In this #CultyComments episode, we’re breaking down two of AA’s most common contradictions:

👉 “AA has no leaders.” Really? Sponsors, old-timers, secretaries, and even professional recruiters all lead — they just hide it behind the doublespeak of “trusted servants.”

👉 “You can leave anytime.” On the surface, yes. But the ideology repeats that leaving = relapse, jails, institutions, or death. That’s phobia indoctrination, and it keeps people trapped even when they want out.

This isn’t about shaming one person. It’s about exposing how AA’s own language and thought reform tactics convince members they’re free, while quietly controlling their choices.

✨ In this video, I unpack:

• The doublespeak of “trusted servants”
• Why AA says you can leave while planting fear of leaving
• How recruitment gets disguised as “suggestion” or care
• What cult recovery teaches us about breaking free

Any group that tells you you’ll die if you leave? 🚩 Run for the hills.

🪩 Get fee tools, community, Zooms and book club to deprogram 12-step ideology 📚

👉 Inside the Deprogram Lounge click here.

💬 Let’s Connect @SobrietyBestie

DM me or comment on any Sobriety Bestie socials. I’m here for the conversation.

Let’s get f*cking free.

Emma from Group Thinking Podcast left AA after nearly 13 years—and chose moderation. In this candid conversation, we unpack what made her walk away, how she rebuilt community, why “your disease is getting worse even when you’re sober” never sat right, and what deprogramming looks like in real life.

We get into AA culture, Finland AA vs. international AA, sponsorship red flags, nervous system regulation, trying alcohol again (including first-week hangovers and fear), and the power of speaking out.

Emma also shares how launching a deconstructing AA podcast became both purpose and therapy—and why multiple recovery paths (not one ideology) should be the norm. ⛪📘🧠

Emma's Group Thinking Podcast

Timestamps:

00:00 Emma from Group Thinking Podcast intro

01:00 Leaving AA After 13 Years

07:54 ACA, 12 Step Pathologizing Culture

10:38 Starting A Deprogramming Podcast

13:20 Nervous System Regulation After AA

15:30 Deciding To Drink Alcohol Again

18:00 Podcasting To Help Deprogramming Journey

22:10 Coming Out Online About Leaving AA

23:54 Drinking in Front of AA Family Member

27:19 Feeling Confident Drinking

31:05 Steps to Leaving AA

37:00 Finland AA Vs. International AA

39:22 Emma's Message

43:23 Rebuilding Life After AA

50:37 Advice to Former Self

54:20 Most Harmful Part of AA

1:00:09 Best Part of Leaving AA

1:04:07 Tried to Make AA Safer

1:09:35 Feedback From Podcast Listeners

🪩 Get fee tools, community, Zooms and book club to deprogram 12-step ideology 📚

👉 Inside the Deprogram Lounge click here.

💬 Let’s Connect @SobrietyBestie

DM me or comment on any Sobriety Bestie socials. I’m here for the conversation.

Let’s get f*cking free.

Any group that tells you you’ll die if you leave? 🚩 Run for the hills.

In this episode of the Sobriety Bestie Podcast, I dive into the hidden danger in AA meetings — not just shady individuals or mini–cult leaders, but the ideology itself.

📖 Inspired by Rational Recovery: The New Cure for Substance Addiction by Jack Trimpey, we’ll unpack his concept of Recovery Group Disorder (RGD) — the compulsive dependency on recovery meetings that looks and feels a lot like addiction itself.

Rational Recovery book: https://amzn.to/47AyGlh

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro — hidden dangers in AA

01:14 What is “Recovery Group Disorder”?

03:06 Are recovery meetings required?

05:55 Expanded definition of RGD

08:08 Problems AA creates in identity + thinking

10:40 How AA builds dependency

14:28 Moving on with life

🪩 Get fee tools, community, Zooms and book club to deprogram 12-step ideology 📚

👉 Inside the Deprogram Lounge click here.

💬 Let’s Connect @SobrietyBestie

DM me or comment on any Sobriety Bestie socials. I’m here for the conversation.

Let’s get f*cking free.

You are powerful. You can decide your future. You don’t need AA, sponsors, or church basements to stay sober.

In this episode of the Sobriety Bestie Podcast, I dive into Rational Recovery: The New Cure for Substance Addiction by Jack Trimpey — the revolutionary AA alternative that says: once you decide, that’s it. No “recovery process,” no lifelong meetings.

We’ll explore:

• Why Rational Recovery rejects the disease model
• The Addictive Voice Recognition Technique (AVRT) & “The Beast”
• The power of making a Big Plan
• How Rational Recovery success rates compare to AA
• Why recovery groups can actually keep you stuck

I wish I had found this book when I got sober in 2009. It’s bold, liberating, and a must-read if you’re deprogramming from AA or exploring real freedom.

You can check out the Rational Recovery book here.

