From 12 steps to AVRT
Hi everyone,
AA and the 12 steps helped me at the time, but there were some things that harmed me. Generally speaking, I felt like my sponsor was constantly beating me up, blaming me for any issues, and everything was my fault for not trusting and relying on God or for going back to ego. I'm tired of it.
I also don't like the notion anymore of being "powerless" and needing a "higher power".
What's missing from my 12 step work, was self-love, self-strength, empowerment from within, affirmations, thinking of my successes and positive attributes, etc. All the focus on character defects was so negative and just gave me more reasons to beat myself up and fed my depression. I also find that admitting each time that I'm an alcoholic, just further leads to labeling myself and making me feel badly about myself.
I'd like to learn more about how to build the self-awareness of my AV. Is "Rational Recovery" still the main book to learn about AVRT? I get overwhelmed easily and I also have to avoid my OCD setting off, which makes me gather a ton of information without actually processing any of it or putting it into motion.
Are there others here who had the same experience with AA/12 steps and found AVRT to be more self-empowering?
Does anyone here combine AA/12 steps with AVRT?