Moments of Clarity by Christopher Kennedy Lawford

Moments of Clarity by Christopher Kennedy Lawford

In his New York Times bestselling memoir, Symptoms of Withdrawal, Christopher Kennedy Lawford chronicled his deep descent into near-fatal drug and alcohol addiction, and his subsequent hard-won journey back to sobriety, which he has maintained for more than twenty years. The overwhelming response his book received impressed upon Lawford the number of people struggling to find their own way back from addiction and the need to share their stories. The histories gathered here are the recollections of lives snatched back from the brink of a precipice so wide and deep it threatened to engulf them.

Moments of Clarity includes stories from men and women, young and old, across all barriers of celebrity, color, and class. Represented in these pages are the singer and the actress, the writer and the anchorman, the man from the movie screen and the woman who lives down the street. This book brings together a myriad of different moments, all with the common understanding of where these men and women have been and where they must go. As they bravely share their stories, they shed light not only on their own experiences but also on the journey we all take as human beings who are trying to make sense of our world.

Christopher Kennedy Lawford worked as an actor, lawyer, executive, and producer in the film and television industries for over two decades. Signs of Withdrawal (2005) and Moments of Clarity (2009) are two of his New York Times bestseller books. Lawford has been in recovery from drug addiction for more than 25 years and works hard on behalf of the recovery community in both the public and private sectors. He currently works for the UN, the Canadian Centre on Substance Addiction, the White House Office of Drug Control Policy, and the World Health Organization. He also advises with Fortune 500 corporations and various non-profit organizations, speaking on topics such as addiction, mental health, and Hepatitis C all over the world.

Lawford was named to the California Public Health Advisory Committee by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2009. Lawford was named a United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime Goodwill Ambassador in 2011 to promote initiatives that support drug treatment, care, and recovery. He also works for Caron Treatment Centers as a national advocacy consultant. Lawford has a bachelor's degree in psychology from Tufts University, a law degree from Boston College Law School, and a master's degree in clinical psychology from Harvard Medical School, where he was a lecturer in psychiatry.