Later, as a clinical social worker during the 1980s, he referred many alcoholics to local treatment centers. He saw that some people aren't good candidates for the AA approach. Trimpey does not seek to replace AA, only to compete. But alas, many of us do have specific objections to AA, and for us an alternative, a rational alternative, is desperately needed. While everyone does a little of both, most of us lean toward one philosophical system or the other.
Statistics show that such people have the best odds of making it.
An important point in Rational-Emotive Therapy is the idea that what you believe determines how you feel. In this sense, the words we use can affect how we see ourselves. Doctors use the terms alcohol abuse and alcohol dependence to describe levels of persistent drinking. We may not be able to stop the urges and ideas but we can and do control our response to those ideas. Drinking is always a choice.