Book Review-Great informative book for ACoA's

"ACoA's are truly our own breed"  Book Review (orginally published October 29, 2008) but several people are finding  it to be useful, so I thought I'd share it with new readers and anyone that will be able to benefit.

This review is about: The Complete ACOA Sourcebook: Adult Children of Alcoholics at Home, at Work and in Love (Paperback)


Adult Children of Alcoholics are the same as we are at home, at work and in love.

We are a breed of our own with many stumbles along the road to reality. I often wondered why I could start so many projects and yet abandon them long before completion, and why I never understood what normal was, taking myself and life too seriously and struggling to find appropriate levels of intimacy in all of my relationships.

Author Janet Woititz leaves no stone unturned, no symptom or characteristic of an Adult Child unexamined.

 The book is divided into three parts based on its subtitle: How ACoA's function at home, at work and in love. Each part begins with a personal message from the author as if she takes the reader by the hand to offer validation and to lead us bravely through to the next section.

There is even a chapter called "So You Love an ACoA" for those of us whose partners still totally don't understand what we survived.

Regarding the ACoA at work, Woititz discusses our tendency towards workaholism, burnout and the subtle sabotage we may create in our jobs. A variety of professions are disected: medical student, priest, foreman, counselor, supervisor, caregiver or any employee according to how the profession relates to the ACoA, what we need to look out for and how what we've been through grants us the knowledge of how to succeed in our chosen professions. The tail end of the book even features valuable guidance for Employee Assistance programs.

This book is filled with several "Aha!" moments for me (especially Chapter 2 "What Happened to You as a Child?" and Chapter 3, "Breaking the Cycle.")

I recommend its timeless information to any adult who grew up with an alcoholic parent or any form of dysfunction. Comments?

Interested? You can order the book on Amazon.

To see all my reviews.

A  you tube video I recently favorited and wanted to share:

Adult Children of Alcoholics have difficulty having fun and take themselves way too seriously.

In Janet Woititz book The Complete ACoA Sourcebook , she lists the 13 characteristics of the Adult Child. For this article I decided to put characteristics 5 & 6 (above) together.

We need to rediscover the child in us that has been repressed. In some cases we were forced to be the parent and grow up fast, so acting as a child was considered immature. We try to have fun as adults but fear we will look stupid. If that is the case, bring a child along! Children naturally know how to have fun! ACA’s take themselves way too seriously at times! This is one of the reasons for having so much difficulty in finding ways to have fun.

This is where re-learning boundaries are important. If we work a 9-5 job, when the bell rings at 5 get out at 5! Staying later will only decrease productivity. We owe it to ourselves to stay on schedule and honor rest and relaxation time.

Take a day off once in awhile to do what makes us happy and helps us to play and have fun. There is nothing wrong with that!