Rational Recovery: The New Cure for Substance Addiction

First, I must say that this book is very appropriately titled. This really IS a very rational approach to recovery. I had been clean and sober in AA for a year and a half or so and, while I was staying sober and was definitely feeling better than when I started, had become increasingly frustrated with the program and couldn't accept many of its basic tenants anymore. In particular, the idea that there was some physical disease basis for alcoholism is central to AA, and yet it was highly speculative at best even at the time that the Big Book was written; to my knowledge there has yet to be any solid evidence for this. I also struggled with the idea that alcoholism is necessarily a lifelong disease requiring constant maintenance if you want to have any hope of remaining sober (again, there's little proof that this is true; in fact, this book conclusively proves that this is false). (To hear old timers, if you're not sitting in 3 - 4 meetings a week or if you quit through any means other than AA you're just a dry drunk who's probably miserable and is just waiting to go on a terrific bender).One other philosophical oddity in AA and the Big Book: any "Higher Power" is acceptable and is a source of actual spiritual power, but one has to wonder where that spiritual power is coming from. My "Higher Power" is just as good as your "Higher Power" as far as it goes, so you end up with a very odd form of religious subjectivism. If I believe that Jesus is God and that's where my spiritual power is coming from, and a Muslim believes that Jesus is definitely NOT God, he's deriving spiritual power from Allah, we can't both be right. Heck, someone could believe that they're deriving spiritual power from Moloch and it would be "true" within AA. Sorry, can't buy it. Unless you want to start believing that Zeus or Moloch or a doorknob actually exist as sources of real spiritual power, AA is completely intellectually bankrupt, as the author points out.This book showed that much of what I learned in AA was wrong. Mental health, general life issues, spirituality, etc. are completely separate from - and irrelevant to - recovery from alcoholism. A lot of times alcohol treatment - and, specifically, most of what AA teaches - ironically focuses on everything but actually quitting drinking. This book showed me that I do NOT have to feel better, get rid of character defects, work on my self-esteem, improve my communication skills, write a fourth step, do a 90 in 90, or call a sponsor every day in order to get (and stay) clean and sober. In fact, to think I need these things is to "play into" and excuse the addiction. Of course, I'm perfectly free to work on my self-esteem, spirituality, communication skills, and character defects after I get sober (and the author freely acknowledges that these are all worthy goals) - as long as I don't think I have to have them to say sober. (It's a lot easier to work on my self-esteem sober though!)The surprising thing here is his explanation of why people drink. I'll leave that for the book to explain the details, but suffice it to explain that what I was taught in AA has very little to do with the real reason. It's a lot simpler than I expected. (Basically, it boils down to "because I really like to"). I was always told that alcohol isn't the real problem and that as long as I thought that it was I'd die drunk. He shows me here that alcohol IS the problem behind addiction by definition. (For the purposes of the book, an alcoholic is anyone who continues to drink against their better judgment, which is a pretty good definition; even in more formal clinical definitions, the problem is alcohol - no alcohol, no alcoholism).This book is NOT about therapy or spirituality. Don't come here looking for advice on how to improve your marriage, finances, or parenting skills. All it will tell you is how to quit drugs and alcohol for good. Yep, that's all; nothing more, sorry. Obviously quitting will avoid the problems that alcohol abuse was causing you (you can't get a DUI if you don't drink, for example), but it won't make your life instantly perfect. Once you're sober you're perfectly free to read Dave Ramsey or go to marriage counseling - it's up to you. This program makes you fully responsible for quitting alcohol - and your life after quitting. (If you're in AA now, that may be an alarming prospect).Some people complain about how critical this book is of AA, but I think that this is necessary. This was actually helpful for me because I was coming out of AA and had been taught half-truths and downright lies for so long. The simple fact is that the vast majority of people who go to AA never get sober (at least not there), and the people who do get stuck in their addictions because AA prevents them from fully committing to recovery. For example, the author shows that the idea of "day-at-a-time" recovery is a perfect example of addictive thinking; if you're not in a place where you can commit to staying sober for even, say, a week at a time, it hardly bodes well for the quality of your recovery. He gives the example of a woman who had repeatedly "relapsed" (I put that in quotes because it's just a euphemism for "getting drunk") in spite of having been in two well-regarded treatment centers and diligently attending AA meetings. In the course of talking to her, it soon came out that no one in her expensive treatment centers had ever suggested that she actually quit drinking and that she had even been taught that it was a disease of relapse. This actually squares with my experience with local treatment centers; a newcomer to AA once complained that people in his IOP program regularly drank on days that they didn't have programming, and that therapists would just cheer them up and encourage them to do better in the future. As he said, the only thing he learned in IOP was that it's OK to drink (that's almost an exact quote). Point being, there's so much confusion out there about how you actually recover (much of it perpetuated by AA and even many professionals) that it's necessary to completely refute these ideas before teaching the truth.In the spirit of this book, if you're drinking in a way that you know is harmful to you, you might choose to quit. This book gives you information on how to do that. You won't walk away with the answers to all of life's mysteries but you'll walk away with enough information to quit for good.

