The Alcoholics Anonymous Alternative
Is there an alternative to Alcoholics Anonymous? Do the 12 steps really work? These are questions that most alcoholics will ask when they decide that they want to change.
Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) originated in Akron, Ohio in the 1930’s from religious individuals grouping together to solve their alcoholism. The 12 steps soon emerged as a formula for all addicts to follow if they were to stay sober.
From the very beginning, complete abstinence was seen as the only answer. Of course this does work for some people, but clearly not for everyone.
Figures for how effective the 12 step recovery process is are impossible to find. Estimates suggest only about 5% of people who attend meetings regularly stay sober for more than a year. Not much more than the placebo effect really.
However, AA and NA (Narcotics Anonymous) do develop networks of community support, which is undoubtedly very positive. The support given is from other addicts or alcoholics of course, not trained professionals. And by their very nature the meetings are public access, anyone can attend, so they are clearly not anonymous (especially when you are required to state your name).
The main objection many people have to the philosophy is its rigidity and ‘cult’ overtones – there are many references to relinquishing personal responsibility. The reams of cheap slogans don’t help much either.
Ok, so anyone who hasn’t seen them before must be wondering, what are these 12 steps then? Here you are –
- “We… admitted we were powerless over alcohol, that our lives had become unmanageable.”
- “Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.”
- “Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.”
- “Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.”
- “Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.”
- “Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.”
- “Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.”
- “Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.”
- “Made direct amends to such people whenever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.”
- “Continued to take a personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.”
- “Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.”
- “Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles.”
Any of you who are not particularly religious might be squirming a little right now.
The Higher Power issue is the biggest problem that people seem to have with Alcoholics Anonymous or NA.
Handing over responsibility for your problems and the solution of them, it doesn’t sit well with modern approaches to psychological self-help does it? SELF responsibility and empowerment are essential to good mental health.
“One of the things they (AA) tell you is you are powerless – you must submit, that’s stupid. Once you become sober, you realize you do have the power to quit.”
Strangely there’s not many references to alcohol in those 12 steps. Or indeed how to prevent yourself giving in to cravings. It seems like will-power, determination and faith are supposed to get you sober. That and some apologies of course.
In my experience, people appreciate a more personalised view of their addiction and recovery, one in which each person’s background and personality are taken into account. The cognitive approach to addiction encourages the person to look at themselves and discover what they need to change, then helps them to make those changes in any sequence they choose. It provides strategies to understand the psychological mechanisms of your addiction.
The AA idea is to work through each of the steps with various written tasks. Should anyone relapse or have a drink at any point, they have to go back to step one and start again (snakes & ladders anyone?).
The Bright Eye view suggests that abstinence is not the only option, for many people a healthier level of consumption is possible. We help you to become the expert, so you are not dependent on either a group, or on your counsellor. You learn the skills to take control of your alcoholism.
Of course, there are different interpretations of these 12 steps, and many AA groups do advocate a more liberal approach, with the meetings themselves being seen as the higher power.
The AA view is there is no cure for alcoholism or addiction, it is seen as a disease, which again slightly removes any personal responsibility from the equation – “I can’t help it, I’ve got a disease”. We view it more as a set of habitual patterns, cognitive and emotional automatic behaviours that can easily be un-learnt and replaced with something healthier.
So there is an alternative to AA for alcoholics, and it just so happens that it is also truly anonymous.
Such a lot has been written on this site about AA, and a lot of it negative. Seems to me there are 2 types of contributors, the first from people who sound like their in denial and the second by people who have never set foot in an AA meeting or ever read the Big Book! Lots of opinions and lots of rubbish has been written. I will keep it simple. I went into my first AA room almost 20 years ago because I couldn’t stop drinking and desperately wanted to. Since that first meeting, a day at a time, I haven’t needed to drink. I am happy and have a wonderful life. I have lived through many experiences in all these years, surviving cancer being the last major experience. I am agnostic and have no interest in God. I think AA is a wonderful place to get sober. And to start enjoying life once again. I am one happy customer and would recommend the AA way of life to anyone with a drink problem. And remember, the only requirement for membership is a desire to stop drinking. Some people have written nasty comments about people who attend AA. There are nasty people everywhere and you will find them in AA. I found loads in pubs when I drank! I personally couldn’t get sober alone, i tried for many years and failed. I had never belonged to a group in my life before going to AA and have to say it never appealed to join a group. Until i hit bottom and I would have joined any group in order to have my life back and quit drinking. AA works, plain and simple. People keep saying 5% success rate. Well someone give me higher success rates with other organisations? They can’t cos theres no other place that publishes success rates is there! I am pleased to say I am one of those 5%. Because I wanted sobriety. So all you knockers of AA continue to drink until your beaten and then maybe you can surrender and find sobriety and some peace in your life. Thanx Tricia
Wow! This is truly amazing stuff. I have never written about my sober life in any forum or discussed my 21+ years sober with someone who was not sober or thinking about getting sober. I guest today is the day.
