Copperhead, with all due respect you seem to be shooting down an attempt to help people without really suggesting anything else that has any social support. While yes, it's true if someone decides not to stick with the program it won't work (like anything in life), .. I mean we are starting from scratch here.
And there are other methods, just none that have reached the popularity of those methods. I personally haven't heard of any other methods that actually work. Some people can quit things cold turkey and don't need a method, others don't.
Mixing a forum that promotes psychics with those who are trying to use it to convince themselves not to call, can have mixed results and is kind of a slippery slope by definition, which many have commented on here already
Touching on what you said about the person you knew, most people with addictions will be addicted to more than one thing; there are genes and biochemistry related to addiction. E.g., The A1 allele of the dopamine receptor gene DRD2 is more common in people addicted to alcohol or cocaine. -- That's a fact. So not everyone can, by genetic composition, simply control themselves.
To say trading one addiction for another is a bad thing is also something I have to disagree with. If you can trade a maladaptive behavior pattern for something that benefits you, then you have made a positive change. And that's the goal. Higher power or not, a lot of recent studies show that the effects of meditation on the brain are the same exact effects of prayer.
A 12-step-based support group might not be the ideal solution here, but it's a step in the right direction. The tools you pick up in 12-step programs truly do enable you to be completely successful independent of the group, but a lot of recovered addicts continue to go because they like the community and can serve as support to people who are newly into recovery. These programs treat the underlying behaviors that caused the addiction, not the addiction itself.
So, there's a lot of good here. If it's not for you then that's fine, not everything in the world is for everyone, but unless you have something to suggest to help others that we can build into this, I'm not really sure what your goal is. My goal in setting this up is to help people. It may not be the perfect solution, true. But there's a famous quote that says, "don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good".
If you have a better idea, I'm all ears, honestly. This is just what I know so it's where I started. I did look into the 4 points system of recovery but it honestly looks like junk to me from what I can tell, and relies on a lot of willpower which is ultimately where people fail. But, I can see why it would work for some people.
And it's a lot better than nothing. Chatting with others who have been there, meeting up periodically, people looking out for each other - all sound like positive things to me. Hence why I moved forward with the idea.
