Conversations with Myself: A Journey from Addiction to Recovery

Conversations with myself is written by R. W. Young. It details his struggles with chemical dependency, his attempts at trying to get clean with the help of treatment centers, outpatient programs and halfway houses, and how he was finally able to break free from addiction and reclaim his life. This book talks about:

• The users' mindset
• The physical and psychological dangers inherent in substance abuse
• Relationships with other family members
• Relapse... how it happens, and how to avoid it
• How to rebuild oneself by making better choices
• Staying clean, one day at a time

Conversations with myself is a must read for those now struggling with addiction, for their families who suffer with them, and for anyone who deals with repeated relapses. It offers a personal blueprint from drug dependency to freedom and sobriety.

Each time that I entered into a treatment program through the years, a part of the process included lots of soul searching and confronting myself. I would then write about what I was thinking or feeling in that moment, in poetic form. Each poem is memorable and poignant to me, as it represents a particular place in time, and a particular set of circumstances at that time. I have included a selection of these poems in the second half of this book.