Originally Posted by
samseb5351 
). I often wonder if the critical thinking skills and techniques I use today would of been a good foundation at the very beginning of my recovery. Imagine during the first days or weeks of rehab there was no attempt to paint the "powerless" picture, no serenity prayers, no therapy, no vague spiritual concepts or 12 step platitudes, no delusional absolutes, no A-frame hugs or feeling assessments BUT learning the skills of the "How"when it comes to thinking, how to cut through the opinions and unfounded absolutes, how to ask for evidence and question everything with courage and integrity, how to use socratic questioning and scientific enquiry, how to build a life based in reality.
There is so much out there on addiction and recovery, different viewpoints from different people with different motives, so much stuff that the terms of addiction/recovery are almost redundant under the weight of the many definitions that can be applied. We imagine we are skilled up with a toolbox of ideas, but reality suggests we are just confused and overwhelmed. How do we know what will work? we can try everything and see what sticks Or we can create our own Critical thinking filter, imagine our filter is like a journey through a huge stadium more than half of the opinions and conclusions of recovery under honest skepticism probably wont even make it through the turnstiles.
"We live in a world where unfortunately the distinction between true and false appears to become increasingly blurred by manipulation of facts, by exploitation of uncritical minds, and by the pollution of the language.” ― Arne Tiselius
While my rehab did require that we go out every night to a 12-step meeting, our work during the day was a lot of group therapy which did draw on critical thinking skills. We challenged self-delusion (our own and others), and really tried to understand what helped each of us. I hear on SR that a number of rehabs use the 12-steps in their program.
I do not know if it helped everyone. Not everyone wants to turn the lens on himself, so you saw people find more sophisticated rationalizations. And some just left. And at least one killed himself.
My experience is that critical thinking skills at the very start do not help since thinking is so distorted at that point. But I do not know if I would want a bunch of psychologists and social workers getting involved in imparting a 12-step program since the power-dynamic seems antithetical to that program.
I do not know if anything works other than being in a strange town without drugs and alcohol available. I think that you just need to be clean and sober for awhile before anything can work. I do not know if rehab, 12-step, or anything helped me more than just being separated from my DOC.