Originally Posted by
Raindance 
I've had some success with a bit of "both"... I went to a treatment centre that was 12 steps, but also had a counsellor that taught cognitive behavioural therapy... The CBT really helps me diffuse my feelings into what they really are and taking the reaction out of it.
For the record, although they sound similar, Rational-Emotive-Behavior-Therapy (REBT/CBT) is not what Rational Recovery teaches. AVRT violates almost all of the axioms of REBT, and is not 'rational' by the REBT/CBT definition of rationality. For example, there is the absolutist perfectionism of AVRT (ie, the Big Plan), recognizing the Beast as a
rational entity, the (I/It) split, and finally, the concept of moral judgement. Also, with AVRT, you don't change your thinking or expose the irrationality of said thinking; you simply recognize the Addictive Voice, and then you objectify it as ego-alien (not you).
I have watched taped REBT sessions with addicted people conducted by the creator of RET/REBT, Albert Ellis, as well as taped AVRT sessions conducted by Jack Trimpey, and they are worlds apart. There was a 'debate' between Ellis and Trimpey back in 1994, discussing the merits of each approach, and Ellis (who should know) acknowledges that AVRT is a separate discipline. Incidentally, Trimpey is a trained REBT counselor at the supervisory level with decades of experience. As a result, Rational Recovery did once use REBT, in its early days, but eventually dropped it entirely in favor of AVRT.