serious

for not learning about AVRT sooner

i would have saved myself a great deal of misfortune. this recognition technique makes such perfect sense to me. i had nearly a year of sobriety before i cracked. the thing is for those "awesomest" months of my life i had been practicing AVRT in my own way, i kept separating the desire to drink as something irrational when i knew clearly in my head that drinking will be the end of me (it almost happened that way).

i've got a lot to learn and understand still, but i feel so much more confident now that someone out there was able to put these thoughts and conflicted feelings into a clear perspective of rational me vs AV (the beast).

over the last two days i've read as much as i could on the subject and will continue to read, learn and share my views.

thank you, my SR friends, for opening my eyes to this method. you have another believer here.
looking forward to learning more and connecting to other's that have recovered through AVRT.

Renee65

Welcome Serious. I feel the same way, however, everything happens in its own time. AVRT is truly the most liberating realization I've had in a long time. I no longer drink now and am free to live my life as a human being and not drag around the label "addict" as I did for so many years. I think I actually delayed stopping drinking because I could not face going back to the old recovery paradigm. Once I found AVRT I was done drinking in one day.

The secular section of SR is truly a life-saver.

serious

thank you. it is very reassuring to hear that others share that point of view. when i first got "serious" about quitting i couldn't understand why i cannot say "i chose a healthy life style" vs "i am an alcoholic", why do i have to say "recovering alcoholic", when i completely turned my life around... i too hate to label things.
i didn't have the knowledge, nor was i aware of "the beast". so the beast won the battle, for i had no way to recognize nor understand the conflict that started happening inside of me after prolonged sobriety.
now that i have this awesome tool and reading and learning more about it, i feel more and more confident.
the pieces of the puzzle are falling into place.
to me this was the missing piece. the beast had won one battle, but i will win the war.

Dalek

Serious,

I recommend that you get yourself a copy of the following book, which explains AVRT. It is fairly cheap on Amazon, and they have used copies. You can probably read through it in a weekend.
You should also read through the AVRT discussion thread on this forum, which has a lot of information. The book will get you up to speed, and the thread will help clarify some AVRT concepts. For example, in AVRT, the I/IT separation is not between rational and irrational. The Beast is actually a rational entity, and the addictive voice is not an irrational belief.

1. RR
   
   
2. RR
   
   
3. RR
   
   
4. RR

serious

Thank you, I am doing exactly that. Getting a copy of the book for my kindle and going through each and every page of the discussions

DoubtfulDebs

a lot of what you posted sounds like me, i'm here because i've done the year (woo-hoo! lol) but, never managed that much before - and, i've done it through travel, and work and all sorts.

rr works, it's probably saved my life, and i wish you well in spotting that beast (which wants to kill everything you love) and staying clean and straight!!