Michael J. Formica says taking personal responsibility is essential in overcoming addiction but systems like AA allow its abdication. As soon as we say, “I am powerless.” that’s exactly what we are, he warns. “We cannot enter into any process of personal transformation without releasing our reliance on externals. Holding onto those externals enslaves us every bit as much as our addictions, our assumptions, our expectations, our model of the world and even our own self-perception might enslave us.” “Without exercising the all-important watershed of self-responsibility, breaking the compulsive cycle that leads to addictive behavior is all but impossible.”