Timestamps

00:00 Rational Recovery intro

03:16 Rational Recovery history

04:56 No recovery meetings required

07:05 Rational Recovery core philosophy

10:22 Recovery reality check

13:50 Addictive Voice Recognition Technique

15:43 Being "in two minds" about drinking

19:28 Deciding to not drink

23:13 Common myths Rational Recovery challenges

25:15 "Recovery Group Disorder"

26:34 Rational Recovery main takeaway

🪩 Get fee tools, community, Zooms and book club to deprogram 12-step ideology 📚

👉 Inside the Deprogram Lounge click here.

💬 Let’s Connect @SobrietyBestie

DM me or comment on any Sobriety Bestie socials. I’m here for the conversation.

Let’s get f*cking free.

After 36 years in Alcoholics Anonymous, filmmaker Monica Richardson discovered the truth she never expected: AA has a dark side.

In this episode of the Sobriety Bestie Podcast, Monica shares her journey from devoted member to whistleblower, revealing:

• How violent offenders and predators are court-ordered into meetings
• The cover-ups and silence that keep people trapped
• Why she decided to make her documentary, The 13th Step
• How she finally broke free after 36 years

This is a powerful conversation about trust, recovery, and taking your power back.

Monica Richardson's links:

Watch The 13th Step Documentary

Monica's Deprogram FB Group

Monica's YouTube

Connect with Monica: [email protected]

Timestamp:

00:00 Monica's AA Escape Story

1:04 Criminals Court Ordered to AA

05:09 Monica's 13th Step Film

06:35 Cracks in the Brainwashing

13:00 Dark Side of LA and Hawaii AA

18:59 More Reasons to Leave AA

24:49 Making a Plan to Leave AA

39:13 Nurses, Doctors, Pilots Forced into AA

46:11 Anger and AA

47:50 Navigating Being 13th Stepped

54:57 A Wave of 12 Step Harm Awarness

1:04:45 Autism, Sexual Abuse + Gaslighting

1:09:16 Kicked out of Sober Living, Psychedelics + Healing

1:12:31 Monica's Deprogramming 12 Step Facebook Group

1:15:20 Advice to Someone Leaving AA

Additional Resources Monica Mentioned:

• Orange Papers
• One Little Pill documentary (Sinclair Method)
• The Business of Recovery Movie
• Quackaholics Anonymous YouTube
• Burn The Stigma YouTube
• Bobby C YouTube

🪩 Get fee tools, community, Zooms and book club to deprogram 12-step ideology 📚

👉 Inside the Deprogram Lounge click here.

💬 Let’s Connect @SobrietyBestie

DM me or comment on any Sobriety Bestie socials. I’m here for the conversation.

Let’s get f*cking free.

RFK Jr. just admitted it: AA is brainwashing — and he wanted it. 🤯

In this episode, we break down his April 2025 speech on the opioid crisis in Nashville and expose how deeply Alcoholics Anonymous ideology is woven into his words.

From “your disease is doing pushups” to magical thinking and lifelong indoctrination, this talk is packed with AA propaganda — and it’s being spread from the top of American health leadership.

This isn’t about RFK Jr. as a person — it’s about the dangerous ideology being promoted as fact. If you’ve ever questioned AA, felt trapped by its dogma, or wondered why so much of this sounds like cult language… this episode will be a game-changer.

You can watch the original video here.

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro RFK Jr Indoctrinating The World

01:50 "Disease" learned helplessness indoctrination

04:50 "It's irrelevant how I got it"

07:75 "My addiction is doing push ups"

10:04 12 step brainwashing + propaganda

17:00 12 step religious conversion

20:26 42 years of daily meetings

24:38 Jails, institutions, death + identity manipulation

36:07 What about church and state?

39:33 Misinformation about AA roots

51:24 Daily reprieve manipulation

54:57 Spiritual bypassing

🪩 Get fee tools, community, Zooms and book club to deprogram 12-step ideology 📚

👉 Inside the Deprogram Lounge click here.

💬 Let’s Connect @SobrietyBestie

DM me or comment on any Sobriety Bestie socials. I’m here for the conversation.

Let’s get f*cking free.

AA doesn’t just “help” people. It also harms — and in some cases, kills. This episode is a deep dive into AA: Who It Helps, Who It Harms, Who It Kills, and Why by Dr. Edward Wilson, PhD.

We’ll explore the central premise of the book: that AA is either irrelevant or actively harmful for most people who misuse alcohol. You’ll hear clips from the author himself, and then I unpack the book through the lens of my own experience after 10 years in AA and 5 years out.

We’ll look at why AA only works for a narrow group, how it harms “normals” who might have recovered naturally, and why it can be deadly for the bright, creative, independent thinkers who are forced to conform and cut off from self-trust.

For anyone deprogramming from the cult religion of Alcoholics Anonymous, or anyone seeking new ways to understand alcohol addiction, this book is a liberating resource.

