A learned scholar makes a large number of AA members unhappy on NPR

It was interesting to see how defensive and AA -or-no-way, the comment thread has trended on an author interview piece on NPR.org.

Dr. Dodes has written a well researched volume that debunks 12 step recovery for the masses. He is particularly concerned about courts and other similar authoritative institutions prescribing AA.

Dr. Dodes is not the first, and hopefully won't be the last to say out loud what many sober people, myself included, have found true in our own lives: AA didn't work for us and we got sober anyway. AA can be very harmful, particularly to women with abusive pasts, and for people with various other profiles incompatible with AA nostrums.

 It was also intriguing that several male contributors to the comment thread were immediately hostile and threatened by the simple statement of, by now established fact, that AA can be particularly ineffective and sometimes dangerous to women with an abusive past.

My recently published book, "Lose The Booze", on Kindle, while nothing like the beautifully researched volume Dr. Dodes has put forth, offers my experience, suggestions for taking back your power, and a brief discussion of the many research studies that do not back up AA claims to success. It offers specific action plans and tips in a little book free of guilt, rather than a Big Book full of antiquated ideas about character and culture.
I applaud Dr. Dodes for taking the high road in describing the type of drinker that may very well benefit from the camaraderie offered by AA, and to reveal that most of us with a serious problem with alcohol, may very well be harmed by the program. It is also a real pleasure, and one that the AA driven comments, here, don't seem to like much, to see an accomplished scholar lend credence to the fact that most of us can and will stop using the substance that is harming us. We are not powerless. We are not flawed. We are the silent majority that found the 12 step method not a fit for our beliefs or circumstances.


http://www.npr.org/2014/03/23/291405829/with-sobering-science-doctor-debunks-12-step-recovery