Rational Recovery

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Rational Recovery (RR) is a source of counseling, guidance, and direct instruction on self-recovery from addiction to alcohol and other drugs through planned, permanent abstinence designed as an alternative to Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and 12 step programs. RR was founded in 1986 by Jack Trimpey, a California licensed clinical social worker.

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[edit] The Rational Recovery program

The program is offered via the internet and through books, videos, and lectures. The Rational Recovery program is based on the premise that the addict both desires and is capable of permanent, planned abstinence. However, the RR program recognizes that the addict also wants to continue using. This ambivalence is the Rational Recovery definition of addiction.

In essence, the RR method is to first make a commitment to planned, permanent abstinence from the undesirable substance or behavior, and then equip oneself with the mental tools to stick to that commitment.

The RR program is based on recognizing and defeating what the program refers to as the "addictive voice" (internal thoughts that support self-intoxication) and dissociation from addictive impulses. The specific techniques of Addictive Voice Recognition Technique (AVRT) are concerned with demonstrating to the practitioner that the practitioner is in control of the addictive voice, not the other way around.

While RR and AA promote abstinence, the programs use different strategies.

  • RR does not regard alcoholism as a disease, but rather a voluntary behavior.
  • RR discourages adoption of the forever "recovering" drunk persona.
  • There isn't a need for RR recovery groups.
  • Great emphasis is placed on self-efficacy.
  • There are no discrete steps and no consideration of religious matters.

[edit] RR and court mandated 12 Step program attendance

In the United States, RR has also encouraged legal action against mandated attendance to 12-step programs, to which it is vigorously opposed. They object to the courts and other government and tax supported agencies mandating theologically-based programs such as A.A. They interpret state mandated 12 Step program attendance as a violation of the Establishment Clause within the First Amendment[1]. The courts have consistently ruled in favor of the viewpoint of RR (see Griffin v. Coughlin[2]), Grandberg V. Ashland County, Warner v Orange County Department of Probation, Kerr v Lind , O’Connor v State of California.) Some of these efforts, RR claims, have led to RR being considered anti-religious by some of their critics [3]. They have addressed this on the FAQ section of their website,

RR has voiced the conscientious objections of tens of thousands of persons who have received unwanted, unconstitutional, religious indoctrinations in the course of addiction treatment. To them and others, we provide a program that is free from religion. By advocating for their religious freedom, and identifying the 12-step program as a religion that competes with established religions, we have been accused by some of being irreligious, sacrilegious, or even anti-religious. Ain't so. [4]

RR remains neutral on the subject of religiosity and sobriety, ...RR is not interested in having people give up any of their religious beliefs; it's just none of our business what people believe about gods and saints. The only exception here, of course, is when one is 'depending' on a rescuing deity in order to remain sober. If that is one's preference, then AA is an ideal program.(Trimpey, 1995)

RR condemns all recovery groups, which are defined as "gatherings of substance abusers who exempt themselves from normal standards of decency and create a social ghetto from which there is no endorsed or identified exit."[5] RR claims that "AVRT has made recovery groups obsolete."[6] In 1998, RR announced, "The Recovery Group Movement is Over!...Beginning January 1, 1999, all addiction recovery group meetings (AA, NA, CA, SOS, WFS, ADASN [aka, SMART], AAARG, MM, JACS, Al-Anon, AlaTeen, SLAA, etc.) in the United States and Canada are cancelled and will not be rescheduled."[7]

The medical community has been largely silent concerning the differences between RR and AA. A literature search reveals only a single article in the medical literature regarding RR as a potential alternative to AA. Mark Galanter, MD, a past president of both the American Society of Addiction Medicine and the American Association of Addiction Psychiatry, stated in his abstract, "Rational Recovery (RR) is a new self-help movement for substance abusers, with a cognitive orientation. It has been suggested as an alternative to Alcoholics Anonymous. This study was designed to examine the nature of RR and its impact on those who join. A national sample of 433 substance-abusing people attending 63 established RR groups was evaluated, using codable self-report questionnaires completed at RR meetings. Members were mostly men with college experience who had previously attended AA. Among recruits who attended their first RR meeting in the last month, 38% were abstinent in the last month. Among members who had joined 3 or more months before, 73% were abstinent in the last month; they had attended an average of 4.1 RR meetings in that month, and carried out exercises at home based on Rational Emotive Therapy. Among those who joined 6 or more months before, 58% reported at least 6 months of abstinence. Among members with a history of heavy cocaine use, the portion reporting abstinence in the last month was not significantly different from those who had never used cocaine. The minority of members who were engaged for 3 months were still drinking, though, and did so on an average of 9.9 days in the last month. RR succeeded in engaging substance abusers and promoting abstinence among many of them while presenting a cognitive orientation that is different from the spiritual one of AA. Its utility in substance abuse treatment warrants further assessment." (Galanter M, Egelko S, Edwards H. Rational recovery: alternative to AA for addiction? Am J Drug Alcohol Abuse. 1993;19(4):499-510). This research was conducted before RR disbanded their meetings in favor of self-recovery treatment [8].

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

[edit] Further reading

  • Trimpey, J. Rational Recovery is an Effective Self-Help Program. In: Barbour, S. (Ed.). Alcohol. San Diego: Greenhaven, 1998. Pp. 135-143.
  • The Small Book: A Revolutionary Alternative For Overcoming Drug and Alcohol Abuse, Jack Trimpey. Dell (1995)
  • Rational Recovery: The New Cure for Substance Addiction, Jack Trimpey. Pocket (1996)
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