I think the whole process worked a little differently for me. The first thing was a deep knowing that I was done with alcohol for good. Anxiety, depression or whatever other curve balls life could throw my way, I was just going to have to deal with those things without the crutch of alcohol.
After the decision was made I simply disregarded all thoughts of drinking as irrational. By not attaching any importance to the thoughts they became fewer and further between. I do realize that to AVRT the thoughts are quite rational. I guess you could say my method was AVRT like without actually being AVRT. I would say it's a safe bet that since alcohol was first invented people have been using AVRT like methods which wouldn't qualify as AVRT proper.