I have no axe to grind, other than a disdain for supporting emotional ties with poor statistics.  I&#x27;ve never brushed with AA or alcoholism in any capacity.  That said:<p>In Project MATCH [1] we learn that &quot;twelve-step&quot; (AA), cognitive behavioral therapy, and motivational enhancement therapy all have very similar results across a large number of measures.<p>We also find that CBT performs equivalently to &quot;brief opportunistic intervention&quot; (which goes under a variety of names, but takes a single 5-minute meeting), which is the minimum amount of treatment that we&#x27;re ethically allowed to give alcoholics.<p>So it may work better than nothing (can&#x27;t really study that), but there are much lower-touch methods that give equivalent results.<p>[1] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Project_MATCH" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Project_MATCH</a><p>[2] <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;robinsteed.pbworks.com&#x2F;w&#x2F;file&#x2F;fetch&#x2F;52176344&#x2F;TreatmentAndPreventionOfAlcoholProblems.pdf" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;robinsteed.pbworks.com&#x2F;w&#x2F;file&#x2F;fetch&#x2F;52176344&#x2F;Treatmen...</a>, study by &quot;Chick et al. (1988)&quot;