STABLE ABSTINENCE FOLLOWING INSTRUCTION
ON
ADDICTIVE VOICE RECOGNITION TECHNIQUE® (AVRTSM).
By Jack Trimpey and Cindy Gates, May, 1998
Abstract:
Ninety-two subjects who desired to quit the use of alcohol
and other drugs were instructed on the method, Addictive
Voice Recognition Technique (AVRT), during a seventeen month
period. Sixty-five percent were found to be abstinent, using
brief telephone queries by the instructor. The time period
under investigation was divided into two halves and compared,
to measure the effect of time on the stability of AVRT-based
recovery. AVRT: The Course is a brief, educational program
(eight 90-minute sessions), which instructs small groups
of alcohol and drug dependent individuals on a simple, common
means to end substance addictions. There is no discussion
of medical, psychological, or spiritual matters, except
for a simple presentation of addiction as a normal function
of the healthy human body. Participants are offered an opportunity
to make a personal commitment to permanent abstinence, coupled
with a simple thinking skill (AVRT) which objectifies thoughts
and feelings which support continued use of alcohol or drugs.
The results occurred with no follow-up activities after
the learning phase.
RESULTS:
Total N = 92
Unable to contact: "?" = 8
Adjusted N (Total ?) = 84
Abstinent after AVRT: The Course = 55 = 65.4%
Time range: Jan, 1997 to May, 1998 = 17 months
Midpoint: September, 1997, subject NUMBERED 58
POPULATION CHARACTERISTICS:
71% male, 29% female
Alcohol only 62%
Street drugs (cocaine products, methamphetamine,
heroin, pot, etc.) 24%
Polydrug abuse (inc. alcohol), 14%
Previous 12-step exposure, 93%
Previous addiction treatment admissions, 26%
Since the Rational Recovery Center of Sacramento
opened in January, 1997, a total of 105 persons have enrolled,
thirteen of whom completed less than one half of AVRT: The
Course. They left for various reasons, most commonly the
persistent use of alcohol or drugs, which conflicted with
class attendance. None were expelled.
First 8.5 months = 58 subjects, 33 abstinent = 56%, or
63% corrected*
Second 8.5 months 34 subjects, 22 abstinent = 65%, or 69%
corrected*
NO SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE between
first and second experimental groups.
The corrections subtract the interspersed "?"
subjects (N "?")
No abstinent subjects have attended recovery
groups since AVRT: The Course. No abstinent subjects have
received professional counseling for addictions.
DISCUSSION:
While many addiction treatment programs produce optimistic
initial abstinence rates following completion of the therapeutic
program, results rarely reflect program dropout rates prior
to completion, and the relapse rate usually increases with
time following discharge. Moreover, aftercare typically
requires intensive followup services including regular counseling
sessions and frequent, even daily, attendance at recovery
group meetings. During the 17-month window of this study,
which involved no followup, aftercare services, or recovery
group participation, no significant drop-off of abstinence
was suggested by the data. Anecdotal evidence suggests that
when subjects resume drinking/using following AVRT, they
tend to remit promptly and spontaneously.
Although this study does not attempt to measure factors
other than abstinence, this writer believes that the incremental
benefits of AVRT-based recovery far exceed even the most
optimistic therapeutic goals of addiction counseling and
treatment programs. AVRT instructors observe a distinct,
immediate lifting of mood immediately during and after the
course of instruction, usually with a pervasive sense of
relief from persistent depression and anxiety. This phenomenon
of prompt remission from other problems is so predictable
that in RR lore it is called the Abstinence Commitment Effect
(ACE). Investigation of the ACE would appear to have an
extraordinarily high priority for any agency interested
in conservation of revenues earmarked for mental health
services.
This study is unique in that it measures the "no-treatment"
axis of addiction recovery. Grander studies, most notably
the $25 million NIAAA study, PROJECT Match (1997), compare
outcomes between various treatment modalities, with no control
group for "no treatment." Also, most studies of
outcome use measures other than abstinence, "soft measures"
such as program compliance, reduction in the amount of alcohol
or drugs consumed, the subsequent commission of crimes,
reduced use of public services, etc.
AVRT-based recovery presents community agencies the challenge
of accommodating newly-abstinent substance abusers so that
they are rewarded for accepting individual responsibility.
For example, they must be exempted from all services commonly
prescribed for substance abusers, including attendance of
recovery groups of any kind, residential treatment, counseling
with the intended purpose of reducing the risk of relapse
("relapse prevention," motivational enhancement,
sober lifestyle programs, etc.). Courts may regard offenders
who participate in AVRT at face value, fully responsible
and accountable for their actions, with equal standing before
the law, but with due consideration to their lifetime abstinence
commitment.
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION:
The results of this study strongly suggest that public agencies
adopt the cost-effective methodology, Addictive Voice Recognition
Technique (AVRT), as the first consideration with substance
abusers, and as the logical choice when there is a history
of unsuccessful exposure to addiction treatment programs
or significant unsuccessful involvement in the recovery
group movement. Further research, as also suggested by Marc
Galanter (1992, American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse,
19 (4), pp. 499-510), is needed to refine our knowledge
of self-recovery as a vital human resource. ##
