Zanthos

Oh no. There may be things about AA I don't like, but that's not where I'm coming from here.

My entire recovery centers around AA -- what I've learned in AA, my participation in the fellowship, and practicing in every area of my life (as best I can) the principles of the program.

I'm asking this question because I am truly unaware of alternatives to AA, and I haven't heard of anything that offers the moral and spiritual growth and sense of belonging that I get in AA.

I know we can't force people into AA (although the courts do it all the time and I know a lot of people who never wanted to go to AA who ended up finding a whole new wonderful way of living), but when people suggest there are alternatives to AA, I have to wonder what those alternatives are. And given what I've learned and experienced in AA, I even wonder if a disservice is being done by suggesting another path.

Maybe there are different types of alcoholics. I'm the kind described in the Big Book, and although it took several attempts over a long period of time, I ultimately found that the AA program of recovery fits me like a glove.

Given my own limited and particular experience, it's easy for me to perceive in others who "don't like" AA or for whom AA "doesn't work" the unreformed character defects that give life to the disease of alcoholism. It was only when a lot of people I trusted told me I absolutely had to learn to follow the AA program of recovery -- despite every instinct in every bone of my body that said "No way!" -- if I wanted a shot at a satisfying life without alcohol, did I begin to see that my resistance to AA was an integral part of my disease.

Now that I have a little time, my perspective on AA is that it was offering all along the sense of well-being and comfort in my own skin that I craved my whole life. So I have to wonder -- what are these "other programs" and what do they offer?