Originally Posted by
ElleDee 
First off, I didn't mean to offend you with my feelings about AA. You seem to have taken it personal. The thing is that I've had what I would call numerous unpleasant experiences at meetings. People's reactions, comments, I've had people pounce on me after meetings telling me what to do. I know some of it is that they're trying to be helpful. But I never did well in group therapy either. It's part of who I am I guess. Since AA is one type of program to stay sober, and there are many others (as I am learning) I will avoid meetings or go to the ones I feel comfortable at. That's why I came to this board... to look for alternative ways and I had heard about AVRT and want to learn more.
I was not offended. I was genuinely baffled because your narrative was that you decided against AA because you encountered one rude person. I thought there had to be more to it than that.
It sounds as if you might want to try individual therapy, since you have trouble with groups. I would recommend a clinical psychologist specializing in addiction. There are many addiction counselors out there, but they do not have the same level of training, so I think a clinical psychologist would be better.
Is is a common idea in many approaches to recovery that inability to deal with groups is part of the addictive pathology. I do not know if that is true or not, but given that it is possible to begin recovery as an individual, why not do that?
I myself found AA to be very problematic. It provided me with a vision of recovery, but I continually relapsed while attending meetings and working the steps. I eventually left 12-step recovery and found a new therapist who himself is a recovering heroin addict. I really needed individual work one-on-one. I suspect you may have a similar need.