As for confidences , there are some things I could never have spoken about in a meeting or told my sponsor, but those things did come out in a 5th step with member of the clergy experienced in hearing Step 5 and was a complete stranger.
Other than that, I attended some meetings with sponsors and also visited over coffee or spoke to them on the phone regularly. They were women I could trust with confidences of my everyday life as they taught me about the program and guided me through the steps.
I asked people who had a quality of sobriety I admired and who I could somewhat identify with.