I drank and used anything that changed how I felt. As an untreated alcoholic, I have an obsession of the mind. I am uncomfortable most of the time and looking for anything to devert my mind away from unwanted memories. I turn to booze, drugs, sex, food, money – you name it – anything to change how I feel. The problem is with alcohol, once I put it into my body it sets off a trigger. I cannot predict what will happen. Sometimes I only have two – but mostly, I go until something stops me – no money, jail, accidents, painful social situations. It was a real problem that affected everyone I came in contact with.
I tried many things to stop. Like the people who have written on this page, nothing worked. I see people talking about their issues with AA. That’s OK, alcohol is the great humbler. It knows no bounds. And it is patient.
I crawled into AA. All other avenues were gone. All family members were gone. All other program that gave me “my control over my addition” were gone. No one was there. No one.
Only AA was there. People with real, long term sobriety. No one “checked me in” to AA. There was no credit check, insurance cards, nurses, leaders, no dues or fees, no one told me to leave. They only asked me to keep coming back.
So, for 21+ years, I’ve worked the steps. I have sponsored many men. I have a sponsor who has 35 years. A very good man who has saved my life more times than I can count. I run a men’s AA retreat in Santa Barbara and for the last 10 years over 500 sober men have returned to their families better for the experience. They found a solution. I have found a home where no other existed.
AA saved my life. I owe. I owe big time.
Should you want some help, you are welcome to come to the Laguna Beach Canyon Club 7 AM meeting. Seven days a week. Over 150 people meet every morning helping each other to stay sober – one day at a time.
May God do for you what you can not do for yourself.
I must say I find the levels of aggression which some people exhibit towards AA pretty baffling. It is a wonderful, non-prescriptive organisation which saves lives! Some people will immediately query the description “non-prescriptive” and point to the fact that there are definitely “rules” which need to be followed if you are to fully pursue the AA program in recovery. But the use of the word “rules” would be misleading There are principles and practices which you can choose to accept or not. It’s up to you. I have never been to an AA meeting which required anything of anyone. Even in meetings where it is the practice to go round the group introducing yourself by your first name, the option of “passing” is always made explicit. If it were not, I would walk out! Likewise, you don’t have to get a sponsor, or engage with the 12 steps at all if you don’t want to. NO ONE WHO IS PROPERLY PRACTICING AA WILL MAKE YOU DO ANYTHING – IF THEY DO (AND I FOR ONE HAVE NEVER EXPERIENCED THIS), YOU CAN JUST TELL THEM TO GET LOST. Of course, it is not for everyone and of course there will be people in AA, as in all areas of life, who may be unpleasant or foolish. But as long as you are capable of taking responsibility for your life, it can really work and you should give it a try. The simple fact of mutual identification and support alone is very helpful. If you find the spiritual aspect of AA threatening, then perhaps it is not for you, but I would still recommend giving it a try, to see what you can get out of it. I found the spiritual aspect alarming to begin with, but once I realised no one was going to make me do anything I was uncomfortable with, I relaxed and just went to meetings – and it really helped me. Call me an indoctrinated cult member if it makes you feel better, but in my view this is a genuine (and very precious) example of an organisation which is non-religious, but opens spritual possibilities for people. If they choose to take up those possibilities and find that rewarding, great. If not, but they still get something out of the program, such as support and identification, that is great too. If the program simply does not work for people then they can (and frequently do) leave. So what’s the big problem?! Honestly, the polemical nonsense that gets written about it being a kind of cult all just smacks of – as a previous poster has said – either denial or plain ignorance of what AA is actually like.
it is very hard to beat nasty drinking habit alone.But… I do not believe that Alcoholic Anonymous is really that anonymous, …if you have kids -than there is record and you will loose your child- and what can be worse than that…
AA is not suitable for everyone. Lonley vunerable women I know have been used and abused in AA by so called long time sober members. I have a brother and sister in AA and it has worked wonders for them. Could it be that it suits certain personality types and not others ? In Ireland AA has become a dumping ground for the mental health services. I have been to AA and did the steps many times with different sponsers. They told me I was sick. I finally went for intensive counselling because of my life experiences which were horrifying and I was told by a psychologist that I wasn’t sick, she said there was nothing wrong with me. I got sick in AA listening to sick people who thought of themselves as preachers and teachers because they were ’sober’ longer than me. That is my honest experience.
