I agree completely with one of the main points made by the author:  abstinence is not the end goal, it is only the ticket for admission on the road to reclaiming ones life.  I have seen dozens of people in AA meetings who had been sober for several years and were nowhere near being on the road to recovery, notwithstanding their purported practice of the 12 steps.

Unless the author meant to include this in a broad interpretation of "pain", he left out one very common issue with substance abusers - mental health problems.  In my case it was clinical depression which I was self-medicating, and I have seen the same in many others.

The personal work in recovery never produces instant results and sometimes seems to be a futile waste of time.  As one AA wag said "What I need is more patience, and I want it right now".  One has to forget about any expected result and simply focus on the now.