It Will Never Happen to Me!: Growing Up with Addiction as Youngsters, Adolescents, Adults

By Claudia Black

Book Overview

OVER TWO MILLION COPIES SOLD - A practical, compassionate guide for children of alcoholics that explores the complications of growing up with alcoholic parents, provides grounding exercises for self-healing, and offers help to break the pattern of destruction

"A landmark in the field."--Father Joseph Martin

Why are children of alcoholics more likely to become alcoholic? Or marry an alcoholic? What kinds of problems do they face in adulthood as a result of their childhood experiences? What can we do to help adults who grew up in alcoholic homes--or are now involved with others who did--and want to understand their childhoods and restructure their lives?

"It will never happen to me" is a line spoken by all who have been raised in a family where one or both parents have a problem with alcohol. To help navigate the instability of living with an alcoholic, children and adolescents develop survival techniques that can lead to myriad problems in adulthood, including depression, anxiety, an inability to maintain intimate relationships, low self-esteem, and even becoming an alcoholic themselves.

In It Will Never Happen to Me , renowned addiction researcher Claudia Black, Ph.D. blends anecdotes and her own experiences working with adult children of alcoholics to present a comprehensive overview of the roles that children with alcoholic parents take on--the Responsible One, the Adjuster, the Placater, or the Acting Out Child--and how they evolve throughout childhood and adulthood. She offers resources for anybody struggling with alcoholism as well as thoughtful questions and problem-solving exercises for processing the impact of living in an alcoholic household.

Here are guidelines and help for the children of alcoholics so they can continue into adulthood with a greater sense of self and well-being, and most important--be able to live satisfying, happy lives.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0345345940
• ISBN13: 9780345345943
• Release Date: September 1987
• Publisher: Ballantine Books
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.33 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 4.2" x 6.9"

Customer Reviews

Excellent Insight into Who I am and Why

I read this book AFTER reading ADULT CHILDREN OF ALCOHOLICS by Janet Woititz. Both provided me with insight into a problem I only recently realized I have. However, Black's book is both easier to read and has more detailed analysis. She divides ACoAs into four categories: The Responsible One, The Adjuster, The Placater, and "Acting Out". I fit the profile of Responsible in every way. I now understand myself better, and am beginning therapy for the first time in my life at the age of 55. Thank you, Dr. Black, for opening my eyes!

good help

I read it like a month ago and it changed the way I look into my life. I recommend it to all the ones who say 'It will never happen to me'.

This book could change your life.

Both of my parents were alcoholics, and when I read It Will Never Happen to Me in the 1980s it changed my life forever. Just this week I recommended it to yet another person. Most people I've given it to are afraid to read it, because it will bring back painful memories, but it is worth it. If some readers find the material in this book to be basic or familiar, they may not realize that it was the ground breaking book on this subject for a popular audience. All subsequent books for adult children of alcoholics owe a debt to Claudia Black.

Excellent source for adult children of alcoholics.

As an adult child of an alcoholic this book woke me up. I had never participated in Al-Anon meetings and this book was a great first start. If you want to better understand why you feel the way you do...read this book.