The Division’s Harvard Medical School faculty have authored a variety of books that address many topics within addiction science, ranging from responsible gambling to effective addiction treatments. Our books can be purchased from online retailers.


Responsible Gambling: Primary Stakeholder Perspectives
by Oxford University Press (H. J. Shaffer, Ed.)

This book will inform and better ground both current and future debates focused on the topic of responsible gambling and its intended outcomes. Chapters address responsible gambling from the perspective of five groups of complementary stakeholders: scientists/researchers; clinicians; gambling operators (casino, online, lottery, government); public policy makers/regulators; and recovering gamblers. Contributors drawn from these groups address responsible gambling through the lens of the Reno Model, an approach to responsible gambling that emphasizes the importance of stakeholders working together and using the science associated with evidence-based methods to reduce gambling related harms.

 

Overcoming Addiction: Finding an Effective Path toward Recovery
by Harvard Health Publications (H. J. Shaffer, Ed.)

Addiction can be devastating. One of the most common expressions of addiction, alcohol dependence, causes an estimated 100,000 deaths annually — the equivalent of an airliner carrying 274 passengers crashing every single day. The good news is that there are a number of effective treatments for addiction, including self-help strategies, psychotherapy, medications, and rehabilitation programs, all of which are detailed in this report. You’ll also find targeted advice on specific types of addiction, as well as information about coping with a loved one’s addiction.

 

Understanding Opioids: From Addiction to Recovery
by A. MacDonald, D. Pendick, & U.R. Parlikar (H. J. Shaffer, Ed.)

Most people use prescription opioid medications responsibly. But a growing number are abusing these drugs; that is, taking a different dose than prescribed, getting the drug from a nonmedical source, such as a relative, friend, or Internet seller, or taking the drug for its psychoactive effects. Why? In addition to their powerful pain relieving effects, opioids can produce profound feelings of well-being and euphoria.

 

Change your gambling, change your life
by Howard J. Shaffer, PhD, CAS

This book explains how gambling problems are related to other underlying issues. It offers a series of self-tests to help evaluate the degree of gambling problem and analyze the psychological and social context of the behavior, with specific strategies and approaches for ending the problems.

 

The APA Addiction Syndrome Handbook
by Howard J. Shaffer, PhD, CAS, Editor-in-Chief and Debi A. LaPlante, PhD and Sarah E. Nelson, PhD, Associate Editors

This two-volume handbook provides a comprehensive review of addiction. Volume 1 focuses on the history of addiction and the expressions of addiction. Volume 2 examines recovery, prevention, and other essential issues commonly associated with addiction.

 

Harvard Medical School Overcoming Addiction: Paths toward recovery
by Howard J. Shaffer, PhD, CAS

Addiction can be devastating. The good news is that there are a number of effective treatments for addiction, including self-help strategies, psychotherapy, medications, and rehabilitation programs. You can use the strategies presented in this report to discover new ways to cope with lifes difficulties.

 

Futures At Stake: Youth, Gambling, And Society
by Howard J. Shaffer, PhD, CAS, Matthew N. Hall, & Joni Vander Bilt

The widespread legalization of gambling across the U.S. has produced concerns for serious social, economic, and health problems. For the first time in this country, an entire generation of young people has reached adulthood within a context of approval and endorsement of gambling as a source of entertainment and recreation.