Rational Recovery

Rational Recovery (RR) is a source of counseling, guidance, and direct instruction on self-recovery from addiction, alcohol and other drugs through planned, permanent abstinence designed as an alternative to Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and Twelve step programs. RR was founded in 1986 by Jack Trimpey, a California licensed clinical social worker. Rational Recovery is a for-profit organization.

The Rational Recovery program
The program is offered via the internet and through books, videos, and lectures. The Rational Recovery program is based on the premise that the addict both desires and is capable of permanent, planned abstinence. However, the RR program recognizes that the addict also wants to continue using. This ambivalence is the Rational Recovery definition of addiction. In essence, the RR method is to first make a commitment to planned, permanent abstinence from the undesirable substance or behavior, and then equip oneself with the mental tools to stick to that commitment.

The RR program is based on recognizing and defeating what the program refers to as the "addictive voice" (internal thoughts that support self-intoxication) and dissociation from addictive impulses. The specific techniques of Addictive Voice Recognition Technique (AVRT) are concerned with demonstrating to the practitioner that the practitioner is in control of the addictive voice, not the other way around.

While RR and AA promote abstinence, the programs use different strategies.


 * RR does not regard alcoholism as a disease, but rather a voluntary behavior.
 * RR discourages adoption of the forever "recovering" drunk persona.
 * There are no RR recovery groups.
 * Great emphasis is placed on self-efficacy.
 * There are no discrete steps and no consideration of religious matters.

RR and court mandated Twelve Step program attendance
In the United States, RR has also encouraged legal action against mandated attendance to Twelve Step programs, to which it is vigorously opposed. They object to the courts and other government and tax supported agencies mandating theologically-based programs such as AA. They interpret state-mandated Twelve Step program attendance as a violation of the Establishment Clause within the First Amendment. This view has been held up in Griffin v. Coughlin, Grandberg v. Ashland County, Warner v. Orange County Department of Probation, Kerr v. Lind, and O'Connor v. State of California. Some of these efforts, have led to RR being considered anti-religious by some of their critics. The RR FAQ explains their position.

RR remains neutral on the subject of religiosity and sobriety. RR founder Jack Trimpey explains, "...RR is not interested in having people give up any of their religious beliefs; it's just none of our business what people believe about gods and saints. The only exception here, of course, is when one is 'depending' on a rescuing deity in order to remain sober.  If that is one's preference, then AA is an ideal program."

RR claims that "AVRT has made recovery groups obsolete." In 1998, RR announced, "The Recovery Group Movement is Over!...Beginning January 1, 1999, all addiction recovery group meetings (AA, NA, CA, SOS, WFS, ADASN [aka, SMART Recovery which spun off from RR and still offers groups], AAARG, MM, JACS, Al-Anon, AlaTeen, SLAA, etc.) in the United States and Canada are cancelled and will not be rescheduled."

In a 1993 research study lead by Mark Galanter, former president of both the American Society of Addiction Medicine and the American Association of Addiction Psychiatry, attempted to measure the impact of RR on members. The research found that "RR succeeded in engaging substance abusers and promoting abstinence among many of them while presenting a cognitive orientation that is different from the spiritual one of AA. Its utility in substance abuse treatment warrants further assessment." This research was conducted before RR disbanded their meetings in favor of self-recovery treatment. SMART Recovery split from RR just after this research and continues to offer these same groups.