Welcome to SR! You will find a lot of support here. I, like Astro, am in my
40s and wish I would have begun seeking sobriety in my 20s! Take this Day 1 and run with it!!
There are lots of alternatives to AA, but don't write it off because of shyness or lack of religion. I was a mess going to my first meeting, but after I got there, it was such a blessed relief to be in a room of people who "got it". They understood, they had been were I was (and much further down the path of the ugliness that is progressive alcoholism) and now they were sober, happy, and mainly healthy! That right there was enough for me to want more.
I am a religious and a spiritual person, so I did not have the concern there that you do, but I don't see "religion" being forced on anyone at the meetings. And as they say, you can always "take what you need and leave the rest".
Good luck!