Burns B. – A Three Step Program vs a 12 Step Solution – 2011

About This Speaker Tape

Burns B., a former physician, maps out the distance between a 'three-step program' and a full twelve-step life. He describes a decade of 'fellowship' sobriety in Louisville where he and his peers were 'crazy as hell'—sober but lacking a design for living. He recounts the wreckage of this period: a three-month affair while ten years sober, the resulting resentment, and the realization that sponsors are not Higher Powers.

Burns dismantles the myth of the 'functioning' professional, detailing his years as a doctor who was a 'highly trained technician' while secretly battling DTs and a deep self-hatred. He traces his path from a 12-gauge shotgun in his mouth to a life of service in prisons and homeless shelters, arguing that the Big Book is the only medical text that truly matters for the alcoholic brain.

Topics

Timestamps

• 0:45 Laughter: Burns jokes about his desire to be a preacher and his sponsor's likely reaction.
• 4:12 Burns discusses his early recovery in Atlanta and the 'scientific distribution of information' at early conferences.
• 11:30 The 'muddled middle': Burns describes ten years of fellowship-based sobriety without a design for living.
• 16:45 The wreckage of the 'three-step program': an affair while ten years sober and the failure of 'just praying about it'.
• 21:10 Step Study: Burns describes starting a Big Book study group in Louisville using Joe and Charlie's tapes.
• 28:15 Family of Origin: Burns discusses the 'conditional love' and the impact of his mother being an untreated alcoholic child.
• 35:40 The 'functioning' doctor: Burns describes practicing medicine while in active withdrawal and hating his guts.
• 42:10 The bottom: A 12-gauge shotgun in the mouth and the moment of clarity regarding service to others.
• 51:20 Daily Reprieve: Burns details his specific 10th, 11th, and 3rd step prayer routine to stay sane.
• 58:45 Service: Burns describes his transition from medical practice to working in prisons and homeless shelters.