Grapes: Reasons for Concern? Appendix B: An Inventory of Alcohol-related Problems? Appendix C: Tables for Estimating Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC).
About the Author :
William R. Miller, PhD, is Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry at the University of New Mexico. The author of numerous books, including Motivational Interviewing and Quantum Change, he conducts research that focuses on providing a broader and more effective range of treatment approaches for people with alcohol and other drug problems. He is also well known for his work on the integration of spirituality and psychology. He lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Ricardo F. Muñoz, PhD, is Professor of Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco, and Chief Psychologist at San Francisco General Hospital. His major areas of expertise are the prevention and treatment of depression, and how depression affects substance use, including smoking. He has coauthored several books, including Control Your Depression and The Prevention of Depression.
Review :
"Some people with alcohol problems can learn to moderate their drinking, while others cannot drink at all without serious consequences. For people in the first category, this book provides a uniquely practical way of addressing their drinking problems. It is written with clarity and with illuminating clinical examples that will be valuable to both drinkers and their families." - Marc Galanter, NYU School of Medicine, USA
"If you want to build a healthier relationship with alcohol, this highly readable book is a gold mine of practical information based on the latest scientific studies. Filled with wonderfully detailed examples, tips, and tools, this is destined to become the guide for people seeking to make the best personal decisions about the role of alcohol in their lives. The discussions of overdrinking, "dumb drinking," harmful drinking, and dependent drinking are by themselves worth the price of the book. Finally, a book that eschews labels and just provides commonsense advice on how to drink smarter and how to figure out if you shouldn't be drinking at all. The authors are to be commended for injecting a breath of reason into a long, acrimonious debate that has generated more heat than light." - William L. White, author of Slaying the Dragon
"This book is a gem for drinkers who want to cut down. Drs. Miller and Muñoz have taken a complex topic and distilled it to its essence. Unlike many self-help books that tout how easy it is to change your behavior, Controlling Your Drinking takes an honest, balanced approach. While not everyone who overdrinks can learn how to moderate their drinking, this guide tells you what you need to know and do if you are to be successful. I wholeheartedly recommend this book." - Reid K. Hester, Behavior Therapy Associates, Albuquerque, New Mexico
"Controlling Your Drinking provides something few of us are ever given: practical, nonjudgmental guidance on how to drink responsibly. The book respectfully empowers the reader with skills to take charge of problem drinking. The renowned authors offer straightforward, research-based strategies for knowing if and when controlled drinking might work, how to go about it, and what to do if the approach is not for you. This book offers a potpourri of tactics not only for managing your drinking, but also for managing your life." - Anne M. Fletcher, author of Sober for Good
"Some people with alcohol problems can learn to moderate their drinking, while others cannot drink at all without serious consequences. For people in the first category, this book provides a uniquely practical way of addressing their drinking problems. It is written with clarity and with illuminating clinical examples that will be valuable to both drinkers and their families." - Marc Galanter, NYU School of Medicine, USA
"If you want to build a healthier relationship with alcohol, this highly readable book is a gold mine of practical information based on the latest scientific studies. Filled with wonderfully detailed examples, tips, and tools, this is destined to become the guide for people seeking to make the best personal decisions about the role of alcohol in their lives. The discussions of overdrinking, "dumb drinking," harmful drinking, and dependent drinking are by themselves worth the price of the book. Finally, a book that eschews labels and just provides commonsense advice on how to drink smarter and how to figure out if you shouldn't be drinking at all. The authors are to be commended for injecting a breath of reason into a long, acrimonious debate that has generated more heat than light." - William L. White, author of Slaying the Dragon
"This book is a gem for drinkers who want to cut down. Drs. Miller and Muñoz have taken a complex topic and distilled it to its essence. Unlike many self-help books that tout how easy it is to change your behavior, Controlling Your Drinking takes an honest, balanced approach. While not everyone who overdrinks can learn how to moderate their drinking, this guide tells you what you need to know and do if you are to be successful. I wholeheartedly recommend this book." - Reid K. Hester, Behavior Therapy Associates, Albuquerque, New Mexico
"Controlling Your Drinking provides something few of us are ever given: practical, nonjudgmental guidance on how to drink responsibly. The book respectfully empowers the reader with skills to take charge of problem drinking. The renowned authors offer straightforward, research-based strategies for knowing if and when controlled drinking might work, how to go about it, and what to do if the approach is not for you. This book offers a potpourri of tactics not only for managing your drinking, but also for managing your life." - Anne M. Fletcher, author of Sober for Good
