A recent visitor to our offices asked a question we’ve heard before:  “If AA’s 12 Steps are so ineffective, why are 98% of all traditional treatment programs based on them?”

It’s a good question with several contributing answers, the first of which is that while the “Steps” are a really ineffective “treatment” model, they are a great Business model!

First, remember that most businesses are built on the idea of repeat customers and nothing guarantees repeated trips through treatment as much as “treatment” that doesn’t work. Nothing like the 95% “relapse revolving door” to keep business booming.

Second, this Minnesota Model doesn’t require the use of skilled staff – just the opposite. Certified Chemical Dependency Counselors (CCDCs) in most states are only required to have a GED and pass a test on AA. Most of these are also “True Believers” and they work cheap.
Third, since most programs don’t want you to overcome your alcohol abuse, why would they offer skilled staff and expensive options that might actually work?

Fourth, according to a Canadian conference we attended two years ago (and the inspiration for our first Newsletter), 85% of those seeking treatment are alcohol abusers, not alcohol dependent “alcoholics”, and the 12 Steps are not only inappropriate, but counter-productive. That means a whole lot of people are being mis-labeled and harmed, but we knew that 25 years ago.

Fifth, well, we could go on, but we think you can begin to get the picture. 98% of all treatment is about making a lot of money by NOT providing the services that work so that you will be back again and again.

Are you looking for real help?

Then you’ve found the right place.  And fixing the problem may be a whole lot easier, and more life enhancing (not demeaning) than you thought it would be.

It starts with a call and you won’t be recycled, forced to call yourself names, labeled diseased, and told you are powerless.

Alcohol Abuse is NEVER About Alcohol.

Nothing prevents you from overcoming your alcohol abuse more than the mistaken idea that alcohol abuse is about alcohol. It isn’t.

Alcohol abuse is a symptom of looking for immediate relief for underlying problems. These commonly these include anxiety, boredom, loneliness, lethargy, anger, and a host of others.

PLEASE! You don’t abuse alcohol because you are dumb, powerless, diseased, or immoral. You abuse it because it works!

At least in the short run. And we tend to live in the short run!

Trouble is, eventually alcohol abuse ‘s short term positive effects get buried under an avalanche of negative consequences. But by then we can be so muddled by the complications, and find “treatment” options so dreadful, that we avoid getting the real short term help that 40 years of research and experience supports.

Remember, no one knows more about you and your alcohol use and what’s happened to get you into your current state than you do. And no one has the power to extricate you except you.

But we do know how to help you manage your escape from alcohol’s seductive embrace.

And we do it without AA, Steps, labels, meetings, or life long isolation from family, friends, associates, and activities.

Whether you ever drink again or not, you can be “normal” once again.

Interested? We thought you might be.

What’s It Cost To Get Real Help?

Not as much as Lindsey Lohan will need to pony up for her stay at Betty Ford with virtually no chance of success.

So!

Instead of wasting $40,000 – $200,000 on residential programs with “success” rates ranging from 0%-20% (and averaging less than 5%), why not invest $8,750 plus airfare, hotel, and 5 days with us?

Let us help get this sorted out privately, confidentially, and individually with successful outcomes exceeding 65%?

More details? Click on the links below that interest you and give us a call!

Yes, We Work With Couples

Smart Women and Alcohol Abuse

“How Can You Possibly Cure My Years of Alcohol Abuse in Just 5 Days?”

The Real “Steps” to Overcoming Alcohol Abuse

Ten Things I Wish I’d Known Before I Sent My Brother Off To Rehab;