When AA Doesn't Work For You: Rational Steps to Quitting Alcohol

by Albert Ellis

Of the many methods that have been devised to help people quit their problem drinking and change their lives, a few originated by pioneering self-help groups—such as Alcoholics Anonymous and Rational Recovery—have had considerable success. But not with everybody. When AA Doesn't Work For You is the first book in which the world-famous founder of RET, Dr. Albert Ellis, applies the powerful insights of rational emotive therapy specifically to recovery from problem drinking.

Written by Dr. Ellis and his collaborator, Dr. Emmett Velten, who have for the past twenty years successfully used RET with alcohol, drug, and other addictions, When AA Doesn't Work For You is a remarkable self-help book for anyone with emotional problems; particularly for those who use alcohol too much for their own good.

When AA Doesn't Work For You covers the entire range of problem drinking. It shows readers how to know when they have a drinking problem, how to understand and eliminate denial, and why they drink too much.

This book explicitly shows the reader how to get to recovery, how to stay there, and how to move on to another, higher level: a more enjoyable and fulfilling life.

Genres: Psychology, Self Help

329 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

Albert Ellis was an American psychologist who in 1955 developed Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT). He held M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in clinical psychology from Columbia University and American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP). He also founded and was the President of the New York City-based Albert Ellis Institute for decades.
He is generally considered to be one of the originators of the cognitive revolutionary paradigm shift in psychotherapy and the founder of cognitive-behavioral therapies. Based on a 1982 professional survey of USA and Canadian psychologists, he was considered as the second most influential psychotherapist in history (Carl Rogers ranked first in the survey; Sigmund Freud was ranked third).

Reviews

[Kristy Shimp · Rating 5 out of 5]

Helpful for those that need to supplement AA or want to recover but don’t jive with AA

Rational Emotive Therapy is an excellent tool for those committed to changing their thinking and behaviors and are willing to work. Ellis and the coauthor do a great job at offering anecdotes as well as exercises that are doable.

[Jeffrey Bradt · Rating 4 out of 5]

This did not strike me as the absolute best book on recovery from alcohol, but it shows what Ellis was thinking around the time he started SMART Recovery, which is now (2019) in its 25th year.

[Dan Lurie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit repetitive and redundant to his other books on REBT, but specifically targeted at alcoholism(although any valid for any substance abuse.)

[Carlton Duff · Rating 2 out of 5]

I gave this 2 stars instead of the 1 it deserves, because I got a few laughs out of it.

Just awful.

[Martine · Rating 3 out of 5]

alternative to 12 step-good for the humanist client