Addictions in the Gay and Lesbian Community

Hardcover
from $0.00

Author: Jack Drescher

ISBN-10: 0789010372

ISBN-13: 9780789010377

Category: Gays -> Substance use -> United States

Search in google:

Gain fresh insights into the social, psychological, and biochemical aspects of substance and sexual addictions!Addictions in the Gay and Lesbian Community explores the unique clinical considerations involved in addiction treatment for gay and lesbian clients. Using approaches ranging from Jungian analysis to cognitive therapy to twelve-step programs, the researchers and clinicians represented here share their expertise in working clinically with drug and alcohol problems as well as compulsive sexual behaviors in gay men and lesbians.Effectively treating addictions in gay men and lesbians requires the clinician to understand not only the basic patterns of use and abuse, but also to recognize and address the clients’special concerns. Gay and lesbian clients often face a variety of social and emotional barriers to overcoming addictive behaviors, including:• internalized homophobia leading to deep feelings of shame about their sexual needs• the need to stay closeted or face unacceptable consequences affecting work, friends, and family• the temptations of circuit parties and gay bars• feelings of social isolation and a desperate desire to fit in through use of drugs or alcohol• the interlocking role of drugs and sex, homophobia, shame, secrets, and loneliness• mainstream treatment options that fail to address gay- and lesbian-specific issues and identities Addictions in the Gay and Lesbian Community offers both personal experiences of addiction and recovery and insightful original research into the sources and treatment of addictions among gays and lesbians. It provides scholarly examinations of successful techniques for evaluating and treating gay and lesbian adolescents, professionals, and health-care workers, as well as a discussion of a treatment center geared to the needs of gays, lesbians, and bisexuals suffering from addiction. A perceptive study of Jungian techniques for treating sexual compulsions includes an appendix written by the client giving his point of view. Addictions in the Gay and Lesbian Community offers well-written scholarly studies, moving personal testimony, and proven, practical ideas for successful evaluation and treatment of gay men and lesbians with addictive disorders. Booknews Explores the unique clinical considerations involved in addiction treatment for gay and lesbian clients. Using approaches ranging from Jungian analysis to cognitive therapy to 12-step programs, researchers and clinicians represented here share their expertise in working with drug and alcohol problems as well as compulsive sexual behaviors. Discussion touches on internalized homophobia, club drugs and circuit parties, gay teens, and alcoholism in lesbians and heterosexual women. Co-published simultaneously as , v.3, nos.3/4, 2000. Guss teaches psychiatry at the New York University School of Medicine. Drescher is faculty member at the William Alanson White Psychoanalytic Institute. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Introduction1Substance Abuse, Internalized Homophobia, and Gay Men and Lesbians: Psychodynamic Issues and Clinical Implications5The Prevalence of Alcoholism and Feelings of Alienation in Lesbian and Heterosexual Women25Gay Men, Lesbians and Substances of Abuse and the "Club and Circuit Party Scene": What Clinicians Should Know37Treating Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Professionals with Addictive Disease59Gay Teens and Substance Use Disorders: Assessment and Treatment69The Importance of Specialized Treatment Programs for Lesbian and Gay Patients81A Memoir of Homosexuality, Psychiatry, Chemical Dependence, Depression and Recovery: Confessions of a Social Activist95Sex Like You Can't Even Imagine: "Crystal," Crack and Gay Men105Psychoanalytic and Behavioral Approaches to Drug-Related Sexual Risk Taking: A Preliminary Conceptual and Clinical Integration123Sexual Compulsivity in Gay Men from a Jungian Perspective141Reification and the Ecstasy of the Chelsea Boy169Index187