Customer Reviews

The Small Book (Rational Recovery Systems)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The comment above is not made lightly- I was a drunk for 25 years and made several attempts to quit, but could never understand why AA didn't work for me. Everything I ever read on alcoholism was AA oriented, and I thought the only way to quit was to spend the rest of my life in smoky church basements telling my problems to strangers. This book was the voice I'd been looking for, that let me know that there were other ways to think about alcoholism. I don't mean to knock AA because it has helped so many people. But it just didn't work for me. Reading this book was like turning a light on my Beast within. If you want to stop drinking and get control of your life, please try this book. It worked for me.

This book has done more to save my son, who has been a drug addict for the last 10 years, than all three of the rehab clinics and AA meetings combined. For the first time in years, he is actually thinking positive and feeling good about himself. He also encouraged me to read it too. It is a great book for anyone, whether you are an addict or not.

skip this one folks, Trimpey's just gathering his thoughts here. quite alot of what's in this book he omits in the later, "Rational Recovery"(the book). the whole jist of R.R. is A.V.R.T. (addictive voice recognition technique). the Small Book has yet to fully develop this concept as his later work does, and it contains too much "rational-emotive" blah, blah... that I don't believe is needed, i.e. A.V.R.T. supercedes it. his book "rat. rec." is in my opinion definately worth the $.

Like the person from Anchorage implies, The Small Book has been superseded by Trimpey's book, "Rational Recovery..." Trimpey has disavowed The Small Book, because he added new concepts and abandoned others (e.g., the Rational Recovery system no longer has support groups). In fact, Trimpey states on his website that he wishes he could pull The Small Book from publication, but he is powerless to do so. Buy the Rational Recovery book instead.

Trimpey spends too many pages talking about how bad AA is. His AVRT method replaces AA's Higher Power with "the Beast", a demonized personification of "the addictive voice", which is hardly a new idea, and should be familiar to anyone who has been to church or AA meetings. He does provide some good advise on how to stop drinking and some sound cognitive principles for disputing the irrational thinking that leads to drinking, although it seems that he has since rejected the "rational" parts of his own book, which does not leave much. What is good in this book gets lost in the virulence of his attacks on AA. Many of his arguments against AA have merit, but he could have left out several chapters and let people make their own judgements about AA. Those needing help don't need to "take sides", they just need help. Read this book if you want to read a one-sided attack on AA, but if you want to get and stay sober, read Ellis and Velten's When AA Doesn't Work for You.

This book SHOULD have been a classic, and should have filled in all the gaps that 12 step programs like AA don't or can't deal with in regards to addictions. Unfortunately, the "rational recovery" system is almost entirely defined by being what AA is NOT, and is almost entirely dependent on AA to justify it's methods and approaches. It's slightly melodramatic dramatization of the "awesome power of the human intellect" to overcome all problems is extremely question-begging; it might work for Vulcans, but it hardly acknowledges the reality of the human experience. It's snorting dismissial of such concepts as the unconscious, etc. is annoying, imprecise, and pompus. While the book does have some good advice and descriptive metaphors for the addiction/recovery process, it's "just grow up" shtick wears thin. Overall, I found the book's rational-emotive system to be shallow, imprecise, pseudo-scientific, and trite. The book is interesting in its rather phobic reaction to the "irrational" aspect to all life, and the authors seem to have a big complex about psychology in general. The arrogant and cutting tone of the text really just hides a hollow, airtight core rife with circular logic and clever half-truths. Still, it IS worth a read as an alternative to AA and 12-step, and will make you think about taking control of your own life. If nothing else, the book DOES remind us that we own our own souls and are NOT powerless! This reclaiming of our own power is the most valuable aspect of The Small Book.

The BEST book I have come across in the subject of recovery from addictions. This is the best gift you can give yourself or others trying to break the habit. Also, check out Rational Recovery..The New Cure for Substance Addiction by Jack Trimpey.

This book is an excellent, yet dated, alternative to all of the "pro-12-Step" literature pervasing "addiction treatment" methodologies. The problem, is IT NEEDS A CURRENT EDITION! Much of the material was written when "Rational Recovery Systems" still advocated local support groups of it's brand (Rational Recovery not only no longer believes in this, but is ANTI-recovery group of ANY KIND!). If this book's content could be revised and updated, it would be to it's benefit. The material of it's foundation is solid, and remains stable. If only 21st century examples could be cited to support what "Rational Recovery" has now evolved into.

I recommend this book above the later book ("Rational Recovery: The New Cure for Substance Addiction"). Trimpey may consider it his "albatross," but it has much useful information about social support and Rational-Emotive Behavior Therapy, all of which he later disavowed when he chose to make AVRT the totality of his approach. (Just because the "beast" can sometimes be clever enough to misuse the principles of REBT doesn't mean that REBT is worthless in recovery).

As a counselor, I am also obviously not pleased with the whole "treatment is dead" and "Counselors are tools of the 12-step establishment" arguments on the RR website, and in the later book. That attitude is not yet expressed in this book. When Trimpey abolished Rational Recovery groups, he also made a unilateral decision that no one can benefit from the mutual help process. I think that was a mistake, but he's entitled to his opinion since he owns the name. Luckily, there are other non-12-step groups.

AVRT is powerful, but not everyone can use it as their sole channel of sobriety, as Trimpey now claims. Some people can use his "crash course" and recover entirely on their own; but many cannot, and experience continued relapses while trying. They can benefit from social support and counseling. They also deserve a choice, which was Trimpey's original position in "TSB." Unfortunately, he has since renounced that position and maintains that only AVRT works and everything else is evil.

This book gets at a fundamental truth about addiction, namely that addicts can never trust their own minds again when it comes to the substance. It also includes valuable material on self-worth, coping, facing the messes that one has created, and other topics that are glossed over or eliminated from "RR." It also has less ranting about the evils of 12-step programs than the later book, though it had a significant amount as it was.

This book can be a tool in the recovering person's toolbox. It isn't the whole toolbox by any means, but can be very helpful. However, I would not recommend it to a person who is experiencing success and satisfaction with 12-step support, as they will likely feel attacked. That's too bad, because I've spoken to people who were happy with AA and still understood what I meant when I talked about "that voice."

This book improved my life in more ways than I can fit into this review.

It can improve your life too.

Author released new version, and claims ideas in this book are outdated.

But his advice is truly timeless, and his plan really works.