12 Step Nation

We are fast becoming a 12 step nation with all that comes with it. Taylor Weyentworl who less that 2 years agao, was an undergrauate at St John's university is now the nations Drug Czar under Donnie( he is not my presidentnor will I promnote his brand, using his last name.

Weyentworth's only quatification for this prominent post is that he was seeing a realtive die from an opiate over dose sveral years ago.  He slos worked on Donnie's campaign.  He is now the liason between the drug czar's office and the White Houae called a dump by the current occupant.

  Is Wentworth qualified.  He cdetainly has not creditials other than the above related facts.  He is not a lawyer, and he is not in the medical profession.

  Hia qualifications, student, pasionate observer of a family members deat, having worked on Donnie's campaign  Waht can he possible led to the heated debate on between the forces promoting an innefective andectoral basis and promoter of something called "recovery," and sceitificatally based psychological approcehes.

  Donnie's election and history of incompetent appointiess, seeme to be hired because in their ignoranc ethey make Donnie look good.  In this case, regardless of being unqulified for the job abnd those poised to do the America people a disservice.

  We are in the throes of a fake opiate debate, where the hyasteria about white yourt dying by mixing fentenal and heroine, are casuing harmful policies to be implemented and inforced for political spot light based not on fact and research, but inorder to whip up a contrieved hysteria over a non epedmic.

  Opiate death rates are at 6400 per year, hardly something to wax hysterial over.  But they affect a primarily white middica classe population.  Heart disease at 800,00 deaths per year, cancer at 600,000 rates that exceed opitae deats by over 10 fold are epeidemics are still at rates that are not epedimic, but are more like casualities from expereimintations.  Thes deaths rates do not cout the rate of incarceration, which may in fact be at empiemic proporation.

  The government's answer is gradully moving backword to the days of mass incarceration, which did nothing to curb drug use, but simply made criminals out of those for deeper psycholigical reasons -- perhaps the hoplesee they see in the political landsace -- and maxx incAceration of the victims.

In addition to his incomtance , he is also a stepper

  With our current Attorney Generally, and those around Donnie cowering in his illegality and penchant for the failures of the past, we are doomed to repeat our failed hisotry.

The White House is being purged of professioanls, and being replaced by steppers, whos only creditials are incomptenetce.

  We who know better mucst speake out.

Just Say No to 12 Step Cult Religions

     Stripping away someone’s autonomy dehumanizes them. Any individual or group who says they know your ego, the seat of our hopes, dreams and aspirations, better than you do should be steered clear of.  To smash the EGO,  is a method of control.  The group or individual who attacks the ego of another is not trying to help them, but to control them. This is basic indoctrination protocol.

     AA, NA, CA, AFTA use this process to indoctrinate people. It is no wonder the ego smashing is third after, shameless, unethical, and baseless self-promotion to get the indoctrinee to visit the group often; and second love-bombing.

     Now comes EGO smashing once an individual is relatively firmly ensconced, the “elders” begin to methodically smash the ego using the group’s “tools.”   According to their indoctrination manual, the big book, the indoctrinee anxiously desiring love and accetance,  should be approcahed when they are most vulnerable, its best if his wife and family don't forewarn him so, whenever possible they are not consulted.  They say they have found it best this way.  To approach a potential  indoctrinee without the family's knowledge.

     Having gotten mom or dad to spend all of their spare time at meetings and doing service work, the rest of the family, potentil indocrinees, will be approached whne they are most vulnerable, using indoctrination techniques specifically desgined for each member of the family -- alanon, alateen.

    Elders will notify members of these 12 step cults and give them the phone numbers, so that family members may be indoctrinated into the web of 12 step cult religions will be approaced when they are most vulnerable.

     Or if the inodccrinee is in a "treatment" program family members will be assigned to 12 step cults designed to specifically indoctrainate them.
   
     The indioctrinee allows this only after they have accepted the false front that the group is effective, the “elders” have special knowledge, and that they have finally found the love they have so desperately been seeking. Once the “elders” start to dismantle individual egoes, the indoctrinee is caught in a familiar cycle, being told they are loved and then being told they need to do the group’s bidding in order to hold onto that love.

     The above is of course cult indoctrination not “treatment.”

     No other “disease” is treated this way.

