Recovery: Freedom from Our Addictions Hardcover – October 3, 2017

I was able to finally get through the 12 steps in a way that I understood and, felt complete trust in the process and in Russell Brand to get me through it. I believe Russell to be very intelligent and also an interesting human. It did take awhile, especially though step #9. take the time to "help yourself" with the coaching from Russell, you won't be sorry...

My personal opinion is that he did an excellent job at summarizing the 12 Steps by providing a modern interpretation regarding how the 12 Steps work and, more importantly, how to apply the steps to all aspects of our lives.I think he has done the recovery community a incredibly huge service by writing this book. He has been sober for 14 years and, in my opinion, has a lot of credibility based on his long term recovery.It is not autobiographical like many "self help" recovery books. He doesn't ramble on about how messed up he was in the past. There are perhaps a dozen situations he draws from to describe what his thinking patterns used to be like, and what they are like now. He uses his life experience to illustrate how the 12 Steps helped him process his old resentments and what he does now to prevent falling into old patterns of thinking.This book won't solve all of an alcoholic's or addict's problems, but it is a great jumping board if you think you are ready to dive in to a program. Anyone who reads this will have a better understanding of what recovery entails.Being that I am also in a 12 step program I can completely 'get' what he is saying. I think most addicts and alcoholics can relate to his way of thinking. Perhaps many normal people can too.If you are hesitant about joining any 12 Step fellowship I highly recommend that you read or listen to this book before you discount 12 steps altogether.Having an open mind is essential in long term recovery, so please explore all options in order to have a better understanding of what you could be dismissing.It saddens me to think that so many people miss out on improving the quality of their lives because of a bias towards what they think could be a cult. AA and NA are not cults. Russell does a great job at explaining the rationale behind this.

Yes. This book is jammed packed with f-bombs. Truly. If you're even a little offended by cussing, this book isn't for you. And I also have to admit, I'm not a big fan of Narcotics Anonymous, Alcoholics Anonymous, or basically Anything Anonymous. I can't stand the whole idea of expecting people with addiction issues to solve every freaking non-perfection they ever had. What other kind of problem is like that? Anything I've ever read or any accounting I've ever heard of AA/NA meetings seems to involve requiring people to somehow admit they're 'less than' in order to overcome their struggles with addiction.I get it. Really, I do. Admit you have a problem and be humble, then you can build yourself back up. It's sound. That idea is sound, anyway. But when it comes to addiction treatment, most of it is facilitated by people who are themselves in recovery. Which is fine. Really, I get that, too. But I think training in the science of addiction is pretty important. Because knowing the science of addiction has been really helpful to people with whom I've worked.Having said all that, this book is based on the 12 steps. But I still recommend it (IF you can handle the swearing). Because the way he has interpreted the steps has been so honest, so humble, that I think people can get a lot from it. I haven't recommended this book to a lot of my own patients, usually because I think some of the ideas would just be too off-putting to them. But I have recommended it to a few, and I've gifted it to a few people in my personal life when I've seen them struggling with some kind of addiction - be it alcohol, substances, shopping, gambling, whatever.

I bought this book because I am in intern counselor who deals with clients with substance abuse. I also used it in my bibliography assignment for my counseling class. It took me about a month to finish it because I was taking notes but it was worth the read. I gave it 4 stars because sometimes Russell's references to things are lost in translation as an American reader and sometimes he does go off a bit on tangents. That said, aside from maybe needing a bit of a tighter editor and more universal dialogue, it was a great read. I really liked how he broke down The 12 Steps and made it understandable to people who aren't necessarilly in AA and or people who don't want to read "The Book". I especially liked how humble Russell was when he wrote his story and shared about others as well. He really is quite authentic, real, genuine etc. He's flawed, just like the rest of us and is not afraid to admit it. I would recommend this book to any reader wanting to familiarize themselves with the steps as well as anyone struggling with some kind of addiction. Russell makes it clear that to some degree, we all struggle with an addiciton, it may be shopping, over eating, movies/series on TV, sex, porn, exercise (even that can be bad for you if done in excess), drinking, pain killers, work, etc. He also shares his spiritual side, information on meditation/mindfulness and overall, just how to be a more aware, awake and compassionate person. If some of you are familiar with who/how Russell was about 15 years ago, he's really (to steal Virginia Slim's phrase) come a long way. He's a much more mature, kind, compassionate, empathetic, awake, aware, wise, humbled, husband, father and son. Thank you Russell Brand for encouraging others to be a better version of themselves and to stop stigmatizing people with addictions.

This is an interesting read from Brand. I didn't know too much about him but I knew a lot about addiction. I wanted to hear his story. It was a good read. Recommend.

Great

"Hi, I'm Colin, and I'm an alcoholic."For a long time, I wrote off the 12 steps as a holy-roller-type religious thing. I loathe doctrine and groups who repeat things. So, compared to that, getting blackout drunk was the lesser of two evils (I thought).However, my substance abuse was getting out of control and I realized I needed help.Russell's book turned the 12 steps into a more agnostic and accessible framework anyone can apply.The way he communicates the material is both entertaining, yet deep as F.I'm thankful to have found "Recovery" as my first point of entry into the 12 steps, and will continue using it as the foundation as I proceed into the AA and NA community to find a guide (Step 5).Russell: Thank you for writing this.Sincerely,Colin

I’d strongly recommend especially to those of you who are struggling against an addition or compulsive behavior. Happily he found a beautiful way to experience the beauty of life.

Russell Brand gets it!Experiential knowledge qualifies him to share with the intent of helping others who desire to shed suffering

I am from Germany and a huuuuge fan of Russel Brand. I enjoy watching documentaries with him and was so excited about this book release and even pre ordered it. I loved to read this book and it helped me to understand myself and the people around me much better... I try to internalise the 12 steps and try to be a better and selfreflected me... it helped a lot to read Russel’s experience and having a living proof that there’s always a chance to change 💛💛

Russell Brand writes beautifully and with insightful wit about a hugely important topic. Thank you! A must read for us all.