When AA Doesn't Work For You: Rational Steps to Quitting Alcohol [Paperback]

Albert Ellis (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0942637534 | ISBN-13: 978-0942637533 | Publication Date: January 1, 1992

The first book that applies the insights of rational-emotive therapy to the recovery from problem drinking.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

According to the authors, the irrational thoughts and beliefs of the alcoholic--as opposed to the concept of "powerlessness" taught by Alcoholics Anonymous (AA)--contribute greatly to alcoholism. Recognizing that AA may not work for everyone, they present a form of cognitive therapy known as Rational Emotive Therapy (RET). In RET, the alcoholic's irrational beliefs about drinking are consistently flushed out, challenged, and replaced with more rational ones. The authors also address "stinking thinking," a phrase coined by AA to describe the negative thoughts that often lead to relapse. Exercises in positive self-talk, creative imagery, and daily self-care are included. The ideas presented are similar to those found in a growing number of titles that offer alternatives to AA, including Jack Trimpey's The Small Book: Revolutionary Alternatives for Overcoming Alcohol and Drug Dependence (Delacorte, 1991). However, the information may be more beneficial when coupled with professional guidance. Purchase for self-help, psychology, and medical collections.
- Linda S. Greene, Chicago P.L.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Paperback: 329 pages
• Publisher: Barricade Books (January 1, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0942637534
• ISBN-13: 978-0942637533
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #89,824 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

(1913-2007) Albert Ellis held M.A and Ph.D. degrees in Clinical Psychology from Columbia University. He was the founder of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT), the pioneering form of the modern Cognitive Behavior therapies. He was the president of the Albert Ellis Institute in New York, where he practiced individual and group psychotherapy, supervised and trained psychotherapists, and presented many talks and workshops at the Institute and throughout the world. He published over seven hundred articles and more than sixty books on psychotherapy, marital and family therapy, and sex therapy.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

63 of 66 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Alternative for Cognitively-Oriented People, November 3, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: When AA Doesn't Work For You: Rational Steps to Quitting Alcohol (Paperback)

Virtually everyone knows of AA and its efforts to address problem drinking -- it is the largest, most visible and most accessible group, and the group that most entering recovery will either gravitate towards or be directed to by the therapy community. Yet, AA, for all of its benefits, doesn't work as a program for everyone -- particularly for those who are not spiritually inclined (and don't want to have to become spiritually inclined in order to recover) or those who are more cognitively-oriented people. There are thankfully alternatives to AA available for those who seek them out, and the "RET" (rational-emotive therapy) approach founded by Dr. Ellis, and which is the foundation of the SMART Recovery approach to recovery, is well outlined in this easy-to-read, easy-to-understand book.

The basic idea is very simple ... you are not powerless over alcohol as AA says but rather you are empowered, or exercising your power, every time you make a decision in life about anything, including the decision to drink. When you drink even in spite of the fact that your drinking is interfering with your life goals (as you define them) or causing you tangible problems (legal, financial, relationship, career, etc.), then you have a good sign that your decision-making process around drinking alcohol needs some examination. RET is a technique that helps the individual drill down into her cognitive processes and isolate the real mental issues underlying her decision to keep drinking under these circumstances. In particular, a lot of attention is paid to "stinking thinking", which in RET terms means underlying beliefs we may have about ourselves, the world around us and others that are irrational, self-defeating, and lead us to make the decision to drink. RET teaches the individual how to unearth these often hidden, reflexive beliefs, examine them, challenge them, and replace them with healthier, rational, self-helping beliefs, ones which will not lead one to make the irrational decision to problem drink. RET also teaches how to relate more healthily to life's frustrations and disappointments by placing them in perspective, not overblowing them, and developing a higher frustration tolerance over time ... in other words, how to deal more effectively with the frustrating things in life, in ourselves, and in others that may have led us in the past to decide to drink. In all, RET teaches the individual to be much more aware of what is going on inside themselves, to be much more in control of that interior situation, or at least be able to manage it and relate to it more effectively, and thereby to make better choices about how to act ---- rather than being largely unaware of what is happening interiorly, but nonetheless being subjected to what may be a somewhat or largely irrational set of interior beliefs, whether we are aware or not, and acting accordingly.

In all, it is a wonderful approach, for some people. I don't believe that this approach is for everyone (and neither is AA), but if the AA approach isn't working for you (see title of the book), and particularly if you are the kind of person who is more cognitively oriented, then Ellis' approach of RET is certainly worth a read, and just may hold the key to your own recovery.

38 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best alternative to the Big Book around! Read it!, August 4, 1997

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: When AA Doesn't Work For You: Rational Steps to Quitting Alcohol (Paperback)

This is easily one of the best books on addictions around. Ellis and his co-author lucidly describe the dynamics of abusive and self-destructive drinking in such a way that the individual's self-responsibility is maximized and the "addiction excuse" eliminated. While this approach often brings wails of protest from persons still committed to drinking as much as they want to while still "looking good" (at least to themselves), in the long run it is precisely the honesty of the Ellis approach which is the most effective means around to overcome abusive, self-defeating and suicidal drinking habits. Ellis also looks at issues relating to life without alcohol, and in his typical "take no prisoners" approach using the principles of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy, shows how to overcome the most common "after the party's over" problems of the ex-abusive drinker. This book is a must read if you either drink destructively yourself, or interact with an abusive drinker

33 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The 12-Steps Don't Always Work, December 13, 1997

By 

[e-mail] (Hayward, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: When AA Doesn't Work For You: Rational Steps to Quitting Alcohol (Paperback)

If the 12-steps aren't working for you, this book might. You don't have to have a disease, you don't have to be powerless, you don't need a higher power, you don't need to "recover" for the rest of your life. This book will show you modern methods to use to attain recovery from drugs or alcohol.