A reader recently wrote, “I know two people who still attend AA meetings even though they stopped drinking decades ago. How did the organization replace all their other social ties? That seems to me the most pernicious part of it–denying that a primary goal is to create an addiction to AA itself that excludes many [...]

The Power To Build a Good Life Frequently we hear from people who are eager to tell us why it is they can’t fix their alcohol problem right now. They explain that their life is out of their control, their employers are cutting back, their spouses are sabotaging them, and their desire to quit drinking [...]

Successful clients demonstrate, or acquire, a number of positive traits which include: Positive Self-Awareness. Those who succeed are very careful about what they say and think about themselves and they continuously affirm the person they want to be. Instead of berating themselves for habits they want to change, or telling themselves that they are “powerless [...]

When I was in college in the 1960s in southern Ohio I used to gas up my motorcycle at “Workingman’s Friend Gas & Oil” which advertised “One Location For Your Convenience”. I smiled about that then, I continue to now. Of course now Mary Ellen and I can run the same slogan. Yes, we get [...]

It’s been 30 years since I sold the Harley, a couple of decades since I put away the vodka, and nearly ten years since I didn’t open that next pack of cigarettes. And my life is better than ever. Yes, there are still days when I’d like to retreat to the back yard, prop my [...]

This week’s big question: “What do you, Mary Ellen and Ed, do for your clients?” The answer:We Give You Permission to be Happy! Really, people leading contented lives don’t abuse alcohol. How do you get from where you are to where you would like to be? That’s what we spend the first 5 days, the [...]

In 1829 the Reverend Sylvester Graham invented the Graham Cracker as a cure for, among other things, alcoholism. What’s actually surprising is that it worked! That’s right – it “worked”. The biggest myth in our society these days is that there’s only one thing that “works” and that’s AA and the 12 Steps. It’s a [...]

The Myth of “Going Off To Rehab”. No myth is more pervasive than the idea that you “go off to rehab” where “they” will somehow fix your “alcoholism” and send you home to be forever “in recovery” but happily cured of your “disease”. Nothing could be further from the truth, which helps explain the appalling [...]

25 years ago I had an alcohol problem and when I took a look at AA and traditional treatment I rapidly came to the conclusion that, if my only two choices were AA or continuing to abuse alcohol, I’d keep on drinking. Frankly, there’s more dignity in being a drunk than there is in being [...]

Last Sunday we received the following letter we thought you might appreciate: Awhile ago … “I called and asked Ed why I would go 6 or 12 days without cravings and he said I was decompressing. Which is true. And as soon as I went on a very healthy high protein and no sugar (except [...]