Coming to treatment has always been a hard threshold to cross - but more so now… Working in treatment for a long time, I’ve experienced greater consumer wariness People are more hesitant to send their loved ones to treatment and people who are looking for treatment are more hesitant to come I think one of the reasons is the discourse about addiction, treatment and recovery has hit...
Read MoreRead MoreDogma is not actually something I would want to get rid of within Alcoholics Anonymous I would also say dogma is not something that I want to get rid of in alcoholics anonymous On some level, what it means to be a person in recovery, who's engaged in traditional 12 steps is to have some sense of acceptance, that you are not in charge of the world And it's sort of like trus...
Read MoreRead MoreAlcoholics Anonymous Although somewhat known for dogma - actually has gone out of the way to NOT be dogmatic Everything is languaged from a place of suggestion as opposed to declarative statements for how you are supposed to be When you see it in the literature of Alcoholics Anonymous, you notice that these were people who were not only NOT particularly dogmatic, but the...
Read MoreRead MoreThe One major, legitimate critique of traditional 12-step recovery that I hear a lot (and agree with) Dogma Which is basically some authority prescribing rules or structure, usually rigid or fixed rules, to a system You find that in AA, and for some people that’s a big turn off I don't like that, I’m a questioner, a doubter, I'm curious… and it doesn’t work well...
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Some time ago, I had the opportunity to work in the Skid Row area of downtown Los Angeles In those days (the early ’90s) the residents of the area were divided between need “mental health services” or those needing “addiction services” This distinction was usually the result of some odd government funding rules or just the general ignorance of the time It must have been extremely frust...
Read MoreRead MoreWhat to expect in this episode: People suffering from addiction often feel very rebellious inside The most radical thing about AA is that it's completely detached from the market Alcoholics Anonymous is rebellious, it rejects traditional hierarchy & is free Alcoholics Anonymous is for Rebels The other thing about Alcoholics Anonymous; addicts and alcoholics o...
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