Originally Posted by
freethinking 
For me, whenever I have quit drinking in the past, I have had no urges whatsoever for several months and then it seems like BAM, I am at the liquor store and drunk out of nowhere. When I look back, it's hard to see how it happened...
This is the problem with the passive approach that many people take, whereby they literally hide from "slippery places" where alcohol is available. In doing this, though, they don't build up the skill of knowing how to react when an urge does come. AVRT takes a different approach; although it would be a good idea to get rid of the supply while you read the material on AVRT, and possibly for a few weeks, you don't hide from slippery places after that.
You don't raise an army after you've been attacked, you raise an army during peacetime in order to be prepared. Let your Beast come out and play so that you are prepared. If you think you are secure, go buy a bottle of your favorite stuff and look at it for an hour in order to observe your thoughts toward it. You might be surprised.
If nothing happens, you can try the exercise a few days later. Abstinence is like a muscle; the more you do it, the easier it becomes. For a good analogy, think about learning how to drive a car. At first, driving consumes your thoughts, and you have to constantly think about the gears, traffic, etc, but eventually, it becomes second nature.
Originally Posted by
freethinking I'd imagine in several years, I might not even think about the AV....I'm not sure. My schema on drinking has changed, and I guess I am surprised you (TU) are still so interested in AVRT since I think you have a few years behind you now. What motivates you? Because I can't really envision me being interested in this stuff too much as the years pass. In fact, it's hard now to stay interested in some ways.
No, as time goes on, you probably won't be thinking about the AV, because it gets easier and easier to recognize and detach from as time goes on. It will eventually become second nature, and I don't expect people who learn AVRT to hang around here forever. In fact, I would encourage them to move on. However, if this thread stays up, people will be able to go back and read it and benefit from the experiences of others.
As for what motivates me, I won't go into details, but information on planned, permanent abstinence is usually purposefully suppressed, and many people suffer as a result. There is no inherent evangelism in AVRT, no need to spread the gospel, so to speak, so that is not what is driving me. I am trying to help others avoid certain pitfalls that I have personally seen too many people fall victim to.