Alternative Recovery -- Alcoholics' Support Group Opts For A Rational Approach To The Problem

Two years ago Jim Petermann attended a lecture and learned about a treatment program for alcohol dependency that focused on self-discipline and self-reliance in combating addiction.

Petermann, who had quit drinking eight years earlier after two decades of heavy alcohol use, was fascinated. As he listened, he felt a dawning sense of recognition.

``What he was talking about was the method that I used on my own, only I didn't realize it had a name,'' said Petermann, who at the time was attending the convention of the American Humanists Association in San Jose, Calif.

The name is Rational Recovery, and in its few years of existence it has won nationwide converts - especially among people who have rejected Alcoholics Anonymous, the dominant treatment program. Chapters can now be found in more than 110 cities; at least 2,000 people have used Rational Recovery, said founder Jack Trimpey.

After hearing Trimpey speak, Petermann started a Seattle chapter in November 1989. A group has met regularly since then at Couth Buzzard Used Books, 7221 Greenwood Ave. N.

Trimpey said he first became aware of the need for an alternative to Alcoholics Anonymous when he was a clinical social worker in Stockton, Calif. He found that many of his elderly clients had rejected Alcoholics Anonymous, primarily because they were put off by its quasi-religious component.

In 1987, he started his own group but was unable to maintain it

because he received little support from the county. In 1989, Trimpey started another group in Sacramento. His program later became affiliated with the American Humanist Association, which favored the secular approach to addiction treatment.

The lifetime abstinence program Trimpey started is based on rational-emotive therapy, a treatment developed by Albert Ellis, a New York psychotherapist. The treatment aims to enable dependent persons to take charge of their lives by making them conscious of their decisions, said Gerry Lovchik, moderator of the local chapter.

They learn to be aware of situations that threaten their resolve to stop drinking, and to face those moments by reminding themselves of the dangers involved. They also are encouraged to contemplate their own self-control and self-worth, and the benefits of their sobriety, Lovchik said.

``By making the decisions conscious, you make better decisions,'' Lovchik said.

Group members, who usually meet every week, talk about their personal experiences and provide support for one another. The discussions are free-flowing and last about 1 1/2 hours.

Unlike AA, lifetime involvement in the program is not encouraged, and most people leave it in a year.

John Williams, director of the Institute for Rational Living Northwest and a longtime practitioner of rational-emotive therapy, summed up the difference in philosophy.

``Other programs say, `If I quit drinking, then I'll feel good about myself.' The RET program says, `If I feel good about myself, then I'll quit drinking.' It's a completely different approach,'' he said.

Trimpey, 49, said he was ``profoundly dependent'' on alcohol when he was in his 20s and 30s. ``I always knew I was dependent, because I drank to have fun. I did things and then regretted doing it. I followed a familiar pattern.''

He tried different AA groups over the years, thinking that if he found the right group, he could be helped. But Trimpey said he disliked AA's use of spiritual healing and a philosophy that emphasizes powerlessness - a common criticism of the AA program by those who reject it. Eventually Trimpey, like Petermann, was able to quit drinking on his own.

``At first I thought there was something special about me, because I was able to do what I was told I couldn't do,'' Trimpey said.

But self-cure is actually more common than most people realize, he said. ``Many people get better without attending recovery groups. They look at the consequences of their own behavior and say that's it,'' Trimpey said. ``What we're doing is mimicking people who do that. . . in a streamlined way.''

``The Small Book,'' written by Trimpey, explains the Rational Recovery approach and is recommended reading for members of the program. Profits from the sale of the book go toward financing Rational Recovery Systems, a nonprofit organization based in Lotus, Calif.

Although Rational Recovery initially focused on heavy drinkers, the approach is used to help people with other chemical dependencies and addictive behavior. The Seattle chapter, which has drawn at least 100 people since its start, has had members who were troubled with other problems, including gambling, heroin and marijuana abuse, Lovchik said.

One obstacle the new alternative program is facing is a legal and health-care system that favors AA. People with a drinking problem are not given a choice of programs, Trimpey said. Drunk drivers, for instance, are often ordered to enroll in AA.

``What we have is a system that is wholly committed to AA, so we have institutional AA,'' he said.

Rational Recovery is challenging the government's relationship with AA in court in several states, arguing that it is a violation of the separation of church and state.

Despite the criticisms, Angus Lamont, the office manager of Alcoholics Anonymous' Seattle office, said the new program does not present a threat.

``If they can get more people sober, more power to them,'' Lamont said.

``We're working with 10 percent of the people in trouble, and yet we haven't even scratched the surface.''

Lamont also points out that many alternative programs have come and gone during AA's 50 years in business.

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The Seattle chapter of Rational Recovery meets at 7 p.m. Fridays at Couth Buzzard Used Books, 7221 Greenwood Ave. N. For more information, contact Gerry Lovchik at 789-8965.