Published in 2022
Breaking the Grip of Addiction
Drug addiction is a massive public health crisis. Current interventions, public policy, and untold millions of dollars in biomedical research are based on the assumption that addiction is a chronic disease like diabetes and schizophrenia. Does this model withstand scrutiny, or does it falter in the face of the best evidence? Has it served us well in responding to this public health crisis? What if the high failure rate of current interventions is due, at least in part, to wrong views about this malady—its cause and cure? Could some of our programs be making matters worse? What if many of our laws and regulations reflect errant notions of addiction and lead to more harm than good? Are we even willing to consider these possibilities? Breaking the Grip of Addiction provides a critical assessment of the validity of dominant views about and interventions for addiction
Other Books by Craig K. Svensson
When There Is No Cure
I visited bookstores in my professional and personal travels across the country with a simple question to the booksellers: “What book would you recommend to someone diagnosed with an incurable, but not fatal, illness?” The frequent response was a perplexed look, sometimes accompanied by scratching the head or chin. At best, they directed me to books focused on living a healthy lifestyle—often through a diet plan of unproven value. A few pointed to books focused on a very specific disease. These invariably dealt with an unconventional and poorly supported approach to treatment. But the booksellers with whom I visited were at a loss for a book addressing the many issues faced by those of us living with incurable ailments leading to many years of an altered lifestyle:
- How do we get physicians to take our health complaints seriously?
- Where do we turn when doctors acknowledge our ailment with upturned hands and confess they don’t know how to help?
- How do we deal with the overwhelming sense of loss with an untreatable diagnosis—one sure to produce profound changes in our life?
- How do we address those whose reaction to our ailment increases our suffering?
- Can we live well with inescapable pain?
- How do we avoid living in a state of fear when facing an uncertain prognosis?
- Should we try to keep our disease a secret from others?
- How do we choose between treatment options when each could cause harm?
- How do we tell if new symptoms are from our chronic disease or signs of some new ailment?
- How do we live with regret when an ailment is a result of choices we made?
- How can those who love us help?
As a pharmacist and biomedical scientist living with several incurable ailments, I understand the travails patients with chronic illness face. I wrote to help patients and those who care for them find answers to these important questions. When There Is No Cure provides encouragement and hope to those navigating the troubled waters of chronic illness.
The Painful Path of a Prodigal
If you are the parent of a prodigal, you struggle deeply with the challenges you face in relating to your wayward offspring. Siblings, spouses, and children of prodigals face similar struggles. How do you live for Christ in such personal turmoil? How do you live with a grown child whose destructive choices have turned him into a person so unlike the adorable offspring into whom you poured much of yourself? Ultimately, how do you bear the pain if that prodigal never returns?
Here, the author shows he is no stranger to such deeply devastating circumstances. He sensitively, engagingly, and compassionately directs readers to Scripture to create a biblical framework for addressing the trauma of having a prodigal in the family.
- A powerful and heartbreaking story that is real, raw, and yet full of gospel centered hope. I believe God will use this marvelous book to draw prodigals to himself and comfort and sustain parents who find themselves on this difficult journey.–Pastor Steve Viars, D.Min, Senior Pastor of Faith Church, Lafayette, Indiana
- Craig Svensson has written a very moving and very needed book with a unique perspective for parents of prodigal children.—Bob Kellemen, Ph.D., VP/Academic Dean at Faith Bible Seminary, Lafayette, Indiana
- …an indispensable book for those enduring the sorrow, grief and confusion of dealing with prodigal children.–Pamela Gannon, RN, MABC, ACBC certified Biblical Counselor at Grace Bible Church, Adjunct faculty at Montana Bible College, Bozeman, Montana
- With wisdom born from experience and careful consideration of biblical truth, Dr. Craig Svensson offers compassionate hope and help to parents facing the difficult reality of a wayward child.–Brent Aucoin, Ph.D., Pastor of Seminary and Soul Care Ministries, Faith Church, Lafayette, Indiana
- As only one who has previously walked this tragic path can, Dr. Svensson humbly and hopefully offers true biblical counsel, comforting even while he challenges the reader to love and serve like Jesus in heart-breaking situations.—Jocelyn Wallace, Inaugural Executive Director at Vision of Hope Residential Treatment Center, Lafayette, Indiana