     It is also the glue that holds the cult together, such that living in common quarters is not necessary, save for the beginning stage at a treatment center. Having been indoctrinated, then stripped of their humanity the AA indocrinee will do anything in this fruitless chase of their own ego that can never be regained as long as they remain bound to the cult.

     They will attribute everything good that happens to them as coming from the cult, having had thier ego, their internal and autonomous self guidance system, smashed they will look to AA elders for direction; they will attribute their successful treatment to the cult. Thus, being fully indoctrinated they serve the cult themselves as elders and continue this cycle of illusion and deceit, zeroing in on the vulnerable at their hour of greatest need.

     And thus the cult perpetuates itself without proof of effectivness at combating the disease.

     In fact, in spite of proof of its ineffectiveness in treating a demoralizing and socially unacceptable behavior.

     Tacit approval from those who should know better is all that is needed to allow this insidious cult to flourish.

     But it is a destructive failure and a sham, and we will not rid ourselves of it by simply trying to co-exist.

     It must be attacked at every level by those who have walked away and not only survived but are thriving in a way they could not do as cult members.

     What kind of people would dehumanize others as a matter of course. AA is BS, it is a dangerous movement that itself must be smashed.

For Trauma Surviors the First Step in Healing is Leaving the 12 step cult religions

Leaving AA and other 12 step organizations is the first "step" in healing from trauma.

Is drug abuse self-destructive or is it a desperate attempt at self-healing? This is important because if the answer is self-healing, primary prevention is far more difficult than anticipated -- possibly because incomplete understanding of the benefits of so-called health risk behaviors causes these behaviors to be viewed as irrational acts that have only negative consequences. Does this incomplete view of drug abuse leave us mouthing cautionary platitudes instead of understanding the cause of our intractable health problems?

Dr. Vincent Felitt

My response follows:

Often troublesome drug or alcohol use is  is a form of healing from trauma an thus not addiction nor alcoholism, whatever meaning you give those terms, at all. They are often a self destructive form of self healing trauma. 

In this culture we call it drug abuse and thus stigmatize the only available therapy for many trauma survivors. 

12 step cults offer fellowship in return for increased stigmatization and abuse. Nothing is ever really free.  There is a price for membership in the 12 step cult religions. The trauma survivor , willing to do anything for love, and conditioned to accept stigmatization and abuse as the price of existence, is a natural prey for these cults.

The cults themselves need what they call chronic relapsers to look down on, and strange as this may sound, justify the cult's existence by re-traumatizing  these victims. The re-traumatization of the so called "chronic relapser" causes them to experience an endless downword spiral, which the cult members call "recovery" while inviting the trauma survivor to "keep coming back".

But what are these fanatical religious cult members really saying to the trauma survivor? It is as if they are saying keep coming back one day you'll get it and that proves our cult is effective "treatment".  However, this invitation amounts to the cult's own definition of insanity, i.e., doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result.

The only and the most difficult healing "step" for the turama survivor is to dig deep for that last bit of autonomy and walk away from the damning and damaging cult. Doing this is victory. In fact it is the only service or healing provided to the truama survivor by the cult.

Finding their autonomy and walking away from toxic people is the beginning of healing for the trauma survivor.  

Contrast this to the posting yesterday in psychology today on Sobriety v. Recovery -- a nonsensical waste of ink. One must remember that psychology today is a popular magazine posing as a scientific journal. https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-high-functioning-alcoholic/201005/being-sober-versus-being-in-recovery

Copyright 2017 Fred Celio

How the 12 Step Cult Religion Ruined My Life Part 1

AA ruined my life for 32 years. It left me broke and homeless. Ever hear that at a meeting? Funny thing is I’m the rule not the exception

to the rule. Let that sink in. Don't go back it doesn't work it breaks up relationships, jobs disappear, and harms the lives of blameless children. AA did that through cult indoctrination and leaving me blind to the real issue, thus I never looked for anything that would really help with my incest issues. Things began to change when I borrowed a book from my then sponsors wife a family law attorney. The book, Trauma and Recovery by Judith Herman MD, would that I had walked away then. Its hard to leave a cult. Just don't go no matter what. My dream was to go to Law School Myself, maybe I can salvage that.

