Seth Haines knows pain and suffering. Watching his youngest son suffer from a rare disease led him into a downward spiral of alcoholism. Haines and his family were pillars of their local church, and he was considered to be a strong lay leader; but the pain of watching his son suffer was too great. He traded in his dependency on the Lord for a dependency on alcohol to numb the pain. Haines published Coming Clean, which is a collection of journal entries from the first 90 days of his sobriety, to shed light on addictions and other types of dependencies. His audience is not only those who suffer with alcohol but those who depend on eating, starving themselves, pills, sex, wealth or anything else as coping mechanisms. He has felt the pain of depending on creation rather than the Creator, and he writes in his new book, Coming Clean, to warn others of the dangers.

Each chapter is a day in the beginning of his journey to sobriety. Throughout the chapters, you will see the darkest areas of Haines’ heart, healing and the one thing that will help a person come clean from pain. He takes the reader through situations in his childhood, the experience of his youngest son being hospitalized, his faith, his therapy sessions, and his relationship with a bottle of gin. Due to the graphic descriptions of his alcoholism, someone who doesn’t struggle with alcohol would utilize this book best. Haines does not celebrate the feeling that gin brought him, but he is very descriptive, which could lead a curious mind to explore alcohol.

This book can be very beneficial to pastors, counselors and teachers who never have experienced alcoholism or chronic pain and suffering because it gives an honest perspective of what it’s like. Haines shared his feelings, frustrations and his thoughts. All of these things would be insightful when counseling someone who is experiencing deep dependency, pain and suffering.