Emotional Sobriety & Acceptance

February 27-March 1, 2026

Join us for an illuminating weekend with Dr. Allen Berger, public speaker, nationally recognized expert on the science of recovery, and author of 12 Essential Insights for Emotional Sobriety.

PLEASE NOTE: registration is below. Registration includes all programming and meals on Saturday. Lodging is separate. Financial assistance is available - more information here.

There are many forces at work that make it hard for us to accept ourselves as we are. As Bill W. stated, our natural instincts cry out against the admission of powerlessness. We developed our false self to gain power over our environment so we wouldn’t be rejected, be unacceptable, or be unloved. We wanted to control and manipulate people to get them to respond to us as we want them to. Admitting powerlessness threatens the very nature or construct of the false self. It means we don’t have the power to control. That’s a crisis for us!”

There’s a reason we resist self-acceptance; it threatens who we think we should be. “Who we think we should be” is our false self, and we mistakenly believe that our false self will make us feel safe in the world.

Resistance to self-acceptance must be addressed if we are to achieve any permanent change in our lives—especially if we are ever to achieve emotional sobriety. What a paradox! We need to accept our resistance to self-acceptance in order to begin the process of accepting ourselves as we really are!