Rewired by Erica Spiegelman

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Rewired: A bold approach to Addiction by Erica Spiegelman
Introduction
Erica Spiegelman’s “Rewired: A bold approach to addiction,” is an addiction recovery book that provides its readers with clear strategies to recover both from alcoholism and other bad habits. The book enables the readers to understand how they can rewire their brains and change their habits. It stresses the importance of finding the power within so as to fight the addiction successfully. Also, it provides a multipurpose technique that touches on the mind, physique, emotional and physical aspects of an individual who comprehends the importance of principles such as authenticity, truthfulness, and gratitude. The primary purpose of this paper is to review Spiegelman’s book “Rewired” by discussing the main principles addressed in the book, the purpose of the book and why it is a significant breakthrough in helping addicts recover (Spiegelman).
Summary
The author presents several principles that aid in the recovery process, authenticity being one of them. Once a person understands that they are the authors of their lives, they embrace who they are. They deeply evaluate their core values- core values define who a person is. Walking around and relating with different people while putting on masks blocks one from understanding who they are. This is a dangerous way of living. For one to make healthy choices in life, they need to have a clear vision of who they are and what they hold dear.

For instance, some people define themselves by the amount of money or power that they have. Others define themselves through love and caring for other people. Hiding from who we truly are is what disconnects as from our true selves are hence promoting addiction (Spiegelman).
Appreciation is another critical principle pointed out in the book. Gratitude is one aspect that people need not neglect in their lives despite what they are going through. Whether you are feeling high or low, you need to be grateful that you are feeling that way. Good times are a blessing to everyone and therefore may not be forgotten in the gratitude list. Sad moments, on the other side, are considered cursed hence most people prefer not to recall them worse include them on the gratitude list. However, a person in their recovery process needs to be grateful for every moment including the worst ones, if the desire to conquer addiction (Spiegelman).
Also, setting small goals that a person can achieve is also helpful in recovering from addiction. Goals help one to remain focused on the relevant tasks to be tackled. Achieving this target at the end of the day or whatever period you may have set improves one’s confidence. Therefore, setting goals and making them means that a person is not only focused but also confident about meeting them. If we can accomplish certain tasks at a given time, we become proud of ourselves. Acknowledging our success and challenges in life leads celebrating and rewarding ourselves in a healthy manner (Spiegelman).
Purpose of the book
Erica is a professional specialized in guidance and counseling of people with addiction problems. She wrote this book mainly to provide her readers with a new simple mode of treatment. At the end of the book, the reader should be able to rewire their brains as well as change their bad behavior. The book is meant to provide mental, physical, spiritual and emotional means to fight addiction. Erica’s primary goal is to help individuals fight and overcome addiction hence the reason why she addresses the most important principles critical for recovery- truthfulness, authenticity, and gratitude (Spiegelman).
Criticism
Spiegelman uses her personal life as the primary source of data for her book. This is a plus both for the book and the author. Most people will go for a book that uses real life data than any other book employing other data collection techniques. Personal experience is one technique that instantly captures the faith of the readers. Erica’s readers can easily trust the approaches that she has written in her book since they can directly relate to the outcome (the author). Otherwise, other methods of data collection tend to be theoretical hence difficult to prove their workability in real life. More so, a reader gets attached to the guidance of the book because there is a built up connection between him or her and the author. The relationship results from the fact that the author opens up and shares part of her life with the reader.
Open-mindedness is a trait that most writers lack therefore making readers slave of their ideas. Erica surpasses this type of weakness since she provides a variety of options for her recovering users. Most recovery books pin the 12 step method of healing to those that read them. Rewired on the other hand is an open book that gives different methods to employ in recovering including the 12 step. Although she acknowledges the 12 step process she does not put it to the reader like it is the only approach to recovery (Spiegelman).
The book covers a wider scope regarding recovery including the physical, mental and spiritual aspects of a human being. She tackles the physical health of an individual regarding their eating habits whereby she encourages addicts who are recovering from eating adequate and healthy foods not forgetting to take adequate water. The mental healing, according to Erica, can be attained basing on what an individual does daily or repeatedly. For example, if someone does everything that is in line with recovery on a daily basis, their minds get tuned in the same path. The positive and encouraging community as well can help one to recover. Finally, being honest about who a person is and appreciating God for everything facilitates spiritual healing. Erica has therefore included all aspects that make up a human being in her recovery book (Spiegelman).
Conclusion
In conclusion, “Rewired: A Bold New Approach to Addiction by Erica is a unique and most useful book in the addiction recovery library. The author explains the vitality of understanding the main principles-honesty, authenticity, and gratitude which are vital in the recovery process. The book is mainly for people fighting addiction. Therefore, it provides them with the easiest approach to recover. The author uses her personal life to provide more information for the readers which captures their faith. She is open-minded as well hence offers different approaches to healing the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual aspects of a person. Therefore, any person struggling with any addiction problem is lucky since Erica, through her book, has provided a breakthrough in fighting substance abuse and other harmful behaviors.
Works cited
Spiegelman, Erica. Rewired. 1st ed. Print.