What Program Keeps You Sober? Sobriety Without The Big Book And Twelve Steps.
- chphurst
- Jan 20
- 8 min read
There is a new wave of proponents who do not recognize Alcoholics Anonymous as being effective for the recovery from alcoholism. I am one of those proponents and have contacts with others, who are creating content that is launching a full-scale attack on this almost century old failed program. The method that has failed since the program began. Many of these creators were long time members of the rooms and grew contention with the cult-like toxicity of AA, when the majority of their own participants do not remain sober. Added another cut to this diseased method, members blame this vast majority, who do not stay sober, with a variety of reasons instead of just taking accountability that their philosophy doesn’t work for most. And the ones who do stay sober are trapped forever in their rooms, giving their lives over to a proclaimed disease that doesn’t exist while bowing to the mantras of this cult for the rest of their days.
I, as well as other content creators, have shown many valid reasons why the cult of the rooms fails so many and is toxic for the ones who stay in their circles. The intake of sugar, caffeine and nicotine in AA meetings, which actually enhances cravings for the very substance in which they wish to abstain. The emotional damage that their constant stories of the past incur on the individuals in the circle. The continual reminders of the members’ deficits and declaration that they will always be diseased addicts, which lowers their self-esteem and worth. With all of this negativity, is it any wonder so few stay sober once they break the friendship with John Barleycorn?
I would contend that if you really want to regress back to alcoholism, then Alcoholics Anonymous will certainly help achieve this goal.
But what about these emerging alternative programs in lieu of AA? There is SMART recovery, which focuses on individualized recovery programs in a holistic manner. The Sinclair Method uses pharmaceutical opioid blockers to “train the brain” to reduce cravings from alcohol until the want becomes extinct. I am not a great fan of medications for mental and emotional problems unless the individual has a serious chemical imbalance in their gray matter. But I could be wrong regarding using naltrexone to cure alcoholism as some data has shown decent results in the mid term to three to four years into recovery.
The fact is, even as I detest the group, Alcoholics Anonymous, we do not have long-term outcome results on these alternative methods of recovery. Only recently in the last few decades has the idea that AA may not be the way come to a more public light. We don’t have a century of results to analyze and determine the effectiveness of these alternative methods to cure the addiction to alcoholism. In fifty years, we will, but as of now, these new saplings will need time before we see how far they will reach toward the sky.
But here is what we do know and we know it unequivocally. Alcoholics Anonymous is a failed program. It doesn’t matter what the members state are the reasons that it fails; the fact is that if one walks through their doors, there is a huge likelihood that the person will not stay sober long term. We don’t know which of these new programs will be more beneficial toward one who wishes to free himself from the addiction, but we know the answer isn’t AA.
I have a bit of a different take on how to cure oneself from alcoholism because I cured myself from alcoholism. I am not “in recovery,” I have recovered and claimed this at the end of two years sober. At the end of two years, the extended protracted withdrawal symptoms are largely gone. The cravings are very infrequent at this time and when they occur, will be minimal in intensity and duration. I do not have to battle with cravings every day like many in the rooms do, even years into sobriety. I do not follow their mantra of: I know I am sober today but couldn’t tell you about tomorrow. I am sober for life and will remain so until I return to that proverbial dust. I don’t even want them to pour a drink on my gravestone. I beat alcoholism and I’m cured. I’ve got almost two decades since I threw Johnny B. over the cliff.
I didn’t go to any program to gain this cure. I read about five AA oriented books during the first six months of sobriety. Then I read the book by Chris Prentiss, founder of Passages, the first alternative holistic program of recovery I had heard of. Passages was the first organization that seemed to be in alignment with my own program of recovery. The father created it after his son, Pax, repeatedly failed in traditional recovery programs for drug addiction. Pax is decades clean since he walked away from twelve-step methodology.
It isn’t enough to just not drink alcohol anymore. There is an entire being that needs to be reinvented after he bids farewell to Johnny. This is one of the primary problems of philosophy in the rooms. The few who do stay sober are fighting daily to stay that way. They have never left their past, so therefore they remain in it. When you are completely cured from the addiction, you are no longer in the past. You are a brand new person and hopefully are striving daily to become the best version of yourself in all of your planes of being. You aren’t thinking about alcohol at all; minus those few transient cravings that are going to be rare. This is the difference between what I propagate versus AA method. The AA member thinks about alcohol, fights to keep sober daily and never knows if he will succeed. I don’t think about alcohol, have largely no cravings for it and know I have succeeded in beating the addiction. The only way for me to regain addict status is to deliberately pick the bottle back up. And I won’t—ever.