Get the book here

Watch video from reaction here

Timestamps:

00:00 AA Helps, Harms, Kills intro

01:24 Author Dr. Edward Wilson reaction

05:10 Minnesota Model doesn't work?

07:26 Why people think AA works

10:28 Ego development: protect + conform

11:36 Ego development: outgrow AA

12:06 Ego development: AA harms

15:54 Ego development: AA is toxic

18:21 Who AA helps, harms, kills

19:01 Recovery + growth outside AA

20:26 "In Recovery" identity stunts growth

21:04 Dr. Wilson's multi solution approach

🪩 Get fee tools, community, Zooms and book club to deprogram 12-step ideology 📚

👉 Inside the Deprogram Lounge click here.

💬 Let’s Connect @SobrietyBestie

DM me or comment on any Sobriety Bestie socials. I’m here for the conversation.

Let’s get f*cking free.

We’re kicking off a brand-new series deconstructing the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous — exposing the hidden messages, the power-stripping language, and the indoctrination baked into its pages.

In this episode, we unpack the Forward to the First Edition — where AA starts shaping how you see yourself, your “disease,” and your ability to choose your own recovery path. We’ll talk about how the language trains self-abandonment, why this sets you up for lifelong dependence on the program, and how to reclaim your agency.

Whether you’ve left AA, are thinking about leaving, or just want to understand the mechanics of its influence, this series will help you see the text with new eyes — and take your power back.

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro Big Book Deconstruction

01:22 Carrie's intro to the AA Big Book

04:20 AA sponsors as cult leaders

11:00 Kirsten's intro to the AA Big Book

14:50 AA Big Book Title page

20:32 Forward to First Edition

28:22 Bill decides we are "sick"

41:15 AA's care about the system not the people

47:07 Bill knows how we should live

54:50 We're allowed to feel angry

57:15 Bill's pitch to exploit us

1:00:20 MANY requirements for AA membership

1:13:09 Learning through AA mishaps

1:20:24 Can't separate AA good from AA harm

🪩 Get fee tools, community, Zooms and book club to deprogram 12-step ideology 📚

👉 Inside the Deprogram Lounge click here.

💬 Let’s Connect @SobrietyBestie

DM me or comment on any Sobriety Bestie socials. I’m here for the conversation.

Let’s get f*cking free.

I’ve got a cringe confession from my AA days… one I’ve never shared until now. Since it’s my birthday week (and my book’s birthday too), today I’m revealing an AA secret that I haven't shared yet — and unpacking what that says about mind control, cult personality, and how far I’ve come in deprogramming.

I’ll share my AA cringe story and the story behind The Heartgasm Revolution book, and give you the free PDF this week to celebrate (links below).

Timestamps:

00:00 Most AA Cringe Moment Intro

01:27 Dedicated to Bill

05:39 Charles Manson Mind Control

06:46 Cult Persona

08:34 Healing Emotions in Sobriety

11:16 Heartgasms + Self Love

14:13 Your Free Gift!!

17:38 Committing to Courage

📕 Get The Heartgasm Revolution — A Mind Blowing Guide To Self Love

Free Book PDF https://www.sobrietybestie.com/free-book

Paperback Book https://amzn.to/4mTPSGV

🪩 Get fee tools, community, Zooms and book club to deprogram 12-step ideology 📚

👉 Inside the Deprogram Lounge click here.

💬 Let’s Connect @SobrietyBestie

DM me or comment on any Sobriety Bestie socials. I’m here for the conversation.

Let’s get f*cking free.

Leaving Alcoholics Anonymous can feel like walking away from your entire world — relationships, identity, purpose, safety, community, and structure. That’s why so many of us feel stuck in grief, even after we’ve left.

In Part 6 of the Grieving AA series, I’m sharing a powerful tool from the Grief Recovery Method — the Completion Letter. This is not about excusing harm or betraying yourself. It’s about ending the loop of overthinking, guilt, shame, and anger… and reclaiming your freedom.

Inside, you’ll learn:

• ✨ The 5 parts of the Goodbye Letter (and why they matter)
• ✨ How to speak your truth without judgment or guilt
• ✨ A ritual option to fully release AA and close that chapter of your life

Whether you write the letter, speak it aloud, or burn it in a ceremony, this process can help you cut the energetic tie, close the grief, and move forward without the weight of AA still on your shoulders.

Timestamps:

00:00 Grief Recovery Method completion letter intro

08:14 Writing the letter

09:02 The apologies

12:11 The forgiveness

13:11 Significant emotional truths

15:38 The Closure

🪩 Get fee tools, community, Zooms and book club to deprogram 12-step ideology 📚

👉 Inside the Deprogram Lounge click here.

💬 Let’s Connect @SobrietyBestie

DM me or comment on any Sobriety Bestie socials. I’m here for the conversation.

Let’s get f*cking free.