Twelve-step programs like AA don't work for many addicts. The Ten Lifestyles of Recovery is the holistic, healthy alternative. Former addict, addiction counselor, and ultra-endurance athlete Todd Crandell explains what makes the Lifestyles work.

Todd knows what he's talking about: He wasted 13 years of his life being addicted to drugs and alcohol - ruining relationships, squandering his athletic talents, and nearly committing suicide. But after he pulled himself out of addiction with endurance sports, he realized that traditional 12-step programs were too limited for many addicts. So, he started Racing for Recovery, a counseling and support group that helps its members rediscover healthy, balanced lives free from addiction. 

At the core of Todd's work as an addictions counselor and head of Racing for Recovery are the 10 lifestyles of recovery. Holistic, organic, and healing, the Lifestyles free addicts from the strictures of 12-step and help them rebuild lives centered on physical, emotional and spiritual wellness. 

Examples:

• Lifestyle number three: Rely on friends, family, teachers, and peers.
• Lifestyle number five: Build self-esteem and confidence. 
• Lifestyle number nine: Recognize and embrace personal challenges

As thousands of recovering addicts and their families can attest, the Lifestyles of Recovery work. Instead of treating addiction as a disease, they treat it as a choice. The emotional pain and trauma that leads to substance abuse is the real disease, and the Lifestyles' emphasis on personal and emotional healing helps addicts address past pain and move beyond it, making freedom possible. 

There's More Than One Way to Get to Cleveland also tells the intense, shocking, and ultimately hopeful stories of 10 former addicts who have worked with Racing for Recovery to overcome the addictions that blighted and almost ended their lives. These courageous individuals share their stories in all their gruesome detail, illustrating not only the depths to which drug and alcohol abuse can cause us to sink, but the hope that exists for anyone who chooses to embrace sobriety. 

As Todd says, "With sobriety, anything is possible!"