From Heartbreak to Healing: Ruth Ann Boaz Shares Lessons from a Life of Living with Alcoholic Loved Ones

"Wives Over Addiction" encourages women to release control and focus on faith and personal healing

BAKERSFIELD, Calif., May 4, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- As the daughter of an alcoholic mother and later the wife of two alcoholic husbands, Ruth Ann Boaz has firsthand experience with the ups and downs of addiction. In her new book, "Wives Over Addiction: How to Navigate Through the Chaos Caused by Addiction," she combines personal testimony, biblical teaching, practical exercises, and recovery principles to help women navigate the emotional and spiritual turmoil caused by addiction in marriage.

With an estimated 16.4 million men struggling with alcoholism, Boaz's central message is that alcoholism is a disease that wives cannot cause, control or cure, and that true healing begins not with changing the husband but with changing oneself. Most importantly, she insists that peace is possible even if a spouse never stops drinking.

"So many women believe that if their husbands truly loved them, they would stop drinking," Boaz explained. "But it's not that simple. Alcoholism is not a failure of love but a progressive disease."

Boaz dives into the emotional toll on wives living with addicted spouses. She describes a cycle in which women hide their husbands' behavior, withdraw socially, and endure repeated relapses while trying to avoid conflict, often experiencing fear, shame and heartbreak. Boaz argues that while wives cannot control their husbands' addiction, they can control their own responses. She introduces the idea that many wives develop an "addiction" to control as they try to manage the chaos around them but emphasizes—drawing on principles similar to 12-step programs—that wives did not cause the addiction and cannot control or cure it.

Throughout the book, Boaz offers practical tools to help women relinquish control. She encourages them to stop tracking their husbands' behavior, to stop dredging up past mistakes during arguments, and to stop seeking sympathy from friends and family in ways that damage respect. Instead, she urges wives to cultivate patience, prayer, and grace. She emphasizes that constant monitoring and shaming tend to increase resentment and push alcoholics further into their addiction.

"I cannot promise that your husband will stop drinking," Boaz said. "but you can find peace, growth, and spiritual maturity regardless of your husband's choices. By surrendering control, changing your thought patterns, practicing forgiveness, and relying on God as your source of strength, you can experience healing even in the midst of ongoing challenges."

"Wives Over Addiction: How to Navigate Through the Chaos Caused by Addiction"
By Ruth Ann Boaz
ISBN: 9781664290549 (softcover); 9781664290556 (hardcover); 9781664290532 (electronic)
Available at WestBow Press, Amazon and Barnes & Noble

About the author
Ruth Ann Boaz was married at age 20 and found God a few years later. After dealing with her husband's alcoholism for decades, she eventually ended her marriage after 25 years, only to repeat the cycle with her second husband, who later became a recovering alcoholic. Today, Boaz is dedicated to helping Christian wives of alcoholics who want to save their marriages and find healing in the process. To learn more, please visit her Facebook or www.wivesoveraddiction.com.

General Inquiries:
LAVIDGE – Phoenix
Ashley Fletcher
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SOURCE WestBow Press