(Follow-up on AVRT-based recovery.)
To Everyone,
A long time ago, desperate to stop drinking, I came across this website. I took The Crash Course and got the book Rational Recovery and I "got it" almost immediately. I will admit that at first, though, I was thinking about AVRT 24/7. It was somewhat time-consuming in that regard.
So, where am I today? Just where the book said I would be. I have naturally forgotten why I even drank in the first place and drinking rarely enters my mind. Just as Jack predicts in Rational Recovery, my sobriety is effortless. Yes, there are fleeting moments of Beast activity, but I quickly and easily recognize it. I will never drink again and I will never change my mind.
I have been through the most stressful year of my life, with the death of my mother and now my son being in the front lines of the Iraq War, but still with AVRT I have never wavered. I bless the day I found this website and just wanted to let all of you checking out AVRT for the first time (or the 20th time) that AVRT gets the job done!
The most amazing thing is that no one knows about my recovery, no one. Not even my husband of 27 years knows about my involvement with Rational Recovery and that AVRT is how I stopped drinking. I like it that way. I am free of meetings, and stay home in the evenings with my family, where I belong. "White knuckling" until my next meeting is not for me. My only wish for people struggling against addiction is that they give AVRT a chance. It has changed my life in a wonderful way. Jane – WA
Jane,
You are now your own person, recovering the freedom and dignity you once lost to addiction. You aren’t on a pink cloud or on a “honeymoon,” so enjoy and trust those good feelings, as they are the natural reward for accepting responsibility for your personal conduct. Thanks for the nice note!
Jack Trimpey
Sat, July 30, 2005
Dear Everyone (Again!),
I was just web surfing and was so delighted to see a letter that I wrote to you listed first on your website (though it said Jane). Now over three years since I found this site and almost two years since I wrote that letter, the idea of drinking never, ever enters my mind. I wish that people could realize the benefits of planned, permanent abstinence, which has included for me a zest for living which has positively effected every aspect of my life from my professional ambitions to my mental and physical happiness. I am privileged once again to have the opportunity to thank you from the bottom of my heart. Because of you and AVRT I am truly living my life. God Bless you!!!
(Name withheld), aka “Jane,” as in the preceeding post.
Jane,
You may be aware that many people “in recovery” cannot accept that people like us exist, happily self-recovered with our addictions just a dark memory. Here’s a mild example of the “resentment mail” we get:
RR does not work for REAL ALCOHOLICS - it works for problem / hard drinkers - I know several (more than one) people that tried the easier softer way at RR - all of them returned to AA - wake up - The Big Book DIRECTIONS is the only TRUE way be become RECOVERED - Yes - RECOVERED from Alcoholism.
This perception, that AA is the one, true way, is not the exception; it is a widespread attitude that is inherent in the 12-step program itself. The result is that we, who are obviously the best models of success, are dismissed as either miserable dry-drunks or ones who “didn’t have the problem in the first place,” as above.
You are not an unusual person, because everyone knows that self-recovery through is commonplace. Most everyone knows someone, often a friend or family member, who finally got fed up with the outcome of excessive indulgence and took decisive action against one’s own misconduct.
It’s astonishing that the most wonderful news possible for any addicted person is still scarcely known in American society, and that our message of hope and immediate, total recovery is regarded with such utter hostility by our social service system. Thanks for the note, which I hope will get people really thinking about the pervasive nonsense of recovery groups and addiction treatment.
Jack Trimpey
Dear Rational Recovery,
Thank you, thank you, thank you! I wanted to wait till I
had some time under my belt before writing to you. Until Febuary
2003 I was a hopeless drunk, no way could I get it under control,
try as I might. I struggled in and out of AA for many years, until
one evening I got on the internet looking for help and I stumbled
on the RR web site. I read what you had to say. Bear in mind,
I've been drinking for over 30 years, daily for 20 years, to the
point of blacking out for the last 10 years. Thanks to AVRT, I've
been sober almost 9 months. I still go to bars and parties, but
I'm sober. I still do the things I like, but I just don't drink.
I ride with an outlaw motorcycle club, ( more or less a drinking
fraternity for bikers). Another non-drinking friend who called
me periodically while I was in the first 4 months of sobriety
said in 10 years with AA he never heard anyone talk the way I
did about not drinking, with the resolve I had, and with the kick-ass
attitude that you helped me get. My woman and children are happier.
I'm speaking with my oldest son again after a 3 or 4 year lapse.
Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!
Sober and loving it,
Jim
February, 2004
Jim,
How are you doing these days? Please forgive my curiosity,
but we like to follow up on AVRT-based recovery.
