There are many reasons I haven’t gone to AA and this is one of them, for me. I had not gotten to a stage in my drinking career where my job had fallen apart due to drinking, at least obviously. Looking back now, I can see that had I continued, it likely would have, but two years ago, it wasn’t obvious. The people I serve in my job have to put a lot of trust in me and our relationship is not one of equals in that sense. I absolutely could not have walked in either. At other points I had tried AA in different cities and had bad experiences. That being said, the program is amazing and shouldn’t be ignored for most, and if you need it, you should put your sobriety first and go. But if you find a workaround works, do it. I personally used SR pretty exclusively, and followed the principles of AA to a large extent. Living where I do now, I knew for a fact that several of the “clients” I serve are active members as are some of the people I have to work “against”. Although I’m in a city, it’s a fishbowl here, not like NYC or LA or a place like that. I made it work.
Have to say that if, in the future, I live somewhere else, i have thought I would check out AA as a resource to stay sober, have the experience of working with a sponsor and as a way to join a community to work the steps and make some sober friends. It’s even crossed my mind