I am a fan of Jack Trimpey's. However, even I was a little put off by his anti-AA comments initially. I turned around, though, when I learned more. Those anti-AA comments are necessary for those of us in the public who haven't learned the truth about AA yet. And, it's impossible to learn the truth because schools, courts, television, articles, and "experts", seem to all spew the same party line. . . that AA is the "only way" and that AA is successful.In fact, AA is not the only way to be successful, and all of the studies that has been done over the years have proven that alcoholism is NOT a disease and that AA and 12 step treatment is absolutely NOT successful. In fact, there have been studies that prove those that quit drinking using AA are LESS successful than those that quit without AA. So, to the reviewer who passes on the erroneous information that AA has a proven track record, the truth is that AA does NOT have a proven track record. Or, to be more concise, their proven track record is that it doesn't work for 95% or MORE of the people that try it. Some evidence has shown that it's actually DETRIMENTAL to those trying to quit drinking. And, evidence has shown MORE people are successful on their own. Furthermore, those that try and "recover" with AA-- who have been indoctrinated with the AA philosophy (pure folkwisdom) have a MORE difficult time moderating or abstaining than those who haven't been brainwashed into believing they ar powerless and have no control over their addictions. For a more comprehensive look at this, look at The Truth About Addiction and Recovery, by Stanton Peele. Peele doesn't share his opinions only, he shares his opinions based on the results of many many studies done over the past decades. . . even the studies that AA quotes as proof for the disease model. Peele gives the entire story and sources it thoroughly.Go do a search with the words "aa cult" and read what you come up with. AA is indocrination, pure and simple. It's not a quit drinking program. And, unfortunately, those schools that introduce 12step programs, court officials, television shows, articles, and "experts" either don't know the truth or have a hidden agenda (like the massive money poured into treatment centers that have been scientifically proven not to be successful). My point is, somebody has to speak the truth and I completely respect Trimpey for doing so.AVRT works and it's SIMPLE. Trimpey's correct. Make the decision to quit, do it, and go work on your life if you need to. If you have anger problems while you're drinking, you might have anger problems when you quit. But, at least your mind will be clear from the alcohol and you will be actually able to WORK on those anger problems.Or, end up in neverending "recovery"-- only socializing with other addicts and self-professed sick people. WHich makes more sense? Surrounding yourself with others that profess to be sick and need the comfort of other sick people for daily meetings for decades? Or, does it make more sense to take charge of your life and live in a healthy balanced way while surrounding yourself with others that live balanced and healthy lives?The absolute only fault I have with this book is that, despite the fact Trimpey does not accept the disease-model of alcoholism as a disease, he firmly believes one can never drink again. In fact, studies have proven that many have successfully moderately drank again although they once struggled with addiction. Once the addiction is conquered, it's conquered. In theory, then, one could moderately drink sometime in the future. As a matter of fact, it has been also shown that those who DO drink moderately in the future are, in fact, more well-adjusted than those that permanently abstain or drink too much.This is really a small issue, though. Conquer the addiction and improve your life.