3371 North Buffalo Drive
Las Vegas, NV 89129
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 2009
Mommy's Gone to Treatment & Mommy's Coming Home from Treatment
By Denise D. Crosson, Ph.D.
Illustrated by Mike Motz
Two new books for children and parents from Central Recovery Press
LAS VEGAS - Addiction is a devastating and all-embracing disease. Family members are often as profoundly affected by this disease as the person who suffers from it. Children struggle even more because they cannot comprehend the enormity of addiction and how deeply the disease can affect someone they love. One can only imagine what children feel as they watch a parent descend into the destruction addiction often causes. Two books by Denise D. Crosson, Ph.D. address addiction and its effects on a family - from the child's perspective: Mommy's Gone to Treatment and Mommy's Coming Home from Treatment illustrated by Mike Motz (Central Recovery Press / Paperback $14.95 each / 2008 and April 2009).
Written for children aged four to eight, Mommy's Gone to Treatment is presented in language children understand. The story is about Janey, a young girl whose mother enters a center for addiction treatment. With the support and love of her father and grandmother, Janey learns that her mother is sick and that the doctors are helping her "learn how to get better." Though Janey is frightened and sad at first, she visits her mother every week and soon learns that things will be better when her mother returns.
Mommy's Gone to Treatment teaches children to understand that "Mommy is sick" and that her sickness is not their fault. The book is an ideal tool to help guide children of addicts through a very difficult period in their parents' lives. Significantly, the book can be read by or to children as their parents' progress in recovery. A number of parents in recovery have read the book to their children and report that it aids communication in a healthy and safe manner. The book is being used by a number of child psychologists and includes a guide for parents on how to talk to children about addiction.
Mommy's Coming Home from Treatment is the second book in the series. Janey's mommy is now ready to come home from treatment and Janey and her father are eager to welcome her home. This book focuses on the challenges Janey and her family face as they deal with a new life situation. Children can read about Janey's experience and watch how Janey's family learns to live together again as her mother grows in recovery. It features full-color illustrations throughout as well as a parents' guide for talking to children about addiction.
For families with small children going through the experience of a family member's recovery and for the teachers, practitioners and others dealing with them, these books are invaluable tools.
About the author and illustrator
Denise D. Crosson, Ph.D. (Las Vegas, NV) has been a nurse for twenty-five years, a nurse practitioner for nine years, and a nurse researcher for five years. Throughout her nursing career Crosson has worked with children and their families in hospital, home, hospice, and community-based settings. Mike Motz (Ontario, Canada) is an award-winning illustrator who has illustrated twenty-five children's books.
Note to Media: To request a review copy, please contact Kae Tienstra, 610-395-6298 or ktienstra@pubconsultants.com.
