“We doctors have realized for a long time that some form of moral psychology was of urgent importance to alcoholics, but its application presented difficulties beyond our conception. What with our ultra-modern standards, our scientific approach to everything, we are perhaps not well equipped to apply the powers of good that lie outside our synthetic knowledge.” (The Doctor’s Opinion)
Recovery requires not just medical and psychological help but also assistance and progress in the areas of the material, the social, the philosophical, the moral, the spiritual, and, for some, the religious. This is why doctors and psychologists cannot treat alcoholism in isolation. Plus, there is the needed power to make all of this happen, which doctors and psychologists do not seem to be able to activate. It is not the Wizard of Oz behind the curtain but the real actuating force of God. The synthetic (manmade) is contrasted to the organic (that which is associated with life itself). Synthetic solutions can be developed and applied. Organic solutions cannot be controlled in that way. All one can do is create the conditions in which they can be activated and thrive.