Rational Recovery is Pure Partisanship

par•ti•san (pär t -z n)
n.
1. A fervent, sometimes militant supporter or proponent of a party, cause, faction, person, or idea.
2. A member of an organized body of fighters who attack or harass an enemy, especially within occupied territory; a guerrilla.

It took me a little while to get back to the last review on my Beating a Dead Horse list even though this is the book that inspired the series in the first place, Jack Trimpey’s Rational Recovery. While it would take an utter suspension of disbelief, the title suggests a presentation of the “new” cure for substance addiction that will allow one to “remain sober—effortlessly—for the rest of your life.” Now before we go into the content of this book let me state in advance that regardless of what I feel about his recovery techniques, I think Mr. Trimpey’s advertising methods are reprehensible. I had to filter his advertisements off my site because I found them both distasteful and counterproductive. I scanned a few of my favorite recovery blogs to see if could find a suitable example but found none showing, so I can only hope he discontinued them because he came to believe the same. All you have to do is go to his website to see that he is the self proclaimed king of AA bashing and his comments on the subject go beyond borderline to fanatical on a regular basis. In my humble opinion, Mr. Trimpey’s group is a for-profit business venture whose almost militant partisan attacks against AA and 12 step programs make him no better than the small minority of radical fundamentalists in these groups that he views as the competition and the enemy.

One good thing I can say about Mr. Trimpey is that he believes total abstinence from alcohol and drugs is paramount to long term recovery, something in which I can wholeheartedly concur.

Click “Read more” to read the review…

The basis of Mr. Trimpey’s book is recognizing one’s “addictive voice” and learning how to deny the “beast” from which it emanates, basically abstinence. I really do think these branded terms are helpful and may be the catalyst for the self-introspection that is so necessary for anyone dealing with substance abuse or addiction issues. However I think that he is being misleading by referring to recovery as an event instead of a process, with his pseudo-science of the bestial analogy, and writing off in toto the disease concept of addiction.

I think it is rather simplistic to believe the solution for the chronic alcoholic is to simply quit drinking, as if years of a certain lifestyle and mental molding reinforced by a chemical dependency can be shrugged off with a snap decision to abstain. This over-generalization is even more pronounced in the portion of the book where he goes into detail of the “beast” and brain function. While I agree with parts of his explanation on the subject, studies by Dr. Volkow and others on the science of addiction show even now how little any of us comprehend the subject.

Mr. Trimpey writes off all of AA and 12 step programs as harmful as if every group was stamped out in a factory instead of being comprised of unique individuals, as if the subject of addiction and treatment was not rife with grey area. Just as he accuses his self-appointed opponents, he takes the my-way-or-the-highway stance of the fundamentalist. There are certainly some people involved in AA and similar 12 step programs that deserve calling out, but Mr. Trimpey champions a conspiracy theorist's view that I find to be over-the-top.

What’s the TDA recommendation on the book? Like always, I am all for a program that helps people stay sober. I have my doubts that the methods of Mr. Trimpey will work on the chronic alcoholic and addict, but there is always hope. I would recommend the book to almost all those in recovery, but it would not be my first choice (or my last) to someone who is trying to achieve sobriety.

See earlier reviews:

Stanton Peele’s Diseasing of America

Herbert Fingarette’s Heavy Drinking

D. J. Cornett’s 7 Weeks to Safe Social Drinking