What happens when a trauma survivor is told inside Alcoholics Anonymous that they need to make amends… for their own abuse?

Today we're looking at the disturbing truth about how the 12 Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous can retraumatize survivors, especially women. From misguided sponsorship to silence baked into AA culture, this clip from the Group Thinking Podcast exposes the emotional and psychological harm caused by the amends process.

Want help deprogramming AA?

🌀 Deprogram AA Course here

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

@SobrietyBestie

Let’s get f*cking free.

I was in AA for 10 years then something began to shift, AA started to no longer seem true.

If you’re in that in-between space—questioning, unraveling, sensing that something’s off—you are not bananas. You’re waking up.

Want help deprogramming, check out my Deprogram AA course:

🌀 Deprogram AA

💬 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.

P.S. Here's the video I mention, What made AA ideology shatter

AA’s language isn’t just weird — it’s weaponized.

In Part 6 of this 8-part series on How AA Controls Your Mind, we break down Loaded Language — one of the most powerful (and dangerous) tactics used in high-control groups like Alcoholics Anonymous.

From phrases like “Once an alcoholic, always an alcoholic” to “Feelings aren’t facts” and “It works if you work it,” AA uses thought-stopping slogans to control identity, shut down thinking, and keep you locked into the system.

Deprogramming AA course:

🌀 Deprogram AA

💬 Let’s Connect @SobrietyBestie

DM me or reply to any post on IG or FB. I’m here for the conversation.

Let’s get f*cking free.

🎙️ 8 Signs AA Is Controlling Your Mind – Part 5: Sacred Science

Welcome to the Sobriety Bestie Podcast. I'm Kirsten, your hostess and friend in this deprogramming adventure—where we’re reclaiming our minds from AA ideology and taking our power back.

In today’s episode, we dive into Sacred Science, the 5th sign in Dr. Robert Jay Lifton’s thought reform model. We explore how Alcoholics Anonymous frames its doctrine as absolute truth, discouraging questions, outside help, and critical thinking.

🚨 When the Big Book becomes the ultimate authority and obedience is confused with spirituality, you're no longer healing—you're being controlled.

💡 Topics we cover:

• How the Big Book became untouchable dogma
• The weaponization of “it works if you work it”
• Why questioning AA is treated like heresy
• The danger of sacred science in high-control groups
• How to reclaim your autonomy and THINK for yourself

🧠 Recovery is a path—not a prison. Truth doesn’t fear questions. Let’s break the spell.

Want to deeper dive? Explore my online courses:

🌀 Deprogram AA

🦁 Liberated in Sober Skin

💬 Let’s Connect @SobrietyBestie

DM me or reply to any post on IG or FB. I’m here for the conversation.

Let’s get f*cking free.

AA Comes for You — What Happened When I Told the Truth

I was in AA for 10 years. I left in 2020. But when I started talking publicly about it in 2025, everything changed.

This episode is about the backlash. The DMs. The control disguised as concern. The friends who got weird. And the culty energy that came pouring in when I finally spoke the truth.

If you’ve felt the pressure to stay silent… If you’ve felt the shame, the phobia indoctrination, or the gaslighting from people still inside…

You are not bananas.

You’re waking up.

And you’re not alone.

Want to recover from AA? Check out my deprogramming AA course:

🌀 Deprogram AA

💬 Let’s Connect @SobrietyBestie

DM me or reply to any post on IG or FB. I’m here for the conversation.

Let’s get f*cking free.

In this episode, we dive into Lifton’s fourth marker of mind control: The Cult of Confession — and how AA uses this tactic to break you down and keep you dependent.

We explore how Alcoholics Anonymous normalizes emotional exposure to unqualified sponsors, reframes trauma as your fault, and builds a culture where silence is seen as dangerous, boundaries are seen as defects, and outside help is often discouraged — sometimes with tragic consequences.

🧠 Is this “spiritual progress,” or psychological control?

🎧 Let’s talk about confession culture, coercive sponsorship, and what it really means to reclaim your autonomy.

🧘🏼‍♀️ FREE RESOURCES to jumpstart your evolution 👇

📕 Self Love + Emotional Sobriety Book

📺 My TED talk on trauma + addiction

🧘🏼‍♀️ GO DEEPER WITH ONLINE COURSES 👇

🌀 Deprogram AA

🦁 Liberated in Sober Skin

🚀 Rocket Your Recovery

💥 Big Dream Energy

💗 Live Your Truth

💬 Let’s Connect @SobrietyBestie

DM me or reply to any post on IG or FB. I’m here for the conversation.

Let’s get f*cking free.

Welcome to Part 3 of our 8-part series: “8 Signs AA Is Controlling Your Mind” — today we’re diving into Demand for Purity 😇➡️🩸

In high-control groups, purity isn’t about health — it’s about obedience. In this episode, we'll dive into how AA creates an all-or-nothing mindset:

👉 Character defects = normal emotions labeled as flaws

👉 Self-policing and shame are spiritualized

👉 Outside help is discouraged

👉 Relapse = total failure, instead of a data point

…and how that pressure can sabotage your healing and keep you trapped in fear.

This 8 part Mind Control series is inspired by Dr. Robert Jay Lifton’s Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism, so we can unpack the hidden mind control tactics embedded in AA culture.

If you’ve ever felt guilt, shame, or like you weren’t “working your program hard enough,” this episode is for you.

🩷 It's safe to trust yourself 🩷

Dive deeper in your deprogramming journey with a self study course:

🌀 Deprogram AA

🦁 Liberated in Sober Skin

💬 Let’s Connect @SobrietyBestie

DM me or reply to any post on IG or FB. I’m here for the conversation.

Let’s get f*cking free.

AA is worse than I thought — 5 weeks of speaking out is changing everything.

I was in AA for 10 years — from 2009 to 2020. I left five years ago. But it wasn’t until I started talking about it publicly that I realized how deep the indoctrination really went.

Now that I’m five weeks into sharing my truth online, I’m seeing AA with new eyes — and honestly, it’s worse than I thought.

The control, the shame, the silencing… it’s all showing up again, only this time I’m on the outside of Alcoholics Anonymous.

🧘🏼‍♀️ GO DEEPER WITH ONLINE COURSES 👇

🌀 Deprogram AA

🦁 Liberated in Sober Skin

💬 Let’s Connect @SobrietyBestie

DM me or reply to any post on IG or FB. I’m here for the conversation.

Let’s get f*cking free.