A harrowing, wry, and riveting account of a therapist's struggle with alcohol and his quest to find a better way of treating addiction

“With tactile intimacy and surgical wit, Pond invites us to share the tragedy of his addiction with a sad smile. And then reveals a singular truth about how people quit. Truly one of a kind . . . A masterful job of describing the indescribable”—Dr. Marc Lewis, neuroscientist and author of Memoirs of an Addicted Brain

Psychotherapist Mike Pond built a life helping others struggling with addiction, but he could not help himself. In the first part of his gripping memoir, he recounts how he lost his practice, his home, and his family as a result of his out-of-control drinking and how abstinence-based treatment regimes failed to help him.

Not one to give up easily, he, along with his partner, Maureen Palmer, embarked on a quest for evidence-based treatments—science-backed therapies that don’t always demand abstinence—a search chronicled in the book’s new second half.

Michael Pond