Rational Recovery: The New Cure for Substance Addiction

The literature of Jack and Lois Trimpey is a vanishing treasure. It will serve you well to acquire something of this source material.Jack and Lois Trimpey made it clear in their discussions, writings and teachings, that “the beast” as a factor in a person’s rational recovery is not The Devil of religious lore, but is the part of the mental machinery that keeps an addictive person returning to their preferred substance: alcohol, drugs, overeating and other abusive relationships.Once recognized (revealed, unmasked) for its manner of repetitive behavior, the addicted person has what may be considered an assisting factor in shedding the bad habit. Watching one’s beast move into action in its predictable ways provides confident power against it.In Tarot, it is commonly understood that one’s personal devil (major arcana 15) is that which holds you back by your own choice of habits. That to which you are enslaved, pretending you are helpless against escape from this great beast (but with only a loosely looped chain around your neck.)Kryptonite is harmful to Superman, but his beast says, “Let’s have some. It feels so good.” Go to the source. Let its inventors, Jack and Lois Trimpey, teach Rational Recovery for you.

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 liked the way he critiqued certain aspects of AA (e.g., "powerlessness"). I appreciated his focus on identifying the "addictive voice" (i.e., anything thought or feeling that leads you to drink/use).I did not like the arrogant tone and the way he dismissed AA, as if he had the Answer and everyone else was engaged in delusional nonsense. That felt narcissistic and condescending to me. The book was issued at a time when Rational Emotive Therapy, the brainchild of therapist Albert Ellis, was very popular. I suspect that is why he called it "Rational Recovery." He takes a similar tone as Ellis did -- rationalist, argumentative, sneering. The implication throughout is that his form of recovery is "rational" and other forms are irrational.We have since learned a lot about the limitations of a strictly rationalistic, cognitive approach to psychological difficulties, including addiction, especially when addiction is tied to other life problems (e.g., trauma, shame), as it often is. To take a strictly cognitive approach to these issues is to only skim the surface of the problem. Granted, this is what many people prefer.I'm not an AA guy, never been through it, but I know a lot of people who have. Some of them have benefitted enormously from that program, so it bothered me to hear Trimpey constantly bad-mouth it. He acts as if it is all just a nonsense spiritual cult of some kind. AA isn't for everyone, but it has really helped a lot of people, and we need to be sensitive to that, rather than just try to club it rhetorically to death, as Trimpey wants to.I am sure RR is a better fit for some -- for those who don't like the AA culture, who are very cognitively oriented, who recoil at any mention of spirituality, etc. That is fine.I did benefit from the book. Again, I appreciated his explication of the "addictive voice." I can certainly identify that voice operating in me. I thought of it as "my addict" before -- pretty standard lingo in the recovery community -- but I liked the way Trimpey burrowed down into the idea. It helps me "hear" it better. I also appreciated his focus on deciding to stop completely, rather than "one day at a time," which I agree can unwittingly set people up for relapse.Anyhow, some good information here, but brought down by a pompous tone and restricted view.

Debería tener más difusión, excelente y útil información que definitivamente salva vidas.

I found out about this book from a DJ in Liverpool called Lee Butler. He recommends this book to all of his followers and credits it with helping him quit his addictions.I have listened to him go on about it for months now before I looked into it myself. I have had my own struggles for many years but have failed in my own attempts to quit alcohol and the things that usually come with it.Lee Butler wrote a post on his Facebook page to his followers saying how this book helped him quit and how every aspect of his life improved as a result! His finances, his work, his relationship, his health, his mind.... everything improved once he quit! I decided to pick it up and give it a go and have to say it’s already been life changing for me!The book does teach us not to look at the time scale we have been abstained as we can only control of today, the here and now so I know saying 4 weeks is irrelevant really for me as I know I won’t drink or use again but in this short time my life has already improved a great deal.I have saved over €800 already, I’m back in the gym 5 days a week and recently started boxing again. My head feels much clearer now and I am working much harder with my work. I now have a plan and I am working on that each and every day.These last few weeks have been liberating and I can’t thank the author of this amazing book enough and Lee Butler who tries to help all his followers who suffer with any addictions for bringing it to my attention.I recognise my beast; I know what my enemy is and I know what I am up against and now and I have the tools and the mindset to defeat it!

