Mattcake

Hi Sekkies

Is anyone familiar with Allen Carr's method to quit drinking (and smoking), and does it qualify as AVRT? I've been sober for almost 3 years thanks to his method. My desire to drink literally vanished in *one* moment (an impressive instant!)

Any ideas? -- thanks

lillyknitting

Wow! How amazing, tell us your secret.

Mattcake

Lilly, I notice that you'd from the UK, Allen Carr is very well known there.

I don't have a secret, several years ago an SR friend recommended his books, I just read the book once and that was it. He basically talked me out of drinking and exposed alcohol for what it really is (socially accepted poison). It made perfect sense to me..

Mattcake

The chapter that reminds you of your very first drink was particularly enlightening. He is right, the first time I drank I was so put off, I couldn't finish my drink -- if you'd told me back then that I'd become addicted to the stuff, I would have laughed in your face.

We are *taught* to "enjoy" alcohol.

KDL

Thanks. Interesting. I will check it out.

MyTimeNow

Hi Matt,

I finished the book last week, pretty much the at same time as I finished slogging through all 4 parts of the AVRT thread. Both make incredible sense to me and I can see similarities. I prefer to think of the 'beast' though rather than Allen's 'little monster' (which only gets a short mention at the end when we are told he will soon go away IIRC?)

I have also ordered the RR book as I have struggled for years with the 'beast' but did not recognise it. I have wanted to sort my life out for so long but it has always been a vicious circle of do I drink today? But I don't want a drink. But you do want a drink. I dont/you do/I dont etc etc that I became an anxious mess just thinking about it so went out and did it to get rid of the anxiety, get it over and done with.

I haven't had a drink since last Monday and with the help of both tools and coming to terms with - I don't drink. Period. End of. No if's not but's - then my anxiety has very much whittled down to an odd twinge occasionally and I just feel freer, I'm not on the merry-go-round anymore if that makes sense.

Very much looking forward to receiving my RR book and looking at that too. I've also been looking at the SMART website and will see what tools I can gain from there and hopefully get online to one of their meetings.

Yes, all good stuff

Live2Run25

Hey Matt... what is the name of the book you read? I'm interested in reading it!

Mattcake

Quote:

Originally Posted by Live2Run25

Hey Matt... what is the name of the book you read? I'm interested in reading it!

Ms B it's "The Easy Way to Stop Drinking" by Allen Carr. Dorky title i know.

MyTimeNow, congratulations on your decision =) I'm not too familiar with AVRT, so I'm not sure about the monster thing. What I love about Carr is that he teaches you how to love and enjoy recovery. It helps you see alcohol, drinking and addiction from a new perspective:

I'm not sure about drinking, but his "Stop Smoking" clinics are guaranteed (if you relapse you get your money back).

MyTimeNow

Ah... mine was called Easy Way to Control Alcohol (obviously there is a little, ok, big twist at the end!) Maybe it was renamed to sell more copies...

The pic sums it up beautifully. I'm on the slow climb back out now after being sucked right in!

Live2Run25

Thanks!! I will check it out!

Mattcake

Don't even go there, LOL.

Yes it's out of print.

Worth mentioning, his "solution" to control drinking is to quit.

Tippingpoint

I read the Allen Carr book and found it to be a good fit for AVRT. At the very least I found that I was better able to disassociate from my beast after reading the Carr book. He does a good job of stripping away all the delusional tripe that our beasts like to spout about the benefits of alcohol.

-relaxes you?
-tastes good?
-quenches thirst?
-allows me to socialize?
-etc.

lillyknitting

You are so right, many many people are addicted to alcohol an they don't even realize it, I probably wouldn't call them alcoholics but they definitely could NOT give-up their "poison". For all the horrors that alc has given me, why do I still think there is some pleasure to be had from it???

I will read the book again, thanks for sharing.

MyTimeNow

That was my twist I knew it was coming though. I was really surprised to read the amount of reviews complaining about it "I bought this book wanting to control my alcohol, not quit!"

Hmmm I would suggest that the mere fact you are reading it may be indicative of your need to quit, not control...

imaquitter

Haha, seriously. I think it's the diet craze, they think they can find the perfect way to still be able to drink as much as they want but not have to deal with the consequences.

Non Alcoholic beer has been around for decades though. It's about the same thing as diet coke except diet coke still has the caffeine. Hmm, somebody needs to invent beer that doesn't make you stupid lol.

PurpleCat

I'm about half way through. While I'm not fond of his writing style, his message is making one heck of alot of sense.

Obladi

I bought the book on Amazon for $6 just the other day and would say the little beast Carr describes is one and the same as AVRT's AV, aka the beast. What I like about Carr's spin is that the beast is just a little nasty demon that can easily be dismissed once you recognize him. This approach makes the thought of handling urges much more manageable.

It's like handling a bratty child. You don't go with them into their tantrum - you calmly maintain your composure because you realize they just want what they want right now, but it will pass and anyhow it's not doing you or them any good to give in. it will just make things harder the NEXT time you say 'no.'

Works for me! I am in early days (today is day 4), but it feels right to me.

freshstart57

I read Carr too, and found it helpful to me as well. It made it easier to separate from the Alcoholic Voice by examining the lies that it tells us and illustrating the hard reality.

It was helpful, but it only goes so far with AVRT. The hardliners here will say that the Big Plan excludes ever drinking again, no matter what. For example, what if Carr were wrong and alcohol did relax you after all, if it did taste good, if it made you more sociable, etc.? What then?

The Big Plan sez that you will never drink again, no matter what, even if Carr's book is not worth its paper and ink. AVRT works that way, because there is that little voice again that will argue all of these points, and getting into that sort of a discussion with the AV is a mugs game. AVRT says that your AV can dispute Carr all it wants, but you won't engage, you don't need to engage. All because of your Big Plan.

There is an AVRT flowchart around here somewhere that shows this 'computer program', and it is something like:

1)Never drink again
2)But the AV sez blah blah blah
3)Go to 1.