Jack Trimpey
February, 2004
Jack,
It's my pleasure to hear from you! I'm doing great! I’m
still abstinent, no problem, no regrets. I'm trying to forget
the 1 year date as you suggested. I'm a nonsmoker and couldn't
even tell you what year I quit, it's unimportant. Drinking was
just so much harder for me. My last hurdle was New Years Eve,
I haven't been sober for one of those parties for a long, long
time. I had a great time, not a fearful thing at all.
I contacted my court system and told them how AVRT helped me and
maybe could help others. I still have the same circle of friends,
go to the same places, along with some new places. I'm able to
do it with the certainty that I will never drink again.
Abstinent over a year, Jim
Mon, April 12, 2004
Mr. Trimpey, I used to really enjoy reading the forums and sometimes I would
post to them. The Forums helped me keep my mind in line AVRT wise.
Now that this is a pay service I have been drunk for a few months
and feel lost. I cant afford to subscribe as I am once again feeling
tired all the time due to drinking. I really believed what your
book says and all you stand for. However I think I may be headed
back to AA. Its free and at least I have learned how to pick the
good ones from bad ones there. It may be the only game in town
but now I have no choice. Your site did me so much good when it
was free. I was so into AVRT at one time that I stopped leaving
the house because I didn’t want to give the Beast any reason
to mess with me. Now that I can’t afford the site I have
no choice. I know AA isn’t the best but at least I can go
there instead of the bar. — Joe B.
Dear Joe,
You are suffering from “recoveryism,” a debilitating
condition acquired from long exposure to recovery groups. In other
words, you are playing the role of “alcoholic” to
a tee, living in the suspense of not knowing when your next binge
will occur, feeling as if you are a tiny cork on the stormy sea
of addiction. You feel powerless and cry out for help, not realizing
the water is only knee deep. When people nearby say, “Just
stand up and you’ll be fine!” you struggle even more
and blame them for not coming to your aid. Then you get loaded,
and become a disease victim, worthy of charity, angry at the selfish
ones who withheld your entitlement.
AVRT is just a set of instructions on how to stand up and walk
away from addiction to alcohol and other drugs. It ruins the rescue
fantasies that are a natural part of addiction, fantasies in which
the forces of charity and mercy intervene in your stupidity. It
helps you to identify dependence upon others as part of your Addictive
Voice, so you may take control of your life and abstain as a matter
of principle rather than as a result of the charity of others,
divine intervention, and whims of fate.
You have not read Rational Recovery: The New Cure for Substance
Addiction, which has always been the prerequisite for BBS
participation. You are still attempting to “learn by osmosis,”
in the passive style of recovery groups, where you “keep
coming back, until it finally sinks in.“ Even when you thought
you were doing your best, you locked yourself into your house,
afraid of your own bodily desire to get high.
You have learned
nothing. You are fully in the grip of the Addictive Voice. You
have not taken The Internet Crash Course on AVRT, even though
it is freely available. You may have read it, for loopholes, but
you haven’t attempted to make it your own, to make a Big
Plan based on moral principle.
I think you really want to remain “in recovery,” meaning
in addiction, wallowing helplessly in the shallow water,
unwilling to follow the clear instructions of AVRT. “In
recovery,” you can drink any time you really want, and dignify
that decision as a symptom of a mysterious disease.
The central message
of AVRT is, “There is no help for you. You are on your own!”
That liberating message can prompt you to take responsibility
for your conduct, or allow your Beast to run rampant. That decision
is yours, not your Beast’s.
You wouldn’t buy the book, and you say you can’t afford
the subscription fee, but you are able to drink, drink, drink,
and pay transportation and drop money when they pass-the-hat at
meetings, with little fear you’ll run out of money for that.
The Beast has claimed all of your assets, all of your finances,
your identity, and your future. I hope you stand up soon, as it
is entirely possible to drown in shallow water.
Get a grip, man.
I know you can do it, but your Beast won’t get a free pass
here.
Jack Trimpey
Fri, March 05, 2004
Dear Rational
Recovery, I have struggled on and off(mostly on)with
an addiction to beer all of my adult life. It started when I was
about 15. I am 41 now. After a 4 1/2 year absence from AA, I was
ready to return, but then I found you while surfing recovery sites.
.
With 3 days sober, I was ready to quit drinking forever, but I
just didn't have the right tools. When I got to your website I
knew I had finally found the answer, and it was so simple all
along. It was the lower functioning part of my own brain that
was continually causing me to drink.
I took The Internet Crash Course on AVRT and
got my PhD! I cannot describe the relief I feel. I feel as though
I have just been released from prison!
Your program makes such perfect, logical sense and is so simple
I can't believe I didn't figure it out for myself.
My Beast reminds me of my cat. She is strong-willed and very demanding.
