Rational Recovery (RR) and the Addictive Voice Recognition Technique (AVRT) are described. Rational recovery is a young organization which views alcohol and drug dependency differently from the traditional field which sees addiction as a symptom of something, of a disease, of spiritual bankruptcy, of irrational thinking, of unhappiness, of childhood deprivation. In RR addiction is seen as a fact of life--a condition of hyper-hedonism, a devotion to the pleasurable effect of alcohol, and ultimately a condition of chemically-enhanced stupidity. In RR the sole cause of addiction is the Addictive Voice, called the Beast, which is of mid-brain origin, animal-like, and survival oriented. The AVRT proposes that instead of being "in denial," addicts are of two minds, about continuing to use the substance. Among addicted people, the Addictive Voice is dominant, while the "true self" is a faint background awareness. Rational Emotive Therapy (RET) and 12-step programs are seen as having nothing to do with the decision to abstain from alcohol or drugs. RR, however, stands for rigid, non-negotiable lifetime abstinence and should not be mixed with any other treatment. (JBJ)