Originally Posted by
Loekken 
I have experienced this with AA style treatment people and their practitioners, that they tend to become very persuasive in their rhetoric. I think in some cases, because they'd really like you to pay for their program too.
A lot of treatment facilities, maybe most of them, are still predominantly 12-step based and it's true they can be quite expensive. A fellow AA member I know once called rehab a "very expensive introduction to AA." Here's what I can tell you about my experiences...
Both times I went to rehab, it was mostly out of compliance. The first time it was to keep my job. The second time was because I'd just gotten my first DWI and because it was required if I was ever to be awarded unsupervised visits with my children (which I still have not received a year and a half later). The first rehab was AA-based, the second was not. Neither of them was a positive experience, and neither had a lasting impact on me. Not to say that it wouldn't be for others, that was just my experience.
What
has had a lasting impact was simply attending AA meetings, getting a sponsor, and working through the steps. That hasn't cost me a penny. My sponsor gave me my Big Book, so I didn't even have to buy that. I contribute voluntarily when I can, but no one pressures me to give more or to give at all. (I contribute in ways other than monetarily, too.)
My point is, there has been no apparent ulterior motive behind anyone in my local AA groups offering their help and friendship to me. One of the things that has attracted me most is that feeling of comradery and equality among all these people who otherwise would never have crossed paths. I could have saved myself a lot of money and time if I'd gone much sooner, but I wasn't ready yet. As I've said before, it takes what it takes.