The Forgive for Good Recovery Workbook

Essential skills and strategies for lasting recovery-based on groundbreaking research from the Stanford University Forgiveness Project.

If you struggle with substance use, you're far from alone. Studies show that alcohol and drug addiction has reached epidemic levels. If you've tried traditional treatments-only to relapse-perhaps it's time for a new approach. This workbook will help you heal the underlying drivers of substance abuse and empower your long-term recovery.

Grounded in decades of research and written by a team of Stanford University mental health researchers and psychologists, this evidence-based workbook offers a proven-effective method for lasting recovery from drug and alcohol abuse-forgiveness. Through the practice of forgiveness-both toward yourself and others who may have contributed to past traumas-you'll learn to heal the pain at the root of your addiction and look toward the future with renewed hope and optimism.

In order to truly heal from addiction, you must first heal the emotional pain and trauma that drive your substance use. By forgiving yourself and others for past mistakes or offenses, you'll feel less burdened and more open to life's possibilities. You'll also gain the clarity needed to truly beat your addiction and thrive.

If you're ready to begin your journey toward lasting recovery, let this be your road map.

Frederic Luskin, PhD, cofounded and currently serves as director of the Stanford University Forgiveness Project. Luskin has worked in preventive cardiology as well as cofounded the Life Works and Wellness Education programs at the Stanford School of Medicine. He is on faculty for the Stanford School of Business Executive Education program, where he teaches mindfulness and positive psychology to business executives from all over the world. He also coaches multiple Stanford Sports teams in mindfulness and positive psychology.

Luskin's forgiveness work has been applied and/or researched in universities, veteran's hospitals, churches, corporate sites, and hospitals. He has helped people recover from the murder of their family members in Northern Ireland, the aftermath of the attacks on 9/11, in Sierra Leone and Columbia after their civil wars and in arctic Canada where native populations dealt with the loss of their ancestral lands. He is the author of the bestselling books Forgive for Good and Forgive for Love which together have sold over 100,000 copies.

Luskin teaches stress management, emotional intelligence, and happiness skills to corporate clients throughout the US. His work focuses on the research-proven triad of a healthy and happy life: enhancing interpersonal relationships, creating a positive purpose in life, and guided practice in appreciation and other positive emotions.

Lyndon Harris is a former Episcopal priest, whose journey toward forgiveness began in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. Following 9/11, Lyndon initiated and led for 8.5 months a service mission for first responders at the former World Trade Center. This mission offered support as the responders endured the hardship of searching for survivors and, ultimately, the remains of the dead. His work was covered widely: The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, CBS News, NBC News, and a host of others. But after the work was completed, like many first responders, Lyndon's life fell apart. Forgiveness became the essential tool for reclaiming his life. He is currently working on a book detailing his journey to forgiveness following the tragedy of 9/11.

Harris teaches forgiveness internationally, offering keynotes and workshops around the world. For the past five years, Lyndon has been working with Frederic Luskin and other researchers to develop and measure the effectiveness of the secular method of forgiveness for promoting long-term positive resilience in recovery found in this book. Lyndon is a graduate of The School of Theology at the University of the South in Sewanee, TN, and is a fellow of the Episcopal Church Foundation.