I am not really a review writer. In fact this is my wife's account, but I simply had to come on to review this life changing book and encourage others to take a look.You will notice I have given it 4 out of 5 stars. The only reason for this is because I felt a certain portion of the book spent a little too long proving A.A wrong. I can see another reviewer give the book 1 star for this reason, which in fairness is a little silly and knee-jerk. It reeks of an A.A attendee who will neither hear nor tell of any method outside of A.A. Lets be honest and fair about these things folks. We all want abstinence at the end of the day. Don't bash this book because you're grown to the A.A hip. That just reinforces the author's opinion of the hold A.A has on it's members.I can see where the author is coming from because of the negative global impact A.A has had on recovery, but I feel that anybody who "gets" the AVRT technique will automatically realize why A.A works for only a small percentage of it's members and it really does push people back into relapse. It's an understandably sore point for the author who genuinely wants the world to wake up and consider options away from A.A that actually work.A social worker and colleague of mine recommended the book when I spoke to him about having created a problem drinking addiction for myself. Bear in mind, he wasn't a social worker working for me, but merely a friend. I am what people would describe a functioning professional addict who works Monday to Friday, but binge drank on weekends.Due to the mass media, medical and legal push that A.A have on the world, I believed I probably had an incurable disease, thought I was crazy and I would never get out of the drink, abstain, relapse cycle. As I had succumb to the common misconception that alcohol is a disease I would be unable to shake, that gave me a wonderful and convenient reason to relapse. I am no different to someone suffering from Cancer, and Cancer sufferers feel pain, therefore any cravings I get are no different to the pain symptoms those with Cancer get.After 50 pages of Rational Recovery I knew I would never drink again, and I would never change my mind on it. I knew I would never have to attend a support group, because the technique I learnt was now inside of me. The technique is all the support you need. It also works for any substance abuse, and my wife has now started to use it successfully for comfort eating. Incredible.I am not going to spend the time explaining it. There are free, online resources where you can do a "Crash Course" in the AVRT technique. A quick google search will bring up the rational dot org page.If you're reading this review, go take the time to check out the crash course. It will take you 20 minutes, it's free and it is the core of this book. Low star reviews can really throw someone into doubt, and I do not think any low-star reviews on this book come even close to a fair assessment.I'm shocked at how easy it is and I am blown away at what the future now holds for me

Wouldnt mind returning this, but I suppose it may be useful at some point. Lets face it, reading a book and even if you do buy into this, wont keep you sober if you dont get out and about and social with people who are.

Having been addicted to both alcohol and drugs for 40 years, and now being 'clean' for 5 years, and working in both the drugs and mental health field what a relief to find that Jack Trimpy holds almost the same views as me! Having been coerced into the 'ordination' of the 12 Step Programme, twice by the courts, I always felt that AA was not much more that a religious cult, endeavouring to retain members by brainwashing us into believing that that we are diseased, and doomed to be in 'recovery' for the rest of our lives! I hold no religious opinions myself but do know that neither religion, nor any 'higher power' played any part in my ridding myself of my addictions. We selfishly choose to become addicts, and we do it to intoxicate ourselves, yet we blame our past, parents, environment etc. and in my view, this is not the reason that we self-intoxicate, but we do so merely because we like intoxication! Ultimately, if we wish for abstinence we need to do this by using the power of our own minds. And believe me, addicts need powerful minds to maintain their addiction, let's face it an addict will walk 20 miles, barefoot, in 10 foot of snow, and skint, to get a bag of 'gear'. That's a pretty powerful mind in my book.Of course a 'recovering' addict needs support, and I personally support many through my work. However, the support AA gives seems to revolve around keeping you 'diseased', making moral inventories, admitting you are 'powerless' over your drink/drug, and submitting all to your God...whoever that may be. Non of this stuff is necessary, I know, because I've done it, and without all this rubbish!Though I don't agree with everything in this book, on the whole it makes a lot of sense, and is a very interesting, and refreshing alternative to the AA culture, which in my opinion aims to keep you bogged down in addiction forever.(for both political, and financial reasons) I recommend this book to any person struggling with addiction, and looking for an alternative to AA. Also, workers in the industry, and families or friends of an addict.I have just read the book twice, put some of its concept into my own working practices, and having some very positive results. I rest my case!If you have any views around this subject, either one way, or another, and from whatever background, I'd love to hear from you. You can message me at [email protected] the book!