In 1961 Bill Wilson, founder of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), wrote a letter to the Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung to thank him for his role in the founding of AA, a fact Jung was not aware of. In the letter he explained that in the 1930’s a wealthy American alcoholic, Rowland H., desperate for a cure for his affliction, went to Switzerland to seek out the help of the famous Dr. Jung. After a relapse, Dr. Jung had to tell Rowland H. that he would no longer be able to treat him, that he was incurable. The weight of the statement caused a profound shock on Rowland H., especially since it came from none other than Carl Jung. When Rowland H. pleaded for some solution, Jung told him that on very rare occasions alcoholics of Rowland’s dimensions had been ‘cured’, but only by a profound spiritual transformation, a rare occurrence.Rowland H. joined an evangelical organization called the Oxford Group, found the spiritual experience he needed, and was saved from his alcoholism. He then dedicated himself to helping other people overcome their addiction to alcohol through ‘spiritual conversion’. One of these men was a friend of Bill Wilson’s, who once freed from his compulsion to drink, brought the message to his still drinking friend Bill Wilson. Wilson was cured almost immediately, and soon after having his last drink, he read William James' Varieties of Religious Experience, which confirmed for him the nature and meaning of his own spiritual conversion. These two elements are the first two steps, and the most important, in the twelve step program: accepting that you are hopelessly within the grips of alcohol, and that only a higher force can save you. Here is a link to Wilson’s letter to Jung.