She demands to get her needs met immediately! When she wants them
met, just like the inner Beast who wants beer and intoxication
at will. She will be a good reminder to me of the
Beast inside.
Now I know how to subdue and kill this inner Beast, thanks to
you! Thank you, thank you! You have a new best friend in Riverside,
CA!
Sincerely, Jeff D.
Dear Jeff,
By Jove, I think you've got it! Enjoy the Abstinece Commitment
Effect, as it is the natural reward for accepting full responsibility
for your conduct. Study AVRT® diligently, to refine your understanding,
and to gain perfect confidence in your lifetime abstinence.
Plan to hang out at this website for a while, until your legs
start working right after your long voyage on the AA lifeboat.
Too bad you didn’t know the water was only inches deep.
In the months and years to come, your Beast’s greatest strength
will come from the steptalk you have learned during many recovery
group meetings. The steptalk is now incorporated into your Addictive
Voice, and will be noticeable as a gnawing sense of insecurity
and uncertainty about your abstinence. The many slogans and mottos
of recovery groups are pure Addictive Voice, which will start
kicking in to defeat your self-confidence, attack your character,
and destroy hope for a normal, independent existence.
Don’t associate your cat with the Beast, which is truly
the worst enemy you will ever face in this lifetime. It isn’t
fair to your cat, and fails to expose the true dimensions of the
Beast. Be assured that with AVRT®, the Beast is reduced to
a pathetic residual of the thing that once ruled your life.
Jack Trimpey
2/11/04
Dear Jack, Thank you so much for this wonderful
website! I was on my last straw with life and now I am reborn
to live again. Thanks to this website I have been clean (and happy
about it) for eight months now and it is wonderful. I went to
an inpatient recovery center back in 1992 and stayed clean (but
miserable) for four years in NA. No one ever told me that I could
just quit, and tell the beast “Never!” I had known
for most of my 30 year addiction that there were two of us in
my head. Each morning it was the same question, “Who’s
in charge today? Man or Beast?” Now, I've answered that
question. I am in charge, and my addiction is truly over.
Thank you again for giving me back control of my life and please
dont let anyone stop you in your important work. I am now telling
others about AVRT-based recovery, and seeing very positive responses.
PJ - Eudora, Kansas
PJ, be sure to take all the credit for your success, because
I won’t take any credit for your failures. Independence
and individual responsibility are quite different from the “attitude
of gratitude” you learned in recovery groups. - JT
2/9/04
Thank you, Rational Recovery. Thank you!
I just took The Internet Crash Course on AVRT
at this awesome website. This is the best information I have ever
read! I really appreciate the insight.
I am an alcoholic and have been hospitalized, seen doctors, therapists,
out patient treatment, AA, and so on, all of which has failed.
I have relapsed more times than I can count.
I have always felt that alcoholism is not a disease, and now I
see the light. I'm in control of myself, and I see how “it”
gets what “it” wants. I am going to quit drink
forever, quit groups, never again get tricked with “one-day-at-a-time.”
- George L.
George, Your last sentence suggests you haven’t already
quit altogether. Put it in the past tense, “I have quit
drinking forever…” Also, you are not an alcoholic,
as alcoholics are simply problem drinkers who belong to AA. More
acccurately, you are a former drunk, and understanding this will
give you strength and dignity rather than stain your character.
Bravo to you on your Big Plan. Enjoy the wonderful feeling of
freedom, and learn as much as you can about AVRT-based recovery.
A lot is at stake, so get subscribed to this website and tighten
the screws on the Beast.
Jack Trimpey
2/2/04
Dear Mr. Trimpey, I started my quest for recovery
a year ago, by going to a government-sponsored treatment program.
The only solution they had of course was AA, which I objected
to because I wanted to gain control, not learn powerlessness,
and I objected to the religious overtones. Secondly, I did not
want to spend the rest of my life talking about my past, drunken
behavior. I just wanted to stop drinking! My counselor said I
was “in denial,” and predicted I would never stop
drinking as long as I refused the meetings and the 12-step program.
In September this year, I acquired a computer and access to the
Internet and very soon found Women For Sobriety! I was so excited
about this until I spent a few weeks checking out their literature
and listening in on the chat room discussions. It was about the
same as AA, with much focus on “slips” and “relapses.”
Then, I came across SMART Recovery and it seemed to be a bit better,
but surely there had to be a program out there somewhere that
had the 'magic' ingredient that I was looking for and sure enough,
this weekend I found Rational Recovery. Now, I finally feel like
I have made it to home plate.
I read as much information as I could in the past three days,
and have ordered the book you recommend, but my question is this.
I am also reading about the ABC's and CBA's similar to SMART Recovery.
