fultang

That's pretty odd, no?
It's a catch 22.
One of the requirements for being considered as someone who's "working the program" is to submit to a higher power.
What if you don't believe in a higher power?
If you refuse, nobody in AA takes you seriously.
They act as if it's a denial of addiction or recovery.
If the shoe were on the other foot and religious people were required to deny a higher power, there would be no AA right now.

The concept of the 12 steps and the idea that your recovery is dependent on a higher power is based on the notion that a belief in god is universal.

$13K is an atrocious amount of money for a program.
Especially one that's religious based.
It seems like the people that handled your intake were operating on the idea that the fact that you wanted a non-religious program was a denial or stall tactic to prevent yourself from having to go through with it.
Or else they're salesman who will do anything to get a person in there and locked into the monetary contract.
The latter is the most likely.

I've suspected the 12 step program to be a process of indoctrination for a long time.
There are people who want to be clean SO bad that they just do it.
No 12 step, nothing.
Cold turkey.
This is proof that the whole 12 step program is simply not necessary.
You CAN just make up your mind to be sober.
Which means recovery is NOT based on a higher power, and your life wasn't unmanageable.
Yet, AA would have you believe that they are your only hope.
I wonder how many people end up becoming religious after "God cures their addiction via the 12 step program"?

How is it though that these therapists can force you to go to AA at all?
Is this the result of a possession charge or DUI?

Personally, I'd be f*ckin furious if this happened to me!
I take it very personal anytime someone tries to manipulate me with divine lies.
Most people don't notice it, but that happens more than people are aware of.
I consider the religious concept of satan to be an anthropomorphic representation of the "evil that humans do".
That being said, I also consider the bible to be the biggest trick satan ever conceived.
So yeah, I am saying that satan(evil men) wrote the bible under a pen name.
The concept being that if this truly were a battle between god and satan for our souls, what better way to win than introducing a book that's believed to have been inspired directly from god.
I mean, all is fair in love and war.
So what would prevent this from being the case?
God promised not to interfere.
So why would he prevent satan from publishing a novel in an attempt to deceive gods children?
He wouldn't!
So it bewilders me that this idea has eluded the religious since day 1.
It adheres to the age old tactic of hitting your enemy where he thinks he's strongest since that's the 1 place he'll never expect you to hit him.

Sorry for the rant.