I don't have a problem with God just theirs’s. Their non-differentiated god. Their higher power.  Nobody's really honest there even though honesty is supposed to be an important principle. I've heard people say all this positive stuff, then I've seen them at home and it just doesn't match up. They use god as an excuse a lot, and acceptance is an excuse to harm others even their family members. The rooms are one thing and then they only hang with each other and spout the lingo which is indoctrinational.

I am coming to grips with the fact that I had and have no real friends, just AA hucksters. One way or another they want me back in. No they know I'll come crawling back in vulnerable asking for help.   and because everything was supposed to be positive. AA always works. I'll be back.

Except I've looked head on and in the light of reality. My life has steadily gone downhill ever since I was badgered by a CADC to go to AA. I didn't know what a CADC was nor why I was there.

My cry for help was not about drinking/using, it was about something completely different. I must have looked in the wrong place.  In my diocese, in Santa Clara, I thought maybe I could talk to a priest or counselor who had dealt with someone who had cheated on his wife, couldn't stop, even though he wanted to.

But it was the 1980s and it was all about how good the 12 steps were and how they were the remedy for everything. This when I came in at a time when the 12 steps were at their pinnacle they were considered in self-help books to be a panacea for any aliment or disruptive behavior.  Go to Any Fuckking Thin Anonmous (AFTA), just go.

  One just naturally thinks that if so many people are saying such positive things that there must be empirical data to back it up what they say so assuredly. This is the first cult indicator the the assurance that the meetings work but you've got to go to a lot of them.

Being sent to AA and having meetings brought into a hospital setting -- a REHAB --  brought AFTA even more legitimacy.

 But for me even after rehab I had a hard time getting 30 days. I always had 27 days so I continuously humiliated myself by announcing as a newcomer. Would that I had just walked out of that CADCs door and looked up a psychologist. I could realize that though I was so desperate and ashamed not about drinking or using but just in general, and being an incest survivor compliant I just went along with it.

Bur problem drinking/using  is not why I made the appointment at all. I ended up in a CADAC's office I don't know why. I almost left right there, I should have it would have saved a lot of harm humiliation, financial loss and mostly loss of me, myself not knowwing who I was and what had been done to me, I was thrown to a bunch of wolves. A concentrated pod of dysfunction, as Gabrelle Glasser calls it. And in order to fit in, I had to become dysfunctional. This was just exactly the opposite of what I was seeking, but I got sucked into the cult.

I lost all those things they say you lose not from drinking or using but from that harmful abuse treatment that I was used to from my family that was reproduced in AFTA.. It's like I was driven into the exact opposite treatment that I needed. And since I was always a "newcomer" I had the shame of announcing that at every meeting.

Than that cult principle that isn't talked about never the less is there -- the urge to confess took hold. , I began telling people at my job I was alcoholic. I began to believe that my problem was alcohol and drugs. I told friends I was an addict, without even knowing what it meant. What is an addict?

I Began telling family and friends that I was different, I had a disease.

By doing this, by coming out so to speak I only harmed myself and set the stage for a downward spiral from middle class to homelessness. But you couldn't tell me that at the time, one man did , but I wouldn't listen  I ended up harming myself, instead taking a harm reduction approach, the AAers around me told me to tell them the truth my boss, coworkers. How idiotic. And that's not even what it was about I wasn't having trouble with substances, I was having trouble with sexual acting out or re-enacting my childhood sexual abuse experiences. It just so happened that sometimes re-enactment involved drugs and alcohol sometimes it didn't.

I got nowhere except I started losing things because of AA. I couldn't just summon the autonomy to leave.

The first things I lost were my friends, the people I worked with and socialized with, yeah we had a drink once in a while so what. But there was no time for real friends anymore on "AA friends"  cult members who thought the same spoke the same and acted the same in an abusive self-harming manner. I had not thought at all what was happening. I was stating the AFTA downward spiral, and I had no idea. I was just fitting in complying trying to "work" the program.

Slowly it's sinking in AA did this to me, once I completely absorb that truth I will be free. the 12 step cult religions and there's even one for incest made my life a living hell. I had one good year I didn't talk at meetings, I was in a different town so nobody knew me, I never told anybody how much time I had, I went but did not participate and it worked my life got better. But I wasn't dealing with the core issue because hey I was a success in AA.

How could this happen, Part 2.