Originally Posted by Obladi
WE are not computers. Drinking/Not Drinking is a binary equation.
It is exactly
because WE are not computers that the binary problem of to drink or not to drink is best answered with a binary solution.
If the sole answer was to recognize and disregard the AV, we'd be done here.
It is not “the sole answer” but it is absolutely “a complete answer” especially if one does not avoid using AVRT on the answers to the inevitable question: “Will I ever drink again?”
Being MORE schooled in AVRT did nothing to help me with the unbidden, mostly subconscious thoughts or feelings that invited AV to suggest drinking as a panacea. Jack Trimpey takes no stance on those feelings. Those are outside the purview of AVRT.
Again, it is
because WE are not computers that AVRT uses the simple Structural Model of Addiction to render moot the infinite number of “unbidden” thoughts and feelings WE have available to us that might precede AV activity. (I think Tatsy mentioned she learned we have 70,000 thoughts a day?)
To identify and counter the thought, "I must drink" is helpfully addressed by AVRT. Easy peasy. To identify and resolve the underlying causes that used to bring me to that thought was very hard work. Not surprisingly, the result of that work was to firm up the binary-ness of the drink/not drink equation.
AVRT encourages people to accept that “must drink” feeling comes from the same place as “must breath” and “must eat”.
Using the laser point of AVRT is effective for some people (including myself) to identify the mechanism of addiction.
The laser point of AVRT does not identify the mechanism. It is the Structural Model that identifies the singular “deep pleasure seeking” appetite mechaninsm.
The laser point of AVRT is different. It is a simple dissociative gimmick; a binary gimmick; a language gimmick; a virtual spatial identity me/not-me gimmick; and was devised on understanding how millions of people have been ending addictions since time immemorial pretty much all by themselves.
That is clearly sufficient for some. Like a localized cancerous tumor, the affliction is healed. But for others (including myself) the pre-cancerous cells also need to be addressed. This work is necessarily done outside of (but helpfully buttressed by) AVRT.
Discussions of AVRT need not exclude the reality of factors beyond (or before) addiction. But I do agree that AVRT meetings would be pretty much a waste for anyone who has already grasped the concept. Struggling is not always a symptom of AV, but if I DO choose to drink ever again, I have no problem with conceding in advance that the AV was absolutely in play.
But re-explaining that to me when I already know that? That would (and has) been less than helpful. I've learned that support and healing for those pre- cancerous cells is not to be found in AVRT, just like Jack said. So there's really no use seeking that help here. But we could be useful in acknowledging that struggle does exist for some and AVRT is not the solution for every ill that ails ya.
As you state, the rest of your post can make sense for some recovering addicts outside anything to do with AVRT and may even be wonderful for addicted people who choose to expand their reasoning to stay stopped beyond the structural model here in today’s world of burgeoning knowledge about psychology and the human brain’s operation. But within AVRT, the rest of your post would be called AV activity because if not drinking means you must know all this stuff, then IT will suggest you might as well drink if you can’t figure it all out.
In a nut shell, it boils down to my avatar caption. AVRT is “Not The Way way, just the way.” And there are a lot of The Way ways.