Mastering the Addicted Brain: Building a Sane and Meaningful Life to Stay Clean

For anyone trying to overcome an addiction, living with someone with an addiction, or helping someone with an addiction

As most drug and alcohol addicts eventually realize, good intentions alone aren’t enough to break destructive habits. However, addiction can be managed once its true nature is understood. This simple yet profound guidebook takes you step-by-step through the process of building a life after addiction by adopting new behaviors that create lasting change. An internationally renowned psychiatrist, neurologist, and addiction specialist, Dr. Walter Ling has worked with thousands of addicts, their loved ones, and fellow clinicians. His no-nonsense, no-judgment approach, which he calls the “neuroscience of common sense,” advocates holistic methods to prevent relapse and establish new patterns to create a sustainable, meaningful life.

“Dr. Ling, one of the world’s foremost experts on addiction, explains addiction in a way that non-scientists can understand, and he dispels the pervasive myth that this disease can’t be treated. . . . If you or a loved one is suffering addiction ― or if you want to understand a disease that’s devastating our families, communities, and nation ― this book is indispensable.”
― David Sheff, author of Beautiful Boy: A Father’s Journey through His Son’s Addiction and Clean: Overcoming Addiction and Ending America’s Greatest Tragedy

“In this seemingly simple book, Dr. Ling reminds the reader that stopping drug and alcohol use is only the first, and in some ways the easiest, step in treating addiction, with the real and joyful work beginning as a new way of living unfolds.”
― Peggy Compton, RN, PhD, FAAN, Associate Professor, van Ameringen Endowed Chair, Department of Family and Community Health, University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing

“This beautifully written book by a prominent figure in addiction medicine provides a useful perspective for individuals whose pleasure-seeking, feel-better use of opiates has led to addiction. The book could also have been titled Getting to Know Walter Ling: Neurologist, Psychiatrist, Practitioner, Philosopher, Family Man. His wit and wisdom contribute to the appeal of his message for an even wider audience of interested readers.”
― C. James Klett, PhD

“Like Dr. Ling himself, [Mastering the Addicted Brain] is filled with compassion, wisdom, and funny stories. Most of all, it provides a road map for how to lead a happy, balanced, and meaningful life. Addicts, their friends and family, and anyone who has struggled with difficult problems will benefit from reading this book.”
― Sandra D. Comer, PhD, Professor of Neurobiology, Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University and New York State Psychiatric Institute

“There are very few entertaining and easy-to-read books about addiction that are scientifically accurate and also contain gems of ancient wisdom. Dr. Ling has provided the latter in this wonderful little handbook that contains all the essentials of recovery and a wonderful first chapter for everyone who has ever known someone struggling with this most difficult disease.”
― Jeanne L. Obert, MFT, MSM, cofounder and board chair, Matrix Institute on Addictions

“An amazing amount of information is packed into this very readable little book. Walter Ling is one of the pioneers in the field of addiction, and anyone who is affected by addiction can learn from the wisdom of this master.”
― Richard A. Rawson, PhD, Research Professor, Vermont Center on Behavior and Health

“Mastering the Addicted Brain is the perfect guide to support clinicians. It provides practical, evidence-based guidance along with an easy-to-understand conceptualization of how addiction occurs. It’s useful for those who have an addiction as well as the family and friends of those who need support in their recovery. Highly recommended.”
― Robert Ali, Associate Professor of Pharmacology, University of Adelaide School of Medicine

“With this short, easy-to-read summary of his research findings and clinical wisdom, Dr. Ling has opened the door for clinicians, educators, and affected families to understand and ultimately ‘master’ addiction. There are not yet cures for addictions, but this book shows how it is possible ― indeed expectable ― to overcome drug cravings and relapses and to develop a rewarding life in recovery.”
― A. Thomas McLellan, addiction researcher and founder of Treatment Research Institute

“This book is delightful and easy to read, yet conveys a profound understanding of what addiction is and what it takes to overcome addiction. It is full of useful insights, thoughtful exercises, and sound advice to guide individuals along the difficult road to recovery. This book will be helpful to patients and their families as well as professionals in the addiction field.”
― Kathleen Brady, MD, PhD, former president, American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry

“Dr. Walter Ling’s Mastering the Addicted Brain makes the very complicated and complex information on the disease of addiction simple and direct. He explains with profound clarity the difference between getting addicted and staying addicted and getting sober and staying sober. . . . In well-laid-out steps and exercises, Dr. Ling offers guidance, support, and a simple plan for long-term recovery.”
― Kristina Wandzilak, CAS, CIP, author of The Lost Years: Surviving a Mother and Daughter’s Worst Nightmare and founder of Full Circle Intervention and Full Circle Addiction and Recovery Services

“This is a very valuable book for those afflicted by addictions, for their family and friends, and for the interested general public.”
― Professor Sir John Strang, National Addiction Centre, King’s College London

Board-certified both in neurology and in psychiatry by the American Board of Medical Specialties, Walter Ling MD is a neuro-psychiatrist in the truest sense. For over five decades he has enjoyed a successful career in research and in clinical practice, consistently listed in the Best Doctors in American, Best Doctors in the West, and Best Doctors in Los Angeles. He has been a leader in developing science-based addiction treatment since the Vietnam War heroin epidemic when President Richard Nixon established the White House Special Action Office for Drug Abuse Prevention, forerunner of the National Institute on Drug Abuse. His numerous clinical trials through the years have contributed pivotal data to the Food and Drugs Administration’s approval of all three currently available medications used in Medication Assisted treatment ―methadone, buprenorphine, and naltrexone.

Acknowledged and respected nationally and internationally as clinician, researcher, and teacher, Dr. Ling has served as consultant on narcotic affairs to the US Department of State, the World Health Organization, and United Nation’s Office of Drug Control. For the last two decades, he led UCLA’s Integrated Substance Abuse Programs, one of the foremost research and training organization in drug abuse in the United States and worldwide that has provided extensive drug abuse training to countries in Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East. Dr. Ling is Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry at UCLA and he lives in Los Angeles.