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Phoenix in a Bottle was first published in hardback by Melrose Books in 2005, and tells the story of how the married couple recovered from alcoholism.
In 1994 as a result of their alcoholism, Lilian and Murdoch were down and out, sleeping rough in the streets and parks of Cambridge, the English university town where, a quarter of a century before, Murdoch had attained an honours degree.
Rejecting the conventional concepts of alcoholism, Lilian and Murdoch set about searching for the underlying causes of their self-harming behaviour problem, which they discovered lay in childhood.
They argue that no alcoholic is addicted to alcohol, but rather to the escape that alcohol affords - escape from life, or certain aspects of life with which they are unable to cope.
Having identified and addressed their issues from the past, the couple are today back home in Ayrshire, leading normal lives again, with their problems of alcoholism and Lilian’s associated eating disorder well and truly behind them.
Controversially, they are also now able to drink alcohol responsibly again, if and when they so wish.
Eminent American psychologist and addiction expert Dr Stanton Peele PhD commented: “Phoenix in a Bottle is a modern version of The Days of Wine and Roses, and tells the true story of how two people who entered a period of desperate drinking stayed with one another in a close loving relationship, and emerged from their alcoholism able to drink responsibly again.
“Both a wonderful love story and a challenge to conventional wisdom about how people can recover from drinking problems, Phoenix in a Bottle gives people hope, and helps them to confront their own demons - alcohol or otherwise.”
And Phoenix in a Bottle has been selected as a set text by a top American university.
Phoenix in a Bottle is now required reading for all doctoral students in a psychology programme at Alliant International University in San Diego, California.
Alliant International University, headquartered in San Diego and San Francisco, California, was formed in 2001 by the merger of the California School of Professional Psychology (CSPP) and the United States International University. Alliant has 6 campuses throughout California and also runs programmes in Mexico City, Hong Kong and Tokyo. The California School of Professional Psychology at Alliant is one of the premier psychology schools in the US, and it counts roughly half the licensed clinical psychologists in California as its alumni.
Dr. Gary W. Lawson is Professor of Psychology at CSPP. He says: “I adopted Phoenix in a Bottle because the dilemma this couple struggled with and the questions they ask themselves are like so many others I have encountered in 35 years of clinical experience treating addictions.
“However, nowhere in addiction literature have I seen these issues examined and explained as well as Lilian and Murdoch do in Phoenix in a Bottle.
“I also recommend Phoenix in a Bottle to many of my patients as well.”
The new paperback edition of Phoenix in a Bottle is published price £9.99 by Melrose Books.
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