The question that started this thread was "I want to quit - are there any options besides AA?" That doesn't seem to me to be the question they were answering. Please, for those of you in AA: when someone asks for alternatives to AA, would you stop trying to persuade them to go back to AA?
~Don S
Any answers besides AA meetings? ~Frustrated Donny
Thinking this was a chance to spout AA alternatives is equally as fanatical as those trying to get someone to return to AA.
When we come in with a disposition that it's all about AA or all about the alternatives, we lose sight of the real problem.
The "hurdles" we deal with are the ones we come in with (whatever their form or name).
The fact is that you find personalities in any form of recovery, whether it is AA, SMART, SOS, etc.
In truth, bullies and predators exist everywhere. In our own mind, we can perceive these even when none are there.
F-Don could just as easily had the same experience at a SMART meeting.
But that doesn't make SMART wrong. Just as it doesn't make AA wrong.
The individual that inflicted this upon another may be a problem and even symptomatic of the group, however, it was just one experience and if the "hurdle" is not identified then the experience has a greater chance of being repeated.
And the next time it just may be at a "Alternative" meeting.
And then the excuses escalate. And the desire for any form of recovery is dampened
So, IMO, it really has more to do with helping F-Don to realize that change can be problematic at first and to not let it block you from what you want.
What I was suggesting was to modify the obsession for one behavior for a better one.
What makes this thread (and others) about AA and its "Alternatives" are the perceptions we bring in to the threads.
And most times it is not even asked for (by AA or the alternatives).
Even when it is masked by that deception.
Deriving the real question without fervor takes practice.
It really doesn't even matter if the questioner is asking sincerely or knows what their question is. In this we should be able to help. But not if we choose to see it in our own narrow view or see it as a chance to convert or confuse.
Be Well