I beleive that self help groups work! If people have a common problem then self help groups are set up inorder to give support advice and suggestions. take Weight watchers or slimming world for example and the NHS quit smoking groups. Ther is evidence to suggest taht group therapies work also
I went to AA for 3 years i got sober and my life was good…however, i was lacking in confidence and was manipulated into stopping medications in order to ‘get a better connection with a higher power’….( I dont beleive in god)..and so i did..more fool me.
I was still very vulnerable and impressionalbe..after all who wouldnt be surrounded by long term sobriety!…however it went very badly wrong and as i fell into deep debilatinaitng depression I was told to ‘get on my knees and pray’….to ‘hand it over’ and to attend more meetings…
I did as i was told…..i finally became suicidal and was told to pull myself together.
My husband finally decided enough was enough and i stopped attending AA and went to the doctors who have now helped me through.
that was over five years ago, im still sober and im still happy. I do not attend AA anymore, i dont miss it.
I do have a strong social network of freinds who know that i am alcoholic, i dont have to attend a meeting weekly to discuss the miseries of every day life with people i dont really know.
I beleive that you create your own reality and for me im creating one in which alcohol has no importantce…..
i have passion and drive and zest for life and will continue to help others with addictions problems….
I advocate AA for those in early recovery, however i would add a warning…
be careful…..
in the mean time i will be looking at creating alternative groups. I happen to think that the reason AA is so successful is that it has been around for a verrrry long time (1930) it is a common problem and the routine and steps give people some structure…..its also self supporting, and not governed…it attracts rich and poor….there are no boundaries!
If the government were to try and copy that they would probalby really make one hellofa hash of it!
So keep working what works for you…if AA works well done..but pelase please do reaslise its not the be all and end all……
there are alternatives and in my opinion in this modern cosmopolitan society we need as much diverstiy as possible
many thanks K
I completely agree and accept that AA is not for everyone. Also, it is not the be all and end all. There are infinite paths that can be taken in this life, and there is no one who can judge which is right for you except yourself; this is only one possibility; but for many hopeless drunks it has proven to be a good one.
AA had a 75% recovery rate in its early years, it has since opened its doors to the masses and as a result of raising the bottom, it has diluted its effectiveness in my opinion because many people who come choose to stop coming and therefore start drinking again. My closing comment is that the fellowship be there when they really mean business.
David with respect, your comment ‘it has diluted its effectiveness in my opinion because many people who come choose to stop coming and therefore start drinking again.’ is a generalised and sweeping comment. How do you KNOW that people who leave AA start drinking again?..there is no empiricle evidence to suggest that is true. After all the last five years of my life without AA has been fantastic!
Research into the workings of AA is also precarious as it is an anonymous fellowship. There is little reliable research to back up the effectiveness of AA.
Most of the research is conducted in the USA and is filtered to the UK. The difference between how meetings are conducted is huge. the 12 steps are misinterpreted and abused in many ways by many people…THAT is what is watering the message and philosophy down…..
Regards Kenni
The best advice I heard was
“…..forget what anyone is saying or what you might have heard about AA, give it three weeks and if it is not for you then you can have your misery back free and without charge.”
I followed that advice and have been sober for 11 years.
Briefly, the greatest problem with the article is the author’s unfamiliarity with A.A. History, roots, and sources. The statements that suggest A.A. is a monolithic entity that rests on “abstinence,” relies on some “higher power,” and doesn’t believe in cure illustrates how devoid the article is as to accurate information about the original A.A., the fellowship today, and the changes that took place when Bill Wilson fashioned a life-changing program in the Big Book in 1939 that was far different from the original Akron program. In no case is “abstinence” the only factor. In no case can it be said that A.A. does not contain tens of thousands of Christians who have no truck with an “higher power” that some call a rock, a lightbulb, or Santa Claus. They rely on the power of God that follows salvatgion. Finally, the author seems not to know that every single early A.A. proclaimed that he was cured by the power of God. The “no cure” idea originated with a lay therapist who proved his point by dying drunk without relying on the power of God in his work and life. See Dick B., Dr. Bob of Alcoholics Anonymous; The Conversion of Bill W.; The Good Book and the Big Book: A.A.’s Roots in the Bible; Real Twelve Step Fellowship History; Cured!Proven Help for Alcoholics and Addicts; and When Early AAs Were Cured and Why http://www.dickb.com/titles.shtml. Respectfully, Dick B.
