“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”
— Viktor E. Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning (1946)
Viktor Frankl was an Austrian psychiatrist who survived Auschwitz. He lost his wife, his parents, and nearly everything else, but in that hell he discovered something the Nazis couldn’t take: his freedom to choose his attitude. After liberation, he wrote Man’s Search for Meaning with a core insight: we cannot always control what happens to us, but we can always choose our response.
SMART Recovery is a science-based mutual support program for addiction recovery. One of its most practical tools is ABC(DE)—a framework from Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy that helps us interrupt the automatic chain between trigger and relapse.
A is the Activating Event—the trigger that sets everything in motion, whether it’s our boss criticizing us, seeing someone drinking, or waking up anxious.
B is our Belief—the story we tell ourselves: “I can’t handle this,” “Nobody respects me,” “I deserve to use.” These beliefs are often automatic and invisible, feeling like facts when they’re actually interpretations.
C is the Consequence—anger, resentment, craving, isolation, using—all the wreckage that flows from an unchallenged thought.
Many of us live stuck in the A→B→C loop where the event happens, we react, and consequences follow. But SMART Recovery adds two more letters. D is Dispute—the moment we pause and question the belief: “Is this thought realistic? Is it helpful? What’s the evidence?” This is where we reclaim Frankl’s freedom.
E is Effective New Belief—a new thought that’s more balanced and useful, one that serves our recovery. We’ve interrupted the automatic chain and inserted consciousness between stimulus and response.
The Big Book tells us, “As we go through the day we pause, when agitated or doubtful, and ask for the right thought or action”—the ABC(DE) tool gives us a structure for that pause. It’s the Tenth Step inventory in real time, catching the B before it drags us into C. SMART Recovery doesn’t replace 12-step wisdom; it gives us a toolkit to live it in the moment.
The beauty of the tool is its portability—we can work through it on paper, in our heads, or in the car before a triggering situation. With practice, we start catching our B’s earlier and choosing our E before the consequence takes root. Each time we interrupt that old A→B→C loop, we weaken its power and strengthen our recovery.
Between the trigger and the response is a space. In that space is our power to choose. In that choice is our recovery. And in that recovery is our freedom.
Learn more about SMART Recovery at https://smartrecovery.org
What belief (B) hijacks my peace most often?
What consequences (C) follow when I don’t challenge that thought?
If I paused to dispute it (D) tomorrow, what evidence would contradict my automatic story?
What new response (E) becomes possible when I practice this freedom daily?
