num_pages: 192
description: An expos of Alcoholics Anonymous 12-step programs and the rehab industryand how a failed addiction-treatment model came to dominate America. AA has become so infused in our society that it is practically synonymous with addiction recovery. Yet the evidence shows that AA has only a 510 percent success ratehardly better than no treatment at all. Despite this doctors employers and judges regularly refer addicted people to treatment programs and rehab facilities based on the 12-step model. In The Sober Truth  acclaimed addiction specialist Dr. Lance Dodes exposes the deeply flawed science that the 12-step industry has used to support its programs. Dr. Dodes analyzes dozens of studies to reveal a startling pattern of errors misjudgments and biases. He also pores over the research to highlight the best peer-reviewed studies available and discovers that they reach a grim consensus on the programs overall success. But The Sober Truth is more than a book about addiction. It is also a book about science and how and why AA and rehab became so popular despite the discouraging data. Dr. Dodes explores the entire story of AAs rise from its origins in early fundamentalist religious and mystical beliefs to its present-day place of privilege in politics and media. The Sober Truth includes true stories from Dr. Dodess thirty-five years of clinical practice as well as firsthand accounts submitted by addicts through an open invitation on the Psychology Today website. These stories vividly reveal the experience of walking the steps and attending some of the nations most famous rehabilitation centers. The Sober Truth builds a powerful response to the monopoly of the 12-step program and explodes the myth that these programs offer an acceptable or universal solution to the deeply personal problem of addiction. This book offers new and actionable information for addicts their families and medical providers and lays out better ways to understand addiction for those seeking a more effective and compassionate approach to this treatable problem.
language: English
title: The Sober Truth: Debunking the Bad Science Behind 12-Step Programs and the Rehab Industry
publisher: Beacon Press