Emotions Anonymous

by Emotions Anonymous Members and Emotions Anonymous

Book Overview

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0960735607
• Release Date: January 1982
• Publisher: Emotions Anonymous Ltd
• Length: 261 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.8" x 1.0" x 5.5"

Customer Reviews

A reasonable introduction for people new to twelve-step programs

I would like to say that this book is amazingly life changing and profound, as the Emotions Anonymous (EA) fellowship can be, but it's not. If you're familiar with twelve-step literature from other groups, and looking for something new and different, you will probably find the treatment of the twelve-steps in this book pretty vanilla. EA's program assiduously copies as much from Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and Al-Anon as can apply to people with with serious mental and emotional illness, and doesn't do much to extend it passed that. In twelve-step addiction recovery programs (Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous, Crystal Meth Anonymous, etc), there is in implied goal of changing behavior: changing oneself so that the desire to use drugs and alcohol is gone, or is at least manageable. In most other twelve-step programs that don't deal with drug addiction, there are plans in place to help control the compulsive behavior the program deals with. For example, in Overeaters Anonymous members follow food plans, in Debtors Anonymous members keep numbers and make a spending plan, in Gambler's Anonymous veteran members counsel newcomers on dealing with financial and legal problems and provide direction, in Sexual Compulsives Anonymous members follow a sexual recovery plan. In the Emotions Anonymous program, however, there is no similar extension to help guide members in changing their behavior. While some EA members will develop a new code of conduct, there are no specific guidelines or process in the program (book) for it. If anything, completely removing a concept of abstinence or behavior modification has taken a gear out of the engine that motivates recovery in other twelve-step programs. All of this is not to say that this book isn't worth reading. For people who are coming to EA and are not familiar with other twelve-step programs, this book is a good introduction for understanding how twelve-step programs work, and following the first 82 pages of explanation there are 146 pages of inspirational EA member recovery stories. A strength of twelve-step groups is that they have developed a common language to describe problems and coping mechanisms. As folksy and pastoral as that language can be, it amounts to a kind of serendipitous cognitive therapy as it is used in the fellowship, and can be easily understood by a non-professional audience.

Emotions Anonymous big book...

Emotions Anonymous The book literally saved my life. I attended the meetings weekly and learned a lot from the experiences.