If you would only switch on the light of awareness and observe yourself and everything around you throughout the day . . . you would experience all sorts of marvelous changes coming about in you.

Millions of lives are lost to addiction every year, causing more direct and indirect deaths than any other illness. In a world where many things are uncertain, we do know this: ere are many kinds of addiction, and in spite of treatment and everything else we’re doing, addiction is only increasing. Dr. Donna Marks, a renowned psychotherapist, addictions counselor, and teacher of A Course in Miracles, merges her professional experience and her own personal history of substance dependency to offer a single revolutionary solution to all addictions in this expanded and revised edition of Exit the Maze. No matter what someone is addicted to—alcohol, prescription or illegal drugs, smoking, working, gambling, and so on—loving yourself is the key to recovery. is doesn’t mean the road is easy or a few acts of self-care will do the trick; the journey to true self-love includes delving deep into your past trauma to understand where your addiction originated, addressing those fear-based traumas with compassion and forgiveness, exchanging bad habits with beneficial ones, and staying committed to the recovery process. Allow love to guide you through the maze of addiction and back to living your best life. In 1989, Dr. Marks developed a chemical dependency treatment program at Palm Beach Community College, that has since grown into a four-year degree program, and for which she was granted an Award of appreciation from the college and a Governor’s award for community service.

Exit the Maze: One Addiction, One Cause, One Cure sheds light on the failed addiction treatment industry and what can be done about it. Blame is useless. There is a solution. After decades of personal and professional experience, Dr. Marks claims abstinence and addressing the underlying trauma of addiction is not enough. With this approach, one addiction simply replaces another, and genuine self-fulfillment is never achieved. She asserts that addiction is not a brain disorder but rather an attachment disorder. When an attachment with a loving parent is missing or disrupted, an invisible hole forms, and addiction covers that void.

Marks contends that every addiction is a substitute for love and the only lasting remedy is to substitute every addiction with an act of self-love. Each chapter provides exercises designed to help the reader heal the underlying void and focus on replacing addictive behaviors and reactions with loving behavior and actions. The more a person makes a loving choice in place of a self-destructive one, the addiction is forgotten, and one’s life is restored with meaning and purpose.