Grayson Greer

Debra Jizi
UWRT 1104

Topic: How can one grow past his/her environment to become stronger?

Annotated Bibliography

Smith, Ann. Adult Children of Alcoholics. Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, 19 Feb.
2016, www.psychologytoday.com/blog/healthy-connections/201602/adult-children-alcoholics.

In her article, Ann Smith references that almost one in five of adults lived with an

alcoholic parent. She talks about how many adults ignore, dont recognize, or dont see the signs

of the invisible scars left by this alcoholism. She talks on how many who do remember want to

forget their past, and she describes the effects that has on their lives, and what that leads to. In

her article, Smith gives important elements of treatment and recovery for this, like developing a

support system, learning about the nature of addiction, and more.

Though rudimentary, this article applies to me. It describes the basic effects I have dealt

with due to my fathers alcoholism, and gives me some tips on how to recover from them. The

purpose of my inquiry is learning how to grow beyond my environment, and first accepting it,

and not ignoring it anymore is the first step in doing so.

Anne smith is an author who wrote two well-known books: Grandchildren of

Alcoholics, and Overcoming Perfection, and has experience in the field of alcoholism, and the
effects on children and family members. This is a credible source due to her experience, and

knowledge, along with the relevance to the subject.

Dove, Lydia. The Experiences of Adult Children of 'Alcoholics'. University of Hertfordshire,

2013.

In her Doctoral Thesis, Dove acknowledges the excessive amount of literature regarding

the effect on children of alcoholic parents. With the knowledge of the negative effects on

children as they grow into adulthood, her aim was to complete a study on the life experience of

adult children of alcoholics, to get a better understanding of how they grow into who they are.

With a series of six interviews of individuals who grew up with an alcoholic parent, a study was

done to analyze these people, and she ultimately came up with four Master Themes that she

came to describe these peoples experiences. Dealing with the loss of connection to parents,

Feeling hopeless and helpless, struggling to stay sane, I know what I want to be more than

who I am. These themes came to describe the lived experience of these six people, and she

broke down each persons experiences.

Having grown up with an alcoholic father, this study and its findings apply to me. The

themes stated are something I deal with, and in my inquiry I was looking first for something to

create a sort of definition of how I see who I am, and define my surroundings while looking to

grow past them. I often struggle finding who I am, but unlike some of the subjects, I dont know

what I want to be.

 Lydia dove is a credible source because she is doing a study for her doctoral at the

University of Hertfordshire, and was reviewed before publishing this. With a clear definition of

variables and constraints for her study, she was able to do this study without bias.

Riggio, Ronald E. 4 Reasons We Don't Know Ourselves Well Enough. Psychology Today,
Sussex Publishers, 23 Feb. 2014, Riggio, Ronald E. 4 Reasons We Don't Know Ourselves Well
Enough. Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, 23 Feb. 2014,
www.psychologytoday.com/blog/cutting-edge-leadership/201402/4-reasons-we-dont-know-
ourselves-well-enough?collection=148839.

Riggioss entire article has one theme. When we fail, we as humans try to find a rational

explanation as to why we failed. He says that people will find an excuse, the sun was in my

eyes, for failure. He states that 90 percent of the population thinks they are smarter than

average, so when they fail they try and we protect our self-esteem by rationalizing and making

excuses. He goes on to say that often we try and blame a situation, while others blame us.

Without control of others opinions, breaks down the different rationalizations we may have as to

why we fail to gain perspective, and to grow on our own.

This article greatly applies to me because my entire inquiry I keep coming back to the

fact that my father was an alcoholic, as if it will give me an excuse as to why I fail. The reality is,

he used to drink, and that doesnt define me. I still make my own decisions, and taking a step

back and gaining perspective can help me to move on and to grow past my situation, not blame

my failures on it.

Riggio is a credible source because he is the Henry R. Kravis Professor of Leadership and

Organizational Psychology and former Director of the Kravis Leadership Institute at Claremont
McKenna College. With a strong background in leadership, and psychology he is a strong source

for gaining perspective.

Brewer, Judson, director. You're Already Awesome. Just Get Out of Your Own Way!: Judson

Brewer MD, Ph.D. at TEDxRockCreekPark. Tedx You're Already Awesome: Just Get out of Your

Own Way!, Tedx, 11 May 2013, www.youtube.com/watch?v=jE1j5Om7g0U.

Brewer starts off with an experience where he was bike riding down a mountain, and

experienced a feeling of selflessness, and he feels totally in the moment. When he reached the

bottom of the mountain he said wow, when can I do that again? He called this feeling flow.

Flow is where you are completely immersed in something, and dont get caught up in your head.

He describes how the biggest way people get in their own way is by thinking too much. Day

dreaming, or wishful thinking doesnt get us anywhere closer to our goal, he describes. He uses

an example of his experiences in a lab in which he researches people trying to kick the habit of

smoking as a specialist on addiction. He describes how the biggest struggle these people have is

getting consumed in the thoughts of cravings, but when they make a decision to recognize it as a

bodily craving, the process becomes so much easier. The entire speech is about flow, and the

concept that we basically cannot do anything if all we do is get caught up in our head.

This TED talk applies to me in a less direct way than expected. Rather than getting

caught up in my head about doing something, I get caught up in being something. I get caught up

in wishful thinking, daydreaming random things I wish I could be, never actually attaining these

things, and remaining unhappy. I get caught up in my past, and my situation, that I often feel that
I can never attain anything else. With this knowledge, perhaps I can get caught up in the

moment, and just be.

Judson Brewer is an excellent source because he is an MD Ph. D and has a background in

clinical psychology, and runs a lab researching people who are trying to stop smoking. With his

background, his speech on flow is very well laid out, and credible.

Achor, Shawn, director. The Happy Secret To Better Work. TED The Happy Secret to Better

Work, TED, May 2011.

In his speech, Achor describes how the formula for happiness has always been struggle to

be successful, and then you will be happy. He goes on to say that the formula needs to be

reversed, in that the current standard has a flaw. Every time success is achieved the bar is raised,

and happiness is still out of reach. He states that research shows that positive psychology, and

happiness lead to success, and that the standard is backwards and doesnt work. He goes on to

say that our surroundings can only account for ten percent of our long term happiness, and

internally, we have to be positive to really be happy.

This applies to my inquiry incredibly well. My entire search is to look for how to be

happy despite my surroundings, and this tells me how. He says that only ten percent of my long

term happiness is defined by my surroundings, and if I improve my internal well-being, and be

more positive, then I can be happy, despite how Ive grown up.

Achor is a well-known happiness and well-being researcher, and public speaker. He is

also the director of Good Think, a resource for learning how to be happy and stress free. TED

talks are a very popular way to hold, and publish speeches on a plethora of topics and are very

credible, and with his background in the field, applies very well to my inquiry.