Thank you for sharing. This post spoke to me because I have also found AA to have many cult like features. I do not feel AA is helpful for people with a trauma and abuse background due to this. I found a great group called LifeRing, that is secular, and doesn't have dogma like AA does. I think because of my trauma background, I don't have secure boundaries from being brainwashed or Mind-effed as I term it. I almost recently joined a cult like group called "200 hour yoga teacher training". I say this because I found the teacher to be like a cult leader and I was losing my self and boundaries because the class was not actually about yoga, but about group therapy. (the teacher had no therapy credentials) If I had been told this ahead of time, I might have welcomed it, but felt I was gaslighted, and the sessions made me feel awful, and my gut told me to get away from this group and teacher. I did, and was so relieved. The cult like church I was in before had taught me to not trust my gut and go against myself and my nature. I am so happy I found out what this was called. RTS. I can't find a lot about it on the internet though. Thanks for listening to me, the newbie.