This document shows many of the patterns of dysfunction and abuse that this site is concerned with and are being pointed out in the new documentaries The 13th Step and The Business of Recovery, as well as on whistleblower blog sites like this. Many of us who grew up in the 80’s were raised around these kinds of ideas. The solutions I propose are not difficult; religious faith in the 12-step program is the only barrier. I suggest the refusal to believe in Bill Wilson’s god should be honored by all state licensed social workers, and it would be best not to recommend an unsupervised and cultish ‘treatment’ to clients at all. Some experts are suggesting that a diagnosis of SUD is probably not helpful or necessary, either, as it leads to unnecessary treatment referrals which often become the 12-step referral that a therapist him/herself might better avoid for legal and ethical reasons.