Hi all,
I just wanted to say thanks to all the people who post here—but especially AVRT—for putting me onto the RR/AVRT technique.
I bought the Allen Carr book over a year ago and I absolutely loved it and it made me decide I wanted to become a non-drinker. However, as much as I 100% agree with Allen Carr that alcohol has
no benefits something would always pull me back. As Allen says, it's not so much that we enjoy alchohol, it's more that we feel miserable without it. He also says that we drink to end an irritation—akin to wearing tight shoes for a week to enjoy the pleasure of taking them off. How true that is!
Despite the fact I love EasyWay I would always end up drinking again due to what Allen calls 'the little monster'. Every time I applied EasyWay and the little monster got the better of me it would always pull me back in. Each time EasyWay's efficacy would diminish a little.
Thanks to some serious lurking here—and thanks mostly to the member AVRT—I found out about the Rational Recovery/AVRT method. I was intrigued as it mentioned the Beast and I thought surely that was something that must relate to Carr's little monster.
I took the online course and it made a bit of sense but not much. I read up more and bought the RR book. I liked it but still I thought, how do I apply this? I also thought that the Big Plan was just a way of exercising willpower after making a solemn vow. I made my own Big Plan but the words meant nothing.
After more lurking the penny finally dropped. I read another of AVRT's posts and it said something along the lines of (sorry you're more articulate than I am) you don't enter into debates with your Beast so there is no white knuckling. It clicked into place then and I saw exactly how AVRT would work and how a big Plan passes the onus to drink onto the Beast.
What's more is I now feel that by using AVRT and Allen Carr together I can now confidently say, I will never drink again — and I will
never change my mind.
To me now, I can see there are no benefits to alcohol. The benefits are only seen by my Beast. Now allaying the long-term urges that EasyWay failed to quell will be truly effortless.
(As an aside, it's so interesting to hear other people's beasts talking)
I'm done. No counting of days, no willpower. I will spend the rest of my life as a self-recovered happy, non-drinker.
Allen Carr, Jack Trimpey and AVRT…I thank you all. I got there in the end!
As a final aide, has anyone read the Jason Vale book? It's almost a carbon copy of Allen Carr's but I like his writing style more. I'm also puzzled why he never got sued for plagiarism.
As a final note, I have read Allen Carr very extensively (15+ times!) so if anyone has any questions I am more than happy to answer.