Dr Linda Helps - “I don’t want to sit around with a bunch of people I don’t know and rehash my past.”

“I’m uncomfortable with the spiritual talk that goes on in AA. The lady next to me had a tree as her higher power.”

“I don’t buy the idea that sobriety is a life long goal. Can’t I learn to manage my drinking?”

“Who says I’m powerless?”

“I don’t need group support. I need to stop drinking.”

These are comments from people who won’t go to AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) meetings. They want help with drinking problems but find AA unsatisfactory. Many are uncomfortable with the spiritual approach of AA and want an alternative.

Jack and Lois Trimpey developed Rational Recovery (RR) in 1986 as an alternative to AA. Trimpey’s handbook, The Small Book, is based on the belief that drinking is a choice. Since The Small Book came out, Trimpey has written Rational Recovery: The new cure for substance addiction.

In RR, people work on their thoughts in order to control drinking. For example, Jim drinks every time he has a fight with his wife. His thought is, “I can’t handle fighting. I need a drink to calm down.” Jim needs to find his rational voice that says, “I can handle fighting. Couples fight. I can learn to handle conflict. There are ways to calm down without using alcohol.” His goal is to put this rational voice in charge of the addictive voice (called the Beast).

Trimpey has developed an addiction stopping method he calls the Addictive Voice Recognition Technique (AVRT). It is not a psychology, a world-view, treatment, etc. It is a method used to individually problem-solve.

Here are the basic ideas of RR:

· Drinking is a choice not a disease.

· Managed drinking is possible for some people. Complete sobriety isn’t the goal for all people.

· Planned abstinence is a learned skill.

· Problems are a result of addiction not caused by it.

· Cognitive strategies are the key to change.

· Sobriety comes by developing a rational voice that controls the addictive voice. This rational voice comes from changing thoughts.

· A drinking lapse is your chance to figure out what irrational beliefs you hold.

· Homework assignments are more useful than talking about your past.

· Recovery groups aggravate addiction.

·RR is not a lifelong process. You should be able to stop addiction quickly.

The problem with RR is that you can’t always trust your cognitive process to be rational and lead to behavior change. People with addictions are often in denial and well defended against rational thinking. Furthermore, the emphasis is on cognitive processes rather than spiritual, emotional and behavioral change. The assumption is that behavior change will follow the development of a rational voice.

It is possible to incorporate spiritual thought into the method. Those who are guided by biblical truths can use them to guide thinking. “The Beast” that needs to be controlled is akin to the Christian reference to “the flesh.”

What appeals to people about RR is the move away from addiction as a diseased state, and the use of cognitive strategies to deal with drinking problems. And the Christian concept of “free will” can be incorporated into the problem-solving method.