The InterventionistHazelden, Apr 3, 2011 - 336 pages From the outside, Joani Gammill, a married, suburban 'soccer mom' raising two children in an upper-middle-class American town, appeared to be living an idyllic life. It wasn't until she sent a desperate e-mail to self-help guru Dr. Phil that the world learned of her dirty little secret. On his national television show, Gammill revealed that, for years, she had been addicted to prescription painkillers and that she had nearly killed herself by overdosing on an injectable form of liquid morphine. Through the life-changing intervention staged by Dr. Phil on his show, Gammill not only committed to getting help for her addiction, but she also went on to become a professional interventionist, helping thousands of others in distress. In The Interventionist, Gammill's own story is intertwined with depictions of her often harrowing and always inspiring interventions and those of some of the addicts and families she's worked with over the years. In each chapter she recounts details of a client's unique battle with addiction and the devastation that led to a loved one's request for her help. Gammill's story-and the stories of the brave people who come to her for help-demonstrates how it is possible to emerge from the seemingly hopeless world of out-of-control drug use and not only regain one's sanity, but actually discover that life clean and sober can be more meaningful than it ever was before. |