About Holmes’s Complete Guide To Stop Drinking Alcohol; The Easy, Mindful and Pain-free Way
A self-help guide advocates overcoming alcohol addiction through mindfulness, inspired by cognitive behavioral therapy.
In this robust manual, Holmes, an online counselor and founder of the Addiction Help Agency, offers an easy and painless way to quit drinking alcohol permanently. The core of this process is a style of cognitive behavioral therapy with a focus on the incremental reduction of drinking and an increase in mindfulness—through meditation, self-assessment, and self-monitoring—to identify harmful patterns. To aid in this, the book provides numerous tools, from graphs and tables for recording habits to diagnostic tests like the Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test, the DSM-5, and others. The guide also discusses self-report surveys like the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale and the Dysfunctional Attitudes Scale. Alongside readers in this undertaking is Moz, a high-functioning drinker and a stand-in for the author, who struggled with alcohol. Moz presents examples of the book’s process and how it succeeded for Holmes. Moz’s experiences also act as a gateway to the deeper research the manual supplies on subjects like the role alcohol plays in popular culture, its chemical composition, and its effects on sex and oft-encountered challenges like loneliness and midlife crises. The book promises “a radical alternative to the public perception…of drinking” as well as “a revolution in alcohol awareness.” In the latter case especially, the guide succeeds. The number of resources and the extensive, well-cited research may feel overwhelming, but the author’s presentation and simple breakdowns will answer most of the questions that patient readers have. The work’s use of Sherlock Holmes quotes throughout that treat alcohol addiction as a kind of mystery to be solved is clever, and the technique never distracts or overstays its welcome. The book is primarily a self-help resource, so those without at least some awareness of their problem or possible difficulty are likely not its audience. The text’s enthusiasm for its own methods can feel like a sales pitch at times but is nonetheless encouraging and infectious.
A comprehensive, passionate, and helpful resource for those looking for an alternative to alcohol.
[N.B. This synopsis is word-for-word an independent review from Kirkus Reviews]
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Author Bio:
Mark Holmes is the author of “Holmes’s Complete Guide To Stop Drinking Alcohol; The Easy, Mindful and Pain-Free Way” (2021), published exclusively on Amazon. Mark is a Master’s degree from the University of London, and has been teaching, lecturing and instructing for over 20 years in the UK, South East Asia and South America.
A former high-functioning alcoholic, Mark spent years researching alcohol to find a way to control and eventually stop drinking alcohol, becoming a Cognitive-Behavioral Therapist and culminating in his 375-page book with over 300+ academic references.
The Independent Review of Books described it as “fact-based”, “highly entertaining” and a “great self-help book”. As well as a “must-read if you want to totally abstain from drinking alcohol.”
Kirkus Reviews described it as a “robust manual”, “extensive, well-cited research” and a “comprehensive, passionate and helpful resource”.
A five-star review on Amazon described it as, “incredibly useful in terms of my work as a psychotherapist with clients with alcohol addiction”, “deeply rooted in the latest academic research and packed with very useful references, this book is very easy to read and very entertaining.”
A five-star review on Goodreads from a Goodreads Librarian said, “If you’re looking for a way out of alcoholism then this book is worth a try”, “takes into consideration CBT therapy, mindfulness,” and “I’d recommend this book.”
Mark is also the Founder and CEO of the Addiction Help Agency which aims to help others suffering from Alcohol and other addictions. The Addiction Help Agency offers live one-to-one online counselling and an online twelve-week Complete CBT Alcohol Cessation Program.
He is based in London, England, and is happily married with two children.
His hobby is taking his children to theirs.