Alcoholism recovery occupies a richly contested position across the depth-psychology corpus, functioning simultaneously as a clinical target, a spiritual aspiration, and an individuation process. The literature refuses any single definition: White (2007) insists that recovery must be linked to a prior clinical state and encompasses dimensions spanning mere abstinence to ‘a complete and positive transformation of one’s character, identity and lifestyle.’ Laudet and White (2008) reframe recovery as a longitudinal process unfolding across developmental stages, quantifying how recovery capital—spiritual, social, and psychological resources—predicts sustained sobriety. The Jungian wing of the corpus, represented by Addenbrooke (2011), Schoen (2020), and Dennett (2025), interprets recovery as individuating surrender: the ‘ego collapse at depth’ that precedes genuine transformation. Twelve-Step discourse enters through Mathieu (2011) and Berger (2010), who distinguish mere abstinence from ‘emotional sobriety,’ Wilson’s deeper aspiration for affective maturity. Dunlop (2013) contributes a narrative psychology perspective, demonstrating empirically that self-redemption stories predict behavioral change in recovering alcoholics. Running through all positions is the tension between abstinence-as-outcome and sobriety-as-being—a distinction that makes alcoholism recovery one of the richest sites of intersection between empirical addiction science and depth-psychological hermeneutics.