Randy Polito has sat across from people in early recovery who were told there's only one way to get sober. One path. One program. One answer.

These usually come from the old-timers—people brought up on the oral tradition, stern about their way being the way. And he gets it. AA worked for them. They're proof it can work.

But here's the thing: even if AA has the highest success rate of any recovery program, the success rate is still low. Research shows AA success rates between 5 and 12%, depending on the study.

So what happens to the person who walks in off the street with nothing but pain and desperation? They get handed one option. One tool. One answer to a complex problem.

That's like handing someone gasoline to put out a fire because your grandfather used gasoline once and swears it works.

Water and gasoline are both wet. But one burns and one extinguishes.

The biopsychosocial model of addiction—developed by psychiatrist George L. Engel in 1977—says addiction lives in three places: the body (biology), the mind (psychology), and the community (social). AA tackled the social part brilliantly. The spiritual part. The community that says "you're not alone, and you're not broken beyond repair."

That's powerful. But it's not complete.

The person sitting in that folding chair needs to understand what's happening in their brain. They need to know about dopamine, about how trauma lives in the nervous system, about why their brain is screaming for a drink even when they desperately don't want one. Some of them need medication. Some need therapy. Some need a sponsor. Most need all three.

Acupuncture has been around for thousands of years and it still works. But nobody says it's the only answer to pain. Modern medicine made room for it.

That's what recovery needs. Room for the tradition and the science. Room for the sponsor and the therapist. Room for the spiritual awakening and the neurological reset.

The old-timers aren't wrong. They're just incomplete.

And the people walking through the door deserve better than one answer to a three-part problem.

Here's what Randy Polito believes: A diversified approach to recovery will increase the success rate. Especially for the people who need it most—the ones with nothing but pain and a slim chance they'll find their way back.

It takes a village. And the village needs more than one tool.

— Randy Polito