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Ep 50 How AA Controls Your Mind – part 7 of 8: Doctrine Over Person
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Welcome back to our Deprogramming AA series — 8 Signs AA Is Controlling Your Mind. In this episode, we’re diving into Doctrine Over Person, a hallmark of mind control tactics from Dr. Robert Jay Lifton’s thought reform framework.
🧠 Inside AA, your personal experiences, trauma, instincts, and emotions are often dismissed if they conflict with the doctrine — the Big Book, the steps, the slogans, or a sponsor's opinion. You're told:
- “That's not in the book.”
- “You’re in denial.”
- “You didn’t do it right.”
- “You need to do more steps.”
That’s how the doctrine always wins. You are gaslit into distrusting yourself.
In this episode, I talk about:
- How trauma is reframed as your fault ("What's your part in it?")
- How doubt is labeled denial
- How questioning is pathologized
- Why “It works if you work it” is a blame-loop, not a helpful slogan
- The hypocrisy of AA dismissing modern science and outside help
- How the doctrine overrides common sense, self-trust, and even medical care
And I share a vulnerable story: the time I was told to make amends to someone who harmed me, and how I now see the steps were often a vehicle for suppressing trauma, not healing it.
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