A not-for-profit organization founded in 1993 for the publication
of materials on the history and theory of alcoholism treatment and the
moral and spiritual dimensions of recovery
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A not-for-profit organization founded in 1993 for the publication of materials on the history and theory of alcoholism treatment and the moral and spiritual dimensions of recovery |
 Alcoholics Anonymous history Alcoholism and addiction treatment Spirituality and religion Psychology and philosophy Recovery and self help Click on squares below: HOME Recent books and Index 
Table of contents
A.A. historical materials Part 1
A.A. historical materials Part 2
A.A. historical materials Part 3
Essays
Spirituality
Books on philosophy & theology
Future publications in progress
To order books
To contact Hindsfoot
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Essays
and other writings  The Man on the Bed
Mel B.
Is There Life After Sobriety?
Articles by Mel B. (Toledo, Ohio), sober 1950, written over the years on a variety of different subjects: from the foundations of the spiritual teaching of the twelve step program, to the problem of how to handle the sullen and resentful people who are court ordered to attend A.A. meetings. Author of six books on A.A. history and spirituality, he also was one of the contributing authors to Pass It On: Bill Wilson and the A.A. Message (A.A. World Services), the official A.A. biography of Bill W. Emmet Fox, Tapping into the Infinite Power Mel talks about Emmet Fox and "Making Your Life Worthwhile." This is something, Mel says, which "I worked up as a handout for people who have trouble thinking about a Higher Power." Mel B. (Toledo, Ohio), Is There Life After Sobriety?. Mel starts with memories of one Sunday morning in the spring of 1948, when he had been thrown in jail in a small Idaho Town for being drunk and disorderly, and was subjected against his will to the preaching and bible verses of a quartet of visiting gospel singers. He was filled with fierce anger and resentment -- at the filthy jail cell, at what seemed to him the smug self-righteousness of the visitors, and at the violation of his rights. But in 1965, a nonalcoholic friend gave him a totally different perception of what had been happening, and he now applies that new perception to the enraged present day claim, by many, that court ordering people to attend A.A. meetings is a fundamental violation of their rights. Mel B. (Toledo, Ohio), Jesus and AA: How Ancient Spiritual Teachings Are Linked to the Inspirational Program of Alcoholics Anonymous. This well-known writer on AA spirituality offers us a short but insightful piece on the scriptural foundations of some of AA's basic principles. Mel B. (Toledo, Ohio), Elder Statesman: Bill W. in Akron, June 15, 1958. It was June 15, 1958, Founders' Day for A.A. in Akron, Ohio. Bill was at the gravesite of Dr. Bob and Anne Smith, where in a few moments he would deliver a brief memorial message. Mel talks about the emotional impact of that day -- how Bill simply stood before the headstone, talking to Dr. Bob and Anne as though they were present right before him (as indeed they were there that day, up the realm of the Eternal Goodness) -- and Mel speaks about the way Bill W. was now moving gracefully into the role of A.A. elder statesman. Mel B. (Toledo, Ohio), Love's Ingredients. What is love? Dr. Bob told his people to look at Henry Drummond's talk on 1 Corinthians 13, where he explains that Love has nine basic ingredients: Patience, Kindness, Generosity, Humility, Courtesy, Unselfishness, Good Temper, Guilelessness, and Sincerity. Ebby A short version of Ebby's life, based on Mel's book which came out in 1998, Ebby The Man Who sponsored Bill W., the standard biography of Ebby Thacher. Bill’s Story in the AA Big Book tells of a sober friend who called on him in late 1934 to bring the Oxford Group message that saved his life and led to the formation of AA. But the friend, Ebby Thacher, eventually drank again and had a troubled life of frequent slips before finding a measure of peace in his last years. Bill never forgot what Ebby had done for him, however, and was his friend and supporter to the end, taking special steps to assure that Ebby had proper care in his final years.
William E. Swegan
The Psychological Aspects of Alcoholism
William E. Swegan as a young Air Force sergeant, a Pearl Harbor survivor, who began his career in alcoholism treatment at Mitchel Air Force Base on Long Island in 1948 In the early 1950's, William E. Swegan, together with psychiatrist Louis Jolyon "Jolly" West, developed a highly successful method of alcoholism treatment called The Lackland Model, which achieved a fully documented 50% success rate even working in the extremely negative atmosphere of a military base, where heavy drinking was a way of life, and most military personel were deeply hostile to anything spiritual. 
Louis Jolyon "Jolly" West was a young World War II combat infantryman who became a psychiatrist after the war and teamed up with Bill Swegan in the early 1950's to develop the Lackland Model of alcoholism treatment. Two of the major secrets to his success were a highly effective psychological theory of alcoholism and an insistence that all the men and women in the treatment program had to be deeply involved in A.A. groups off of the base, where they could make friends with civilians and be relieved of some of the pressures of military rank and discipline. It was made clear to people entering the treatment program that the A.A. people in the surrounding community were respected and fully participating members of the team who were going to be helping them recover, and that at least one recovering person was going to be a key member of the staff at the treatment center itself.
Victory Over Alcohol
Psychological Healing and the Twelve Steps 1. The Thrill of Victory Over Alcohol. A pamphlet which Bill Swegan wrote and used when working with newcomers to help break down their alibis, excuses, and stubborn resistance to admitting that their drinking was getting them into deep trouble. It was also designed to introduce them to the basic principles of the twelve steps, which were part of the basic framework of recovery in the Lackland Model, and to show them some of the enormous rewards that came from recovery from alcoholism. 2. The Psychology of Alcoholism. Bill Swegan has found that this simple explanation of the basic psychology of alcoholism has given more insight to more struggling alcoholics and opened more eyes than anything else he has ever used in working with newcomers over the past 56 years. Even people with a number of years in the twelve step program frequently remark that this gave them more help than they had ever received before in understanding the underlying nature of their disease and what we have to do at the practical level in order to start getting well. The fundamental ideas go back to 1949 and Bill's classes at the Yale School of Alcohol Studies with Dr. E. M. Jellinek, one of the first great modern researchers into the physical and psychological nature of alcoholism. 
After the Lackland years, Bill Swegan continued to work in alcoholism treatment in Texas and later in California The good old-timers in A.A. say that this short description of the kinds of inner psychological pressures that drive alcoholics back to the bottle is the best thing Bill ever wrote, and that it ties in beautifully with the old-time A.A. understanding of the recovery process. Bill shows us here why Steps Four through Nine are necessary to long-term recovery and real freedom from the full misery of alcoholism. 
Bill Swegan giving an award to his friend and mentor, the great social reformer Mrs. Marty Mann, the First Lady of Alcoholics Anonymous, at the end of her life
John Barleycorn
John Barleycorn John Barleycorn is the pen name of the popular writer for the Waynedale News, whose regular column on the twelve step program and Alcoholic Anonymous reaches readers all over the Fort Wayne area in northeastern Indiana. A Nun's Story: Sister Ruth Finds God in the A.A. Meetings Summer 2005 The Right Side of the Page August 7, 2007 Whack-A-Mole June 2, 2008 Alcoholics Anonymous and Buddhism July 9, 2007 I'm not a Nice Guy August 29, 2007
Off the Walls
Don G. (Temple, Texas) Don G., Off the Walls: Wisdom from the Road of Happy Destiny A 12-year-long odyssey, across the country and the world, collecting profound wisdom from the rooms of Alcoholics Anonymous. Use them for meeting starters in your discussion group, put them in intergroup newsletters for human interest, study them for your own daily meditation. 
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