Alcoholics Anonymous

It’s okay to feel sad, it’s okay to get mad, it’s okay to mourn your old life and fear the future and hate yourself. You’ll cry yourself dry and you’ll have to get on with the living. In early sobriety, someone told me that since I’d gotten sober without AA, I wasn’t an alcoholic, and that since Transitional living I didn’t go to meetings and ate the occasional mushroom, I wasn’t sober. You might have a strong support system of loved ones andfamilymembers to help you in your sobriety. Or, you might need time to build a support system if your addiction negatively impacted friends and family members.

It’s a great place to connect with fellow ladies for some support in sobriety. Forever35 is a podcast between two best friends that has sprouted many Facebook groups—but none quite as moving as the Forever35 Sober group. The community of mostly women is for supporting each other through the sobriety journey, wherever you are in the process.

Writing In Journals To Stay Sober Without Aa

If these emotions become excessive, however, they can hold you back from recovery. If you are trying to maintain a sober lifestyle, those feelings can become toxic and contribute to relapse if you don’t deal with them properly. A therapist can help you learn new coping skills, develop new thinking patterns, and address any co-occurring mental health conditions that may make recovery more difficult. It is also important to seek help from a therapist. A mental health professional can help you cope with some of the challenges you’ll face on your path to sobriety.

There are also rehabs that focus on holistic treatments and ones that offer recreational opportunities such as equine therapy and aquatics. We can provide you with information regarding the types of options you have available so that you can take the guesswork out of finding a way to get sober without AA. Acknowledging and celebrating the hard work of recovery is helpful for keeping you motivated and reminding you why you took this brave step toward sobriety in the first place. Just be sure that your rewards don’t involve drugs or alcohol. Instead, focus on things, experiences, and activities that will support your new, healthy lifestyle.

How To Get & Stay Sober

It’s a great way to get to know others in your neighborhood—or anywhere else! One of the best features of the app was extra support during the holidays thanks to a “Burning Desire” button that allowed a user to alert others in the area that they need help when temptation arises. The forums of Sober Recovery are a great place for people with substance use disorder to find assistance and helpful information. The community has more than 168,000 people who are recovering from substance use disorder and/or codependence, as well as their friends and family. For some, venturing into the male-dominated rooms of AA can feel uncomfortable . For these folks, online communities and supportive sobriety groups beyond AA can be a welcome addition to your recovery journey.

Not that I don’t think you have the right intentions, typically I agree with you, just not the way you go about it. In this case, though, I think you’re right on the money. For someone who is religious, even a little, AA might work.

Find Support In A Different Group

You may even turn to addiction support groups to meet other people who are in similar positions as you. It’s important to take care of yourself, live a healthy lifestyle, and cut out alcohol if you have a problem. Oceanside alumni praise flexible treatment which includes care for underlying mental health conditions, staff who go the extra mile, luxury amenities, and activities such as surfing and horseback riding. Though some of these experiences have not supported my sobriety, none of them have compromised my sobriety. I am a pure alcoholic and I know one drink would be my undoing. But as my sobriety is solely my creation, I own it. Sobriety doesn’t come with mandatory enrollment in some flowery cult of positivity.

Yet…the “quality & type” of support no longer works for me today. I have moved beyond the friendships where prying into your personal life and constantly inquiring about your “spiritual” life is just of no value to me anymore. That friendship dynamic used to work but no longer works. She is one of the 2 friends that did not immediately drop me when I “left”. Over the past yr its been hard to deprogram w her in my life. She spins the convo constantly around how my spiritual life is w out AA. Its very unsettling and I seem to end the time w her very irritated.

Getting Sober Without Aa

Had I not been halfway around the world, in a different time zone and with spotty internet access, I definitely would have checked in with program friends. I definitely don’t want to be one of those people. I don’t want to drink, and so I take red flags and close calls seriously. Still, it’s decidedly weird to have taken a shot when you’re over eight years sober, especially after having been indoctrinated by AA. Instead, that night, I suffered through it until I felt completely sober again.

The people who find that AA works for them are going to be the people who continue showing up and re-committing to their recovery, even if they relapse. If it hadn’t worked for them, they would have dropped out. •Smart Recovery is a self-empowering addiction recovery support group. RehabAdviser.com is a tool for individuals seeking to find a Drug and/or Alcohol Rehab. We provide a list of treatment centers located within the United States that are JHACO or CARF accredited.

What Is Alcoholism?

I keep some photos of myself during this period of time because all of these things are reflected in the is it possible to get sober without aa way I looked and the way I carried myself. When I’m feeling down about recovery, I look at these photos.

You know, I am not perfect but I am not going to drink. I will go insane if I have to sit in any more aa meetings and listen to someone talk about “when I was drinking …” ok, that was 30+ years ago. Creepy 13th stepping sh$t, crazy abusive behaviors and aggressive, hostile gossip – I can’t handle it and it can take me several days to recover from some of their behavior. I have such an emotional hangover right now because of too many dysfunctional people around me from these local meetings. When people sit in the same rooms day after day and talk about the same stuff over and over, and then give me grief because I don’t do my recovery like them – whoa!

Addiction to drink or drugs is immensely time-consuming. Obtaining the substance, using the substance, and recovering from using the substance eats up a huge amount of time. If you find these peer support groups help you stay accountable while providing you with welcome support, you should attend as many meetings as you feel necessary. Before you can start the recovery process, you need to recognize and admit that you have a problem with alcohol, prescription medications, or illicit drugs. This is a great option for clients that are in need of continued treatment, but are returning home to be with their families during this time.

• But to submit to a greasy dude who now rides a harley and because he now outwardly has his stuff together, I don’t see how that is going to make life anymore bearable or the wisdom in that.
• This makes the work difficult, and impossible for some, to complete and continue.
• Its goal is to get rid of the stigma surrounding alcohol use disorder for everyone who wants to quit, including those who have failed once or twice before (like the community’s founder, Paul).
• In other words, the one who practices this is the one who benefits.
• This may seem like a small tool, but it’s a powerful one.
• Upon getting sober, that was clearly no longer an option.

I have days where I wish I could drink and forget about what is happening in my life. I have days where I want to feel “normal.” Sometimes I even consider what would happen if I did allow myself to drink. However, I can usually snap out of this mindset pretty quickly when I think back to the way my life was when I was drinking. Towards the end of my drinking career, my life was headed in a quick downward spiral. I had damaged many of the closest relationships in my life. I had let myself go physically and I often felt rundown or hungover.

Through my therapist, I found a support group for people making a difficult life change. I started meditation to improve my emotional health. I reached out to my support system, both to hold myself accountable and to let them know I might be needing extra care. A main reason 12-step works is it sets you up with a new social scene, full of folks just like yourself. If you choose to quit drinking without AA, it’s important to consider your current social scene and whether or not you’d like to change that.