Thank you for the stirring story of your brother's redemptive recovery from a dark path. Inspiring and uplifting ... and humbling!
I suspect that at least a third of all people suffer trauma in their lives at some time to incur emotional damage enough to be labeled as PTSD-affected.
This means that every third person (you know what I mean!) is potentially, a case of walking wounded.
That this is not so, that most people manage to adjust enough to live functional lives, means that many adaptations have been made. Embracing a spiritual practice would undoubtedly work for many, some of the time. Others may have chosen .. er, dancing, or fitness classes, or gardening, or making $quillions, or voluntary charity work, or hanging about in chat rooms! Or combinations of any of these and spiritual practices together.
There are as many solutions available as there have been recoveries - and many more yet to be invented!
It is a creative process, a challenge, at some time in our lives for many, if not most of us.
For some reason, the Monty Python's "Always look on the bright side of life" is playing in my head. The Ultimate Atheist's Palliative, I guess!

Religious practice is an adaptation; the question is, is it a good one relative to available alternatives.

AA's "higher power" is explicitly stated as "as we conceive" or understand it to be. It is just a placeholder for a source of meaning and purpose outside of and larger than oneself. It doesn't require a deity to fill that office. The practical problem is that AA was originally constructed as a quasi-Christian intervention and the watering down of the "higher power" concept is bolted-on, and a lot of meeting organizers are conservative Christians who are more dogmatic than the current AA ethos is "supposed" to be.

Buddhism, even the religion, does not have deities (most sects anyway).

I also had a brother who turned from a life of drunken carousing to religion in his early years, served as a deacon and then elder in his church. Unfortunately he died of cancer at age 67, begging me or anyone else who might know, why this had happened to his righteous self, what he had done wrong, etc. So this sort of thing cuts both ways. We all find abstractions that work for us, until they don't.

AA does not "require" you to "surrender" to a higher power, so your premise is off to a bad start.....

It's one drug for another.

I to have taken issue with may 12 step programs in their emphasizing "spirituality" as not only a core component but as a fundamental requirement. Although some are more blatant than others, the proclamation of promoting "a God of your understanding" is undermined by often appealing to the Judeo Christian construct covertly and overtly in many ways. Nevertheless, I personally have found this program useful. If nothing else than offering a communal support group. However, I find their approach to be quite dogmatic. Most meetings simply reinforce simplistic, non-refelective analysis ripe with well meaning yet hollow platitudes ad nauseam. Anyway, despite their success, there are a number of other methods that I feel are by far superior but unfortunately 12 step programs have a near monopoly. Arguably, their net effect could be more detrimental than acknowledged. This is a hobby horse of mine that I wish I had more time to address.

Much respect to you and your position about his position. Most definitely, a spiritual epiphany changes a life for the better! If someone actually follows a religion closely, it's actually a pretty great way to live, and beneficial to other nearby humans! It is those who turn it to their own gain, or use religion to control others that have given Christianity (in particular) a bad name. If you remove those who abused religion for power, religions across the world are just philosophies on how to live in a society of more than 1, and they are typically pretty good manuals for just that! There's really not that much that philosophically separates a truly devout Christian, and a truly devout Humanist. To state my opinion, I have a negative view of 12-step, primarily because of that higher power/powerless portion... which is often taught as admitting a lack of control over your own life and choices. The psychology world calls that a lack of Agency. A lack of agency makes you feel out of control, and at the whim of whatever happens... which leads to relapse. 12-step doesn't address this lack of agency, but promotes it... and the effectiveness of this mindset in keeping people sober is clearly obvious in studies of the effectiveness of 12-step (recognizing that most studies are written BY AA thus horribly skewed...here: [americanaddictioncenters.org] ). However, I would never say that 12-step is useless or completely ineffective. There are people like your brother who take to it, and supremely change their life...and in doing so, change the lives of others on down the line. The variety in humanity is humbling... and what uplifts one, can be poison to the next.

It's meaning, not religiousity or spirituality. I mean, religion and spirituality are industrial-grade pipelines of meaning--which is why you see so many people have such major life changes associated them--but meaning can be found elsewhere--anywhere. Carrying out Christ's mission on Earth, transcending suffering and attaining Nirvana, saving the environment, rescuing dogs, skydiving--whatever. It all has the same root.

ETA: As the Buddhists would say, people can (and will) "take refuge" just about anywhere.

Check out SMART RECOVERY. This is much better than the 12 steps as it is a self empowerment approach that is science evidence based. It also evolves as new scientific approaches become available. I went to AA for 13 years and now go to smart meetings and utilize their handbook which is full of excellent therapeutic techniques like REBT.

He has to be admired for turning his life around and regardless of what motivated him the result has been life changing. He has had a personal experience of some kind and who are we to knock that. We are all looking for answers and no doubt most of us will die still looking for them, in his case he feels god is the answer and if that belief has saved his life i’m sure you will take that and say a silent Amen!

A woman, a devoput Christian who i counsel from time to time, came to me yesterday about a challenge she was having. After she was satisfied on that issue, she shared that God had taught her to let goissues whic h stressed her, to accept that they were in her life for a reason, and to not try and fix everything, including her family, to her satisfaction. She had a history of disastrous experiences fighting people and things, and not letting go even when there was no longer anything to fight.

We had talked about her challenges and inability to let go many times, but it was not a concept she had ever been ready to accept. Until now.

I'm not sure where her epiphany came from, but she has transitioned from a life filled with stress and acrimony, to a life of acceptance and relative peace. Whatever it took was right for her, and for now.

What I'm getting at is that we all do what we need to do, and if a belief in God, or anything, has allowed her to live a more comfortable and peaceful life, so be it. Her way may not be mine, but no one size fits all.

Whatever works for ya, I guess.
If your brother is happy, healthy, and helping people, more power to him.

Dunno. If your brother is happy, and helping people, that's what matters.

Kudos to your brother for the wonderful work he has dedicated his life to. I am proud of him and I admire him. Whatever the reason that prompted him to change his path, everything that has been done, has been done by HIM and not any outside entity or force. He alone is to be credited for any and all achievements in his life. Just my opinion of course.

Simply, those a great question, I’ve seen 12 step work for many 1000s over the years as I was in psychiatry and mental health for 36years