Should I continue reading this book and doing the exercises or
should I wait until your book shows up in the mail?
Should I continue to see my counselor, who is insisting that I
enroll in a woman's program in January, which is AA based? (Well,
I guess you don't have to answer that (stupid) question.) I love
what I've read already about RR and AVRT and I've even made my
Big Plan! I feel fantastic! - Betty
Betty, Welcome to AVRT-based recovery! Trust your fantastic
feeling! Thatâs the Abstinece Commitment Effect, the natural
reward for accepting responsibility!
You are lucky to discover AVRT, because information on addiction
recovery through planned, permanent abstinence is suppressed in
our society. Your lengthy search for something that makes sense
demonstrates how terribly mixed up our society is about addiction
and recovery.
If you aren’t going to drink any more, then it sounds to
me like you’re fully recovered. There is nothing wrong with
you that can compel you to drink. You loved to get high because
healthy people want pleasure, and pleasure can overtake better
judgment. Therefore, you have no need to undertake self-improvement
projects in order to solidify your Big Plan.
Stay who you are, and you will become more of what you are. Stay
away from recovery groups of all kinds, set your confidence for
lifetime abstinence arbitrarily at 100%, recognize all self-doubt
as your Addictive Voice, and you'll do fine. The book will lay
a good foundation for lasting and rewarding abstinence.
Recovery groups are what people do instead of quitting, an alternative
to recovery. They are all the same, based upon the uncertainty
principle, the blind leading the blind. AVRT is the alternative
to addiction, the means of prompt recovery without all the silliness
of groups, shrinks, and rehabs. — Jack Trimpey
2/2/04
Dear Rational Recovery, I found your site yesterday.
After reading most of the info on your site, I truly believe I
will never drink again. I have always believed I made the chioce
to drink. Your have reinforceed my thinking. Thank you very much
for this wonderful resource. - BH
2/2/04
Dear Jack, Just a quick note to say thank you
for having such courage to speak out clearly for what you believe
in on your website. The concept of AVRT has been a revelation
to me; it has stopped the energy drain of the inner debate, which
is boring stuff! Your ideas are so reasonable and make so much
sense, such clarity in a mad world. Please keep up the good work.
Thanks and regards, Elmer Camolla, Sydney, Australia
12/24/03
Dear Jack and Lois, It has been years since
I learned about AVRT and I could not be more satisfied with the
results. I thought it would be a good time to thank you again.
Thanks for providing the tools I needed to help myself. Rational
Recovery: The New Cure for Substance Addiction was exactly the
book I was looking for when I found it, and delivered all I needed
to stand up like a real man, again. After all, I had forgotten
how a real man acts! The knowledge of AVRT was the greatest gift
I could ever give to myself and my family. Thank you both for
who you are and all you do. Happy Holidays! - Fred H.
12/14/03
Thank you, Jack, for your resply to my questions.
More importantly, thank you for AVRT! What a blessing it has been
for me and my family already. I wish I knew how to introduce others
to this concept. It is hard to surpress my feelings of power,
personal satisfaction and good health. Of course, the last thing
I want to do is "gather a group together" to discuss
“issues.“ You are so absolutely correct about the
crazy notion of a group doing for you what you must do for yourself.
I have always thought that, one day, I would go to a "retreat"
for counseling, and they would deprogram me so that I would stop
drinking. But, I wondered how often I would need "reprogamming."
At this point, having traveled to Hawaii for Thanksgiving, and
attended numerous holiday parties (with more to come) the sensation
of knowing that I won't need alcohol is intoxicating in and of
itself.
I can't describe how much happier I am. I have a wonderful wife
and family and all will be together for Christmas at our house.
I will be so happy to have them and the grandchildren with us,
and they will be ecstatic to have me with them. I have been very
low key with everyone around me, but they can't help notice the
big change in me.
God bless you for your work. I would like to help others find
this approach to their problems. - (Name withheld)
12/10/03
Dear Mr. Trimpey, I am incredulous that I took
The Internet Crash Course on AVRT and, after 40 years of drinking,
I finally just quit! I was on the verge of losing my wife and
children, and didn't realize how close I was. I had everything
in the world going for me and it was all about to crash, once
and for all. I love the power I feel over the Beast of addiction,
now that it is in the open. Your description is absolutely right
on. Thank you. - Mac
Mac,
There are millions of us, who have defeated our addictions solely through planned, permanent abstinence. Sadly, we are considered irrelevant, as if we know nothing of addiction and recovery. In reality, we, the self-recoved are the real experts on addiction recovery. Our accomplishment stands as an example for all addicted people, and those who accept the challenge will reap the greatest rewards of all, the return of freedom and dignity.
Jack Trimpey