I find alcoholism to be a three pronged illness – physical, mental and spiritual. AA has been the key that has unlocked the door to my sickened soul (Steps 1-3). But it has been up to me, to push open that door and walk in (Steps 4-9). This process of cleaning up my past has put me in the picture, whereby I see my role in all my previous life drama’s. I now feel that I own my past. The compulsion to drink has been removed, and as stated in the Big Book, I get a daily reprieve contingent on my maintenance of my spiritual condition (Steps 10-12). Sound easy? Well it aint!
I find it curious that people still cannot decipher the difference between a spiritual program for living and religion. Furthermore the ridiculing of AA’s disease concept of alcoholism, suggesting that this is a scape goating or shirking of personal responsibilty. I have found that getting sober and working the Steps towards emotional sobriety to have been the most difficult and challenging experience of my life so far. However, also the most rewarding! I wish it were as easy as having God come down from the heavens and make my life instantly awesome. I think that such interpretations of AA’s 12 Step program of recovery (and living a spiritual life in general) to be quite amusing.
AA certainly hasn’t worked long term for me. Long story short, I desperately wanted to stop drinking. I was also in a abusive marriage. I have worked the 12 steps and did stay sober for 5 months straight, then began to drink on occation. AA made me feel so brainwashed and guilty for this, I logically, I knew something was wrong with this picture. Here are some personal issues I had with AA:
1. Having to have a sponsor and dicuss every aspect of life I WAS EVEN TOLD FOR MY SON AND I TO STAY IN AN ABBUSIVE MARRIAGE BC I HADN’T BEEN SOBER A YEAR YET!
2. Being constantly shamed,blamed, and guilted for all that is wrong with my life. Everything ties into my “character defects” or my not “accepting” situations.
3. The longer I attened meetings and the deeper I got into steps, the more hopeless I felt. I was not working on anything that would make my life worth living, merely hashing out problems around tables, and reading the big book as if it were a bible.
A lot of people at AA meetings are still sick people. People who are truly suffering from mental health issues that are being unaddressed. Addiction is an isolating,depressing illness. Especially the clubs seem to be breeding grounds for people to suddenly fit in, feel not alone, but still suffer. When you are suffering it was always said that it is of character defects, etc. Going to therapists, taking meds, working on having life goals,is frowned upon.
I don’t know, trying to move away from AA, I feel still affected by this brainwashing and would like to move away from it.
AA does not say it is the only way. What AA does say is that it works which it does -Just for Today – for me and that is good enough
Sobriety is more than not using alcohol or other mind altering substance it is about peace of mind and my ability to live my life to the full which is what my 12 Step Programme of Recovery and the Fellowship of AA gives me today.
My brain needed washing so if that is what it took then so be it – I am able to use it today – if others find another way which works for them that is good, though when that other way is focussed on negatives – I sense Denial
I am alcoholic desperately wanting help to stop drinking, I have only admitted this to loved ones in the last couple of days.
I have thought about attending an AA meeting (I even called and got some advice), my boyfriend even went down to the local meeting to find out more, he went because I couldnt face it, he went because he is desperate to help me.
I have read all the leaflets he came back with and if I can pluck up the courage and attend a meeting. Reading some of the negative comments above have dented that courage and now Im not sure what to do.
Claire, I am exactly the same, contact me for a chat if you can x
I too have seen the shortfalls of AA . I Believe that alcoholism is an addiction and not a disease . I am also horrified at the prospect of having to attend meetings for the rest of my life . People tend to be over happy or very depressing to listen too . Sometimes the meetings drive me to drink.
Being an atheist doesn’t bode well either .
However as soon as I look for an alternative to AA somebody always asks for the bank details .
The question about choice over drinking is a tricky one because most addicts truly feel helpless in their addiction . At least AA is there to help …………….. Where is the non profit alternative ?
You could join the free forum on this site – there’s plenty of support and advice without any of the AA stuff.
Hi – I saw Clare’s post and I am in the same situation – I have been denying for years that I have a problem with alcohol, but after a weekend of emotional happenings, I really dont know what to do now ! I want to get back to normal life but cannot imagine an evening without a bottle of red wine !!!!
