"The first 11 steps are all B.S. You need to jump straight to number 12 -- STOP DRINKING."
I've always thought that complete abstinence is begging the question in a matter of speaking. It seems to me that it's like saying you've cured your fear of flying by not going flying any more.
Nice Rats, Nasty Rats: Maybe It’s All in the Genes
Body Heat Linked to Armstrong Cancer Fight
FReepmail me if you want on or off my health and science ping list.
Its just like traffic school....the entire class goes in one ear and out the other....the boredom creates an intense desire to avoid the class again.
bttt
Ah, but it helps the counselors with their economic issues while ripping off the insurance companies and taxpayers. It could be worse. All these psychologists and Licensed Clinical Social Workers could be directly employed by the gov't.
Those who have "been there and done that" know which method works better, and it is not psychological.
<< "Review" Sees "No Advantage" in "12-Step Programs" >>
What an absolutely meaningless, foundationless, bullshit piece.
["Reviewer(s)" Gains "No Advantage" FRom "12-Step Programs," perhaps??]
While the fraudulent misappropriations and mis-applications of the tried and true AA Program to the consequences of the criminal and other ill-advised behaviors known as drug and sex and other "addictions" (Habituations?) and as obesity etceteras, are, except to those Hell bent upon the perpetration of the massive insurance frauds involving the "treatment" industry, of little use; the cold hard facts remain that since mid 1935, several million sober and recovered alcoholics have benefitted mightily from adherence to AA's way of life.
If they had just studied the people who voluntarily turned to AA, with or without treatment, I'd bet the results would improve.
Ultimately, take the 13th step. Go out the door and get a life!
Seems to me that this gets it backwards. The modern history of intervention and treatment for alcoholism begins in the 1930's with Bill W. and Dr. Bob. They worked out -- by trial, error, and inspiration -- a technique that worked vastly better than anything that had been before. Most (all?) modern medical/psychiatric courses of treatment for alcoholism build on that foundation; many incorporate AA attendance as a basic part of the medical/pyschiatric regime. That doesn't mean they are AA clones, but they are in important respectives AA derivatives.
The real question is, do professionalized/medicalized courses of treatment work better than AA? AA is, after all, free; the docs, shrinks, and social workers are not. AA also is true grassroots. Groups are self-organized, self-running, and self-policing, usually meeting in donated space in back rooms and basements, as opposed to meeting in clinics and offices. The docs, shrinks, and social workers need to show a significant advantage in results to justify themselves, not the other way around.
AA is what it is. Individual groups are free to do whatever they wish. Most are respectful of tradition and stick closely to the 12 Steps and the Big Book, because that is how the founders wrote it down and why tamper with success. After 70 years, that means some of the language and rituals may seem archaic to outsiders. So what? It ain't a mystery cult; go to a meeting and ask anything you want.
Reflecting the time and beliefs of its founders, AA retains a strong non-denominational religiosity. (Individual groups are free to differ.) I suspect that is part of the problem some secularized psychiatric professionals have with it. IMO, that is their problem, not AA's.
Well..OK, fine..but the meetings are only a buck. Wonder what cognitive therapy's going to cost me?
I really had come to expect a more educated view from my fellow FReeper, maybe the MTV crowd is taking over
AA works, AA don't work...AA no better than....
I really don't give a spit.
It's about life or an early death.
If a hopeless, helpless drunk can quit drinking wearing underwear on his head, God Bless him !
Without getting into a debate as to whether AA works or not, here is a program that is faith based and has been proven to work. And it's mostly for adults, not teens. http://www.teenchallengeusa.com/
Without AA, I would be dead or in prison. This article was written by someone as clueless as John Kerry..
Whether this was the best approach for my problems, I couldn't say, but I can't say that it has worked for me very well, and that's why I continue to be active in AA.
I enjoy the meetings, I enjoy the people I meet there, and I enjoy living a life free from alcohol. And most of all, when I meet a newcomer who is having a problem, I am excited that I can offer my own successful experience. But I am under no illusion that AA is the only way out, or the best way out of the alcoholic hell. I'll let them decide.
The focus changed when the courts began ordering offenders to attend.
As a voluntary program, the very fact that one was not coerced guaranteed an implication of commitment.
The fact that it is free compared to the rest studied is enough to recommend it, IMO.