oh boy this again. I'm setting the over/under at 4 pages before the lock. hope im wrong. if we could check our egos and prejudices we would see that these "rival" programs both have merit. I personally know people for whom AA doesn't work and honesty isn't their problem, at least in regards to the truth of their condition. I also know people for whom AVRT doesn't work. how and why is pretty dadgum irrelevant when we're talking about saving ones arse. some gratitude for there being multiple treatment options is in order, and that includes ole AA.
for me personally I have always been a spiritually inclined person. I was meditating and studying Buddhism years before I even knew I was an addict. I had direct experience with applying a spiritual solution to a real life problem when I was incarcerated for a year and turned to prayer, meditation, and yoga and it salvaged my sanity and transformed my perspective. so when my addiction took hold years the later the spiritual solution of the 12 steps was appealing to me. And it has worked for me. now at over two years sober I have taken an interest in AVRT and SMART as ways to complement my spiritual recovery program. I'm always interested in ways to better understand myself. Im not a fan of 12 step dogma and individual arrogance which both rear their heads when these threads get going. I'm a big fan of applying an open mind to different approaches and letting my experience speak for itself.
Ok, rant over....
on topic now, I unfortunately do believe there are such "unfortunates". I have sponsored men who just could not accept that they have a problem in spite of overwhelming evidence to the contrary. none of them have stayed sober. I'm ignorant to the process of AVRT but I'm reasonably certain that all treatments require that the individual admit to the truth of their condition. its just common sense. and those that cant or wont don't recover. that's my take on the unfortunates.
I will also say that for me the capacity to be honest has been critical throughout, particularly in steps 4/5 where I got to get really intimate with my behavior and thought patterns and understand the causes and conditions that drove me. this opened the door to a pretty profound change in perspective and subsequent behavior. but I know people who have never done all the steps, or did them and haven't changed behaviors but stay sober so long as that initial honesty about their condition is in tact.