Book

Our book, Transforming Addiction: gender, trauma, transdisciplinarity, advances addictions research and treatment by promoting transdisciplinary approaches, the integration of sex and gender, and recognition of issues of trauma and mental health. It provides practical examples of taking these steps. A wide range of contributors demonstrate how addiction spans biological, social, environmental, and economic realms, and can best be addressed through more creative approaches. Transforming Addiction is a call to action, and represents some of the most provocative ways of thinking about addiction research, treatment, and policy in the contemporary era.

Edited by Lorraine Greaves, Nancy Poole, Ellexis Boyle
April 2015, 234 pages

Table of Contents

Preface.

L.Greaves, N.Poole and E.Boyle

Part 1. What is the promise of transdisciplinarity?

1. Cracking the problem of addiction with a transformative approach
   L.Greaves, N.Poole and E.Boyle
2. Fostering transdisciplinarity in addictions research training
   E. Boyle, M.E. Snow, N.Vittoz
3. Integrating trauma with addiction research and treatment
   N.Poole
4. Of mice and wo/men: transdisciplinarity in the laboratory
   T.E.Baker, V.Lam, N.Lan, K.A.Uban, J.Weinberg
5. Two-Eyed seeing in Indigenous addiction research and treatment
   L.Hall

Part 2. How does transdisciplinarity work?

6. Linking addiction, gender and trauma in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Marcellus
7. Bridging the biological and the social in neuroscience
   G.Einstein
8. Moving towards transdisciplinarity in research with marginalized populations
   I.Torchalla, V.Strehlau, E.Neilson, M.Krausz
9. Using reflexivity to achieve transdisciplinarity in nursing and social work
   N.Clark, I.Handlovsky, D.Sinclair
10. Trauma and transdisciplinarity in women’s addiction treatment
    D.Bradshaw
11. Expanding systematic reviews using transdisciplinarity
    N.Hemsing, L.Greaves, N.Poole

Part 3. What is the future of transdisciplinarity?

12. Migrating toward transdisciplinarity in addiction treatment
    P.Selby
13. Building a theoretical bridge for transdisciplinary exchange
    A.Sotskova, C.Benoit, L.Casey, B.Pauly, B.K.Thege
14. The challenge of trans-sectoral policy in pregnancy and addiction
    L.Greaves
15. Enlarging knowledge translation to reflect transdisciplinarity
    N.Poole, L.Greaves
16. The future of transdisciplinarity in addiction
    L.Greaves, N.Poole, E.Boyle

Review in the December 2015 issue of CHOICEconnect: 

Transforming Addiction is a clarion call for a multidisciplinary approach to studying and treating alcohol problems.  (A similar model was pioneered in the 1940s with the Yale [now Rutgers] Center of Alcohol Studies.)  Greaves, Poole, and Boyle organize the essays into three sections: these deal with “the promise of transdisciplinarity,” how transdisciplinarity works, and “the future of transdisciplinarity” in terms of approaches to addiction.  The editors note that addiction is a complex problem, one that has been, and continues to be, viewed from multiple perspectives (biological, psychological, sociological) with divergent implications for law enforcement, prevention, and treatment.  Because no current single or blended perspective or model seems to adequately encompass all addiction issues, a transdisciplinary approach may provide a pathway to an improved system for prevention and treatment services.  A major problem, as contributors make clear, is that funding sources, government agencies, and academic disciplines tend to be organized around singular perspectives that, though they do not discourage transdisciplinary approaches, do not promote such efforts.  Transforming Addiction will be valuable to those engaged in programs that address substance abuse and addiction.

–G. A. Blevins, emeritus, Governors State University

Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates; graduate students; professionals.

Reviews

“Transforming Addiction: Gender, trauma, Transdisciplinarity is a much-welcomed contribution, showing us quite clearly that transdsciplinarity is the future in the addiction field. Its approach is transformative, compelling, and of great use to addiction researchers, educators and mental health professionals”

–Elizabeth Ettrore, PhD, Professor of Sociology, University of Liverpool.

“Transforming Addiction is a significant contribution to the literature on women and addictive disorders. It challenges us to integrate research from numerous disciplines in order to improve treatment services. This edited volume is a useful text for both researchers and clinical practitioners. It moves us out of the historical, single-focused approach to addiction and applies a wider lens to enable us to view the multifaceted complexity of women’s addiction.”

–Stephanie S. Covington, PhD, LCSW, Author, Helping Women Recver: A Program for Treating Addiction, Beyond Trauma: A Healing Journey for Women, and A Women’s Way Through the Twelve Steps.

“This book weaves together the threads of trauma, addiction, mental health and gender in original and exciting ways. Different professional groups, each with their own unique skills and expertise, can together develop ways of working that are more effective than the sum of the individual parts, yet, in many countries this still does not happen. The book provides innovative and practical approaches to making it happen.”

–Moira Plant, Emirita Professor of Alcohol Studies, University of West of England.