"...some suggest that perhaps it [AVRT] is better suited for those at an earlier stage of alcohol addiction."
Isn't this just one of the many slings at AVRT by people in other programs to justify their own? Others are, "AVRT might work but only for a little while; it's not a long term solution." or "People who use AVRT and have success with it were never actually "alcoholics" to begin with."
I know we get a lot of grief for AA bashing around here but this stuff is AVRT bashing and happens all the time too. There's no proof for the claims, just random stuff thrown out there because the proclaimer can't keep an open mind about the possibility of a simple solution for alcohol addiction.