Roots and Wings is one of those rare, beautiful books that will teach and touch you. Exploring the difficult and meaningful work of parenting, it brings together so many insightful and useful ideas from solid research and psychological theory in the areas of attachment, human development, mindfulness, addiction, and recovery. With his down-to-earth style and wry wit, Dan Mager poignantly reflects on his own parenting journey and invites us all to join him in facing ourselves in order to do and be better.
―Jennifer Kunst, PhD, clinical psychologist and psychoanalyst and author of Wisdom from the Couch
Roots and Wings is one of the best books on parenting I’ve read. This is remarkable because it’s technically a book about parenting while in recovery from addiction. Based on personal experience, Dan Mager describes how the self-knowledge and skills gained through recovery can dramatically improve your parenting skills and how being a parent can be a tremendous aid to recovery. I love how practical the book is. In it, you’ll find a broad range of helpful tools―from easy-to-learn mindfulness practices, to the invaluable parenting skill of active listening, to learning to understand your child at different stages of their development. Don’t pass up this gem of a book. It gets my highest recommendation.
―Toni Bernhard, author of How to Wake Up, How to Be Sick and How to Live Well with Chronic Pain and Illness
Roots and Wings is truly a precious gift to all parents in recovery. Dan Mager skillfully unlocks the wisdom teachings of recovery and mindfulness to provide readers with authentic, practical, and accessible tools to create a healthy, healing, and nurturing environment for parents and their children to flourish.
―John Bruna, mindfulness and dharma teacher, cofounder of the Mindful Life Program, and author of The Wisdom of a Meaningful Life and The Essential Guidebook to Mindfulness in Recovery
This is a powerful book that every parent needs to read! Deep understanding and compassion for the complexities of parenting permeate Dan Mager’s comprehensive approach on how to integrate mindfulness into the raising of a child. Roots and Wings is both incredibly practical and spiritual at the same time.
―Claudia Black, PhD, clinical architect of the Claudia Black Young Adult Center at The Meadows and author of It Will Never Happen to Me and Unspoken Legacy
Dan Mager has a rare ability to articulate the deep insights gained from extensive personal experience in twelve-step recovery and the practice of mindfulness in ways that readers can begin to apply immediately. Roots and Wings offers a wealth of stories and strategies grounded in the art of healing, growing our capacity for love and skillfulness in interpersonal relationships, and transforming unhealthful habit energies in ourselves and our loved ones. While this wonderful book is framed for mindful parenting, it is a tremendous resource for anyone in recovery or on any path of spiritual awakening.
―Peter Kuhn, Buddhist priest ordained by Thich Nhat Hanh, twelve-step Buddhist workshop and retreat facilitator, writer, and jazz musician
Roots and Wings is a unique volume that addresses the challenges of parenting for people in recovery from addiction. Dan Mager brings together mindfulness practices, twelve-step-oriented recovery, and neuroscience, with psychological/developmental theory and aspects of contemporary counseling approaches in ways that can help parents dramatically increase their awareness and skills. This book is rich with information and guidance that will be will incredibly valuable to all parents―not just those in recovery.
―Mel Pohl, MD, DFASAM, Chief Medical Officer, Las Vegas Recovery Center and author of A Day Without Pain and The Pain Antidote
As a person in long-term recovery, I have both experienced and witnessed my share of unskillful parenting. Roots and Wings responds to a deep need within the culture of recovery and is long overdue. Dan Mager presents the obstacles with great clarity and proceeds to lay out effective yet simple changes that parents can institute immediately and continue to build upon with a foundation of mindfulness practice. I cannot wait to refer this book to others.
―Gregory S. Pergament, ordained Zen Buddhist and Taoist priest and author of Chi Kung in Recovery
