When I started trying to get sober, I talked to two counselors. The first was of little help because alcoholism simply wasn't her area of expertise, so I went to a community outpatient rehab facility, where the alcohol counselor told me she wouldn't talk to me unless I quit drinking. She told me to go to AA, and come and see her after I quit. Imagine! An alcohol counselor who refused to talk to alcoholics who can't stop drinking? She said AA "seemed" to work better than counseling, which I imagine is true if she is the counselor. I couldn't help but wonder why I would ever want to talk to this woman if I weren't drinking. When you go see a doctor for that growth coming out of your throat, he doesn't tell you he won't see you until you get over your cancer.
Whatever. It was a good call, at least in my case, because it worked, and there was never any need to talk to this woman again, nor did I bother. If all she was going to do was tell people to go to AA, she could just hang a sign on her door, and stay home. Of course it must be depressing for an alcohol counselor because the prognosis for alcoholism is dismal, and this is true for what ever program we adopt. Professional counseling, rehab, AA, or SR all see similar rates of recidivism. The odds are just against alcoholics, and to date the Medical profession hasn't done any better either. Although when a breakthrough does come, I expect it to come from medical research.
I think the problem lies not in the programs we try, but in ourselves, and it's likewise in ourselves where the solution is found. Programs may help to facilitate that inner motivation, but it is the alcoholics themselves who finally find it, and through trial and error, learn how to capitalize on it. It's also possible that some alcoholics are beyond help. I don't know if this is true. I also don't know that it's not true. But if alcoholism is truly a disease, we know that not all diseases can be cured or even arrested.
Personally, if I were to place a small bet, I would wager that most alcoholics have that strength or thing or insight in them all the time. It's just a matter of finding it, which is not always easy but does offer us hope. Raw statistics about recovery are just descriptions of the situation. They paint a less than favorable picture, but they tell us little about how those who beat the odds finally find their way, which is really the most important part of what we all seek. I believe there is a way for most of us. We must keep searching until we find the thing that helps us.
For me, I needed contact with other alcoholics in recovery. These are the unusual alcoholics. You don't find them in bars and liquor stores, but these are the alcoholics that offer the knowledge and demonstrate encouraging proof that joy in life does not require alcohol. AA is a good place to find them. SR also, although it's hard to read body language an other non-verbal ques on the internet, at least for us older generations that grew up without computers and digital technology. But that face to face contact offered in AA probably adds an additional quality that may help to nudge the younger generation over that mysterious hump.