As with those in recovery from addiction, relapse is also a risk for those recovering from unhealthy relationships. The coronavirus pandemic adds anxiety to our lives; this book can help us resist and reframe our understandable but unhelpful urges to return to patterns and people that once offered a kind of comfort.

Readers will learn what drives them into controlling behavior and victimhood–and what it takes to pull themselves out, to return to the healing, faith, and maturity that come with recovery.

Since the publication of Melody Beattie’s groundbreaking book Codependent No More, millions of people have confronted the demons of codependency. And yet, many in recovery find themselves slipping back into the old ways that brought them such grief.

In her book Playing It by Heart, Beattie helps readers understand what drives them back into the grasp of controlling behavior and victimhood–and what it takes to pull themselves out, to return to the healing, faith, and maturity that come with a commitment to recovery. Personal essays, inspiring anecdotes, and prescriptive reminders show readers how to stop acting out their painful obsessions. Marked by compassion and keen insight, Playing It by Heart explores the author’s most intense personal lessons and shows readers that, despite setbacks, recovery is a lifelong opportunity for spiritual growth.