This is not something I gained from a program. I could have adopted the SMART techniques, which largely tell the individual to come up with his own method of recovery under their guidance. They don’t have mantras; they have advice from those who cured themselves as well. They don’t expect you to adhere to all of their beliefs and they leave spirituality to the individual person. And they don’t coerce you or shame you if you want to leave their program and find something else that works better for you. Passages has a reinvention of being in all planes: physical, emotional and advancement of Self. And they focus with counselors to find the origin of why you began to drink and to solve those past issues.
But what these alternative programs focus on is recovery. Their philosophy isn’t about just getting past those initial withdrawal stages or completing the coveted first six months sober. It is about changing from within and healing past trauma. I have a feeling that decades from now, this type of method will be standard for recovery and Alcoholics Anonymous will be largely extinct, minus a few types, which would be the same programmable people who would believe in Noah’s Ark.
My different take, however, is that the newly sober person really doesn’t need a “program” long term. Or should I say he doesn’t need one unless he has absolutely no idea where to begin. For short term, in the first two to six months, it would be nice to be around those who also went through the same addiction and to get a base plan on what to do now to reinvent Self. But it should not be a forever endeavor.
The method to become cured from alcoholism requires this reinvention not only to keep from drinking the substance itself but to cure all past abuse or traumas that led to it. For few alcoholics didn’t have this turbulent past and for those who didn’t, my method still works. You fix the four planes of being. I can give you this method, but I can’t make you do it. That’s why no program itself is the key to full recovery. You are the key to full recovery. It doesn’t happen overnight, but it does happen if you continue to advance on the terrain. You will not only not drink again but won’t think about or want alcohol in your life ever again as well.
The foundation is the physical plane. You exercise and have a clean diet. You ingest minimal caffeine, drop smoking and also keep sugar intake to a minimum. You have a diet of good carbs, vegetables and proteins. The exercise should be cardio in nature and it can be as simple as a speed walk. There are many resources on how to establish a proper cardio program.
The emotional plane sits directly on the foundation of the physical sphere. You engage in fifteen to twenty minutes of meditative activity a day, five days a week. It doesn’t matter what type of meditation you do as long as you have something to keep the mind calm. Yoga, Tai chi or sitting meditation all work. Again, resources are all over YouTube. You don’t have to spend a dime on this.
You focus on advancement of career for the next plane of reinvention. This can be in your job itself or a side endeavor. I took continuing education courses in my genre of physical therapy and wrote books as well as created social media endeavors, which correlate to my written works.
The final plane, the spiritual realm, takes care of itself if you follow the instruction above. You will see yourself as an integral part of the universe. Someone who matters as we all do even though many do not realize it. It is the landscape you look out on from your newly built house into the horizon.
This is the key to recovery and cure. It is not an established organizational program, so to speak. And these other alternative programs do give tools to build your mansion. But you have to build it. I said in my work on how I defeated alcoholism that you are either going to develop the willpower to stay away from alcohol forever or you won’t. You will need that willpower in the first six months mostly and you need it less and less as time goes on. But if you don’t develop it, you will return to alcoholism, regardless of what program in which you attend. Ultimately, the only person who can keep you from drinking is the person staring at you in the mirror. Not AA, not SMART, not your local church. But the good news is every person can achieve sobriety for good. Every alcoholic. The only program you need is the one step contract with the universe to never touch alcohol again.
And then you rebuild the four planes of Self from the ashes of the inferno to maintain lifelong sobriety.
And to reinvent all of your planes to progress forward check out:
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For the condensed and orderly version of how I beat the addiction of alcoholism check out: THE SMALL BOOK: HOW I BEAT ALCOHOLISM AND WHY ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS DOESN'T WORK
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To journey on a tale of epic transformation on a 2,660 mile trail check out: THE SHEPHERD AND THE RUNNINGWOLF: A PATH TO FORGIVENESS ON THE PACIFIC CREST TRAIL
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John Barleycorn: taken from Jack London's memoir of his alcoholism. John Barleycorn: First published, 1913
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