My problem is with meetings. There are hundreds of AA meetings in big Cities each week. In London there are over 600. Recently I had an extended holiday in Dumfriesshire Scotland and found approximately 6 meetings a week or less. Dumfriesshire is a rural county, of course, with a small population compared to London ; 150,000 to 7.5 million. However, it is perhaps 8 times larger than London at a rough guess. I stayed where it was 20 miles to the nearest meeting which was once a week. My point is that i know long term sober members who swear that they need at least 4 meetings a week to maintain emotional sobriety how could they do it in rural parts of the world ? I’m sure in America and Australia you could travel hundreds of miles to get to a meeting. Have AA members in big Cities become selfish or have they become addicted to meetings ? I live in London and the emphasis placed on attending meetings detracts from finding deep healing and God which is what you need to lead a sober life. AA has become a giant speaking factory and those who love to speak run the meetings. AA is definitely biased in favour of meetings and speaking as opposed to contemplation and silence. God can be found in either.
I think AA would be better off without so many meetings.
Joe
Congratulations, Joe. You have discerned much about A.A And here are a couple of helpful points: (1) Early A.A. founded in Akron, Ohio on June 10, 1935 had a very simple program that is actually published in one piece of A.A. literature. There were only five components: (a) Abstaining from liquor for good. (b) Surrendering to God absolutely. (c) Eliminating sinful conduct. (d) Growing through Bible study, prayer, seeking God’s guidance, and reading helpful religious literature. (e) Helping others get straightened out. See Dick B., When Early AAs Were Cured and Why. (2) In 1939, Bill Wilson fashioned a different program in his Big Book based primarily on the teachings of Rev. Samuel M. Shoemaker, Jr. But the emphasis was not on meetings. It was on finding God and establishing a relationship with him. (3) Then came the 12 dark years of Bill’s protracted depression and the proliferation on many spinoff ideas from Richmond Walker, Father Ralph Pfau, Ed Webster, Sister Ignatia, and even Clarence Snyder and two Jesuit priests. The emphasis began to shift to “sharing experience, strength, and hope” and ignoring the Big Book instructions for the 12 Steps. (4) Meetings proliferated not because of quality but because courts were sending people to them and a mountain of treatment programs were bussing people to them. My main point, based on 20 years of research, has been that it is important to know the role that God, His Son Jesus Christ, and the Bible played in the early program; to become tolerant of the wide variety of views and meetings today; and to decide whether or not to seek God’s help and learn how the pioneers did it. God Bless, Dick B.
Thanks Dick B. I rely at present on the Holy spirit
at the core of my being to keep me sober. I am
definitely becoming and am a different person to the
one who ended up not being able to stop abusing alcohol.
I have the utmost respect for the whole simplicity
and effectiveness of STEP 1. A simple truth that i was
willing to work on, willing to see that me and alcohol
really dont get along as yous guys say over in America.
Thankyou for the clear insight into the basis of meetings
in the days prior to the Big Book. It seems that Bill Wilson
shaped and galvanised some very traditional religious ideas
and made them more understandable and approachable to
the suffering alcoholic ? His own Alcoholism and mystical
awakening to God allowed this to happen. Anyway im still
attending meetings but i hope i can help and spread a bit
of good cheer and make a cup of tea perhaps. Step 12
is the key to all this for me at the moment. Anyway sobriety
has made my life much safer and better. People dont
always like to speak about the benefits of a sober life out
of humility but peace, joy and tolerance of others
are just three of the fruits that i experience in my heart.
I am learning to be alone with God as his unique creation
and this paradoxically makes me move loving to be with.
Dick B. Thankyou for you kindness and tolerance.
As an adult child of two alcoholics (one died, one went into rehab (12 step program and became sober), and a Dr, I am stunned at the sheer arrogance of this ‘article’. Whilst, I do not dispute that the 12 step program is not for everyone, surely it is unnecessary to adopt this puerile, condescending tone when addressing an alternative to your counseling service. It saved my mother, who was not a religious woman, nor adverse to taking responsibility for her own actions. I can only wonder what qualifications you have.
The article does not adopt a puerile or condescending tone, it merely points out that there are some major difficulties inherent with the AA model, and that perhaps it is time some of them were revised, as many of these issues prevent people from seeking help through the 12 step route. There is no need for you to make it a personal attack by doubting my qualifications or experience.