Book Review: Believable Hope

Believable Hope: Five Essential Elements To Beat Any Addiction. Michael Cartwright with Ken Abraham. 2012. ISBN 13: 978-07573-1730-9. Paperback $14.95. Health Communications, Inc. Themes: addiction and recovery; self-help. 

The author states the book's purpose is to offer a "non-clinical, easy-to-understand transformation tool to develop a positive mindset useful to people with any addiction, and from any walk of life." Believable hope is written with genuine compassion and positive affirmations, interspersed with the author's personal addiction experiences and his experiences as the owner of the American Addiction Centers located in California, Texas, Nevada, and Tennessee.

The author's writing style is that of encourager and cheerleader. This book is co-written with Ken Abraham, an experienced writer/editor who has collaborated on thirteen New York Times bestsellers. Mr. Cartwright presents Believable Hope’s motivational ideas clearly and coherently. The book is structured in chronological order of the 5 ingredients the author suggests are necessary in facilitating lasting change. He thoroughly addresses each step.

The first half of the book focuses on Mr. Cartwright’s own personal addiction story, including anecdotes of Cartwright's relationship with his wise grandmother, which is both touching and just plain fun to read. The second half of the book talks more directly about the author’s American Addiction Center experiences. Reading other book reviews on this title, I found complaints about the book being an advertisement for the author's addiction centers. I wish to respond to that. If I owned a treatment center which showed a remarkable ability to help people overcome their addictions, I would feel compelled to tell others about it as well.

However, the fatal flaw in this book is that the authors do a great disservice to those who have chemical addictions. (I define chemical addiction as any addiction to mind altering substances, including legal prescription medications, illegal drugs, and alcohol.) They don't acknowledge the seriousness of drug and alcohol addiction over other addictions. While obsessive and compulsive behaviors are present in every addiction, chemical addicts have the additional component of physical addiction.  Whereas the initial use of the drug causes a feeling of enjoyment, the grave issue is that the addict ends up physically addicted to the chemical. Many times, the addict is only one drink or drug away from death. Additionally with street drug use, you have no idea what chemicals have been added to the drug before you got it.

I am a recovering drug addict and alcoholic and the further I progress in my recovery, there is one thing I know for sure: There was no way that I could start to improve my life until I had purged my body of the toxic chemicals I had self-medicated myself with. I tried with no avail. The addict's problem is more complex than having little or no willpower to quit using. The tenets of Believable Hope wouldn't have had a chance of helping me change my addictive behaviors until my mind was clear of the drugs.

During the 28 days I spent in a treatment center an ambulance would come every single day to transport a client to the hospital because they had suffered a seizure due to their body's reaction to not having whatever drug the addict had been abusing. Consequently, I do not suggest anyone go through detoxifying themselves from alcohol or any other chemical on their own. The body doesn't care what steps you are taking to be free of the drugs in your system, it only knows it wants the drugs and responds to that physical need.

While reading this book, noting that the author has worked for years with clients in his addiction centers, I wondered if he holds any degrees in substance abuse counseling, psychology, etc. Additionally, I want to know what research informs his approach to addiction recovery. How does Mr. Cartwright define ‘success’ and how successful are his addiction centers compared with other treatment center programs and combinations of programs, including AA, NA, and individual counseling.

There is a therapeutic and practical value of one addict telling another addict what his life was like in the throes of addiction and how he overcame his struggle. I think Believable Hope would be a stronger tool for recovery if the addicts themselves told their own story in the first person narrative rather than the author telling their stories.

Another thing I wondered about was why exactly Mr. Cartwright separated the wealthy addicts from the addicts who were homeless. Addiction is no respecter socioeconomic status; in the end they are all reduced to addicts. I believe the author does all of his clients a great disservice by separating them by how much money they make. From my experience, I see the inclusion of all persons as nothing less than beneficial to each and every client. The biggest difference between the wealthier and poorer clients is that the wealthier persons had more money to spend on their drug of choice.

Mr. Cartwright’s “discovered secrets" to create permanent, positive change aren't any secret. The only secret is an explanation of how to be free of the physical addiction of chemical abuse. Additionally, the authors make no mention of taking a look at your behaviors and coming to a realization of just how sick your thinking and behavior was. How did the addict’s vice affect his family and friends? There needs to be an initial focus on the addict’s history of poor choices. George Santayana, who, in his Reason in Common Sense, The Life of Reason, Vol.1, wrote "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." In Cartwright's steps, he leaves out the addict accepting responsibility for the situation he’s in. In AA, they say, "We do not want to forget our past, but instead learn from it."

Believable hope provides motivation to creating a healthier life and mindset, but the seriousness of addiction needs to be addressed. Every month there is someone I know either from one of my recovery programs or from working with the homeless on the street who took their last drink or drug and died. The bottom line is that if the addict can't find a way to stop his addiction, death will.

There is no magic formula for overcoming addiction. Recovery is as complex and individual to the addict as the person is to humanity. "The point is that habitual behaviors come in many different forms, and squeezing them into one framework misses some of the nuances of how to change behavior effectively." Timothy D. Wilson. Regarding Believable Hope: Take what you need and leave the rest.