Amazing Grief A Healing Guide for Parents of Young Addicts‪.‬

Amazing Grief: A Healing Guide for Parents of Young Addicts, by Reverend Charles F. Harper, M. Div., is a hands-on, interactive guide that represents 30 years of working closely with addicted young people in crisis.

Harper, a recovering addict, ex-advertising executive, senior pastor, spiritual counselor, and graduate of Yale Divinity School, has worked with over 200 families devastated by the addictions and behaviors of their sons and daughters.

His conclusion? “Parents are the most neglected partners in the recovery of a young addict. Yet a parent’s emotional and spiritual good health is essential to the recovery of their child. Specifically an addict is twice as likely to recover when parents focus on their own physical, emotional and spiritual well-being.”

Harper offers his well-articulated “11 Stages of Grief” to help parents cope with the loss of innocence of their children and the overwhelming guilt and shame they often feel after the shock of discovering that their son or daughter is an addict.

For each stage of grief, Harper presents a composite portrait of a fictitious family based on his direct experience with addicted teens and their parents. Universal themes of addiction and recovery are revealed in the raw, in-your-face drama and wreckage wrought by addiction. Then a transformative antidote to each stage of grief is presented as a virtue—anger has its antidote in forbearance, denial has its antidote in honesty.

This helps parents find inner strength as they creatively process their grief. Powerful exercises, meditations and prayers accompany a discussion of each stage of grief to assist families on their journey. The meditations and prayers are also available as downloads on www.amazinggrief.com.