Larry Fritzlan, LMFT and Avis Rumney, LMFT’s new book is Addiction Therapy and Treatment: A Systems Approach. It’s essentially a point A to Z guidebook to navigating one of the most prevalent illnesses striking the hearts of the American populance, addiction. And yes, I will consciously and conscientiously use the word ‘illness’, as Fritzlan and Rumney far more eloquently than I prove time and again in the text.

RELATED URL: https://www.larryfritzlan.com/about-us/

They’re strong, compassionate advocates for those suffering under the weight of addiction, offering a multitude of perspectives in the text to address issues from all angles: Counselor, Family Member, Individual. This is encapsulated in Fritzlan and Rumney’s introduction of what they call Family Recovery Therapy (FTP): “The goal of (FTP) is to restore the addict, each family member, and the family system as a whole to healthy development,” they state. “…human beings go through predictable stages of growth, and the tasks of each stage must be mastered in ordered to proceed to the next stage.

Effective treatment reestablishes the normal life progression that would have been achieved had addiction not derailed the process. Since recovery, just like development, is an ongoing process, it is customary to use the terms ‘in recovery’ or ‘recovering’ rather than ‘recovered’ to describe the trajectory of growth and healing attained through treatment. Although in the ideal world, and particularly in families where addiction has wreaked havoc, it might be a relief to think that an addict ‘has recovered’ or attained ‘full recovery,’ the nature of addiction, and also of human development, is such that recovery does not reach an end point.”

Fritzlan and Rumney write with this distinctive clarity, immediately inspiring and sobering the reader. Inspiring by way of their being comfortingly familiar with what they speak of, never feeling lack they’re suffering from ideological and narrative slack. It’s all just straight truths and learned experience. Sobering because of that familiarity and lack of distance.

It’s clear everything Fritzlan and Rumney are able to swear by is backed not only by their professional expertise, but by way of their extensive track record of caring for people afflicted with this terrible disease. “We are finally getting a more complete, more accurate picture of the complex biological, psychological, social, and spiritual nature of addiction. We are beginning to fully understand the brain physiology of addiction and the social components that often support addiction, and we are developing new treatment modalities that can effectively address this medical and mental disorder,” Fritzlan and Rumney write. “…Addiction in one form or another directly affects nearly half of all families…While advances in addiction treatment continue to evolve, we still have to face the reality that approximately half of those who enter some sort of addiction treatment program relapse within a year and resume their addiction, resulting in costly, and potentially deadly, outcomes…

AMAZON: https://www.amazon.com/Addiction-Therapy-Treatment-Systems-Approach/dp/1476688141

This book proposes a plan to fundamentally alter the predominant, existing approach and set the stage for a new paradigm in treatment—one that integrates processes that are currently fragmented and ineffective into a model that can produce significantly better outcomes. This new paradigm is based on science, evidence, and research, and is supported by the findings in the Facing Addiction in America: The Surgeon General’s Report on Alcohol, Drugs, and Health (Office of the Surgeon General, 2016).”

Garth Thomas