Originally Posted by
tyler 
...but I personally think you are better off taking your time and really getting your arms around the program and how it works.
While I respect your experience with this, Tyler, I wholeheartedly disagree. The most difficult time for an alcoholic is when they have no solution. When we stop drinking, we have lost our only solution. So that time between the last drink and some relief from the Steps becomes a make or break time for most alkies.
Make or break in the sense that willingness is essential. And most of us are not willing to do the "self-searching, leveling of our pride, and confession of shortcomings which the process requires for its successful consummation." That gift of willingness is often the result of desperation.
I always worry when someone comes into the program, things start going well, they get the job and the girl and the driving back. And that desperation is gone before they've found a solution. Then there is no motivation to do any Step work. And in a few short months, life sucks all over again. Being sober sucks and they get thirsty.
That's assuming that they even get that pink cloud bounce of not drinking. Many never do. They come in desperate and are told to take their time. So they hang around for a couple months with no solution and they drink because they are powerless not to. White knuckle only gets you so far. And they wonder why AA doesn't work even though they've missed the whole program while sitting in the rooms.
I do agree completely that a thorough understanding is necessary. Or maybe a thorough acceptance at the heart level is a better way to put it. But that doesn't take a lot of time. A few hours sitting down with someone who knows that Big Book from a spiritual perspective can oftentimes be plenty to get through the first 3 Steps.
And really, it's not about how a sponsor does things. It's about where the new guy is at. I can't set the pace with a new guy. He's at the Step he's at, and there is just no forcing it if he is unable to accept certain truths. If he is able, however, there is no benefit to going slow.
I wrote this in general, 3rd person terms, but this has been my own personal experience with taking my time and getting drunk versus launching into a vigorous course of action and conquering alcoholism. It's also my experience in working with others.