From p. 208-9,
Rational Recovery, The New Cure For Substance Addiction, The Revolutionary Alternative to Alcoholics Anonymous, by Jack Trimpey, 1996.
AVRT Is Effortless
There is no reason, ever, to negotiate or attempt to reason with your Beast. You will struggle if you do. “White-knuckling” is often a result of negotiating with the Beast, as in “Should I or shouldn’t I? Maybe I’ll just stay sober for today, and tomorrow will take care of itself. Oh, maybe I can have just a little.” And so on. Reasoning
dignifies ideas of drinking; negotiation shows your willingness to compromise. Any idea of drinking is instantly recognizable, so shoot from the hip. When you hear or feel the Beast stirring, think, “Gotcha!” Instead of saying no, say
never.
The greatest irony of AVRT-based recovery from addiction is that recovery is easy, not difficult. For the same reason that willpower doesn’t work, AVRT is effortless. If you stop to think of it, “will” has nothing to do with “power” any more than intelligence has to do with brute force. “Will” is neocortical; “power” is subcortical. AVRT is “your” will over “its” power, the human over the subhuman. Joining the two words together and saying “Willpower doesn’t work” is like pointing out that you cannot teach a dog to talk. Your will is nothing more than a very intelligent decision to abstain for good. Free will is what makes you human. When you have made a decision to abstain, recognition of the Addictive Voice in your thoughts, behavior, and feelings is
effortless. Either you recognize it or you don’t. If you do recognize it, it will struggle. When you feel the struggle, you are on top. It is your Best that is struggling, not you. All you did was recognize it
effortlessly.
(End quote)
AVRT above is a trademarked acronym meaning Addictive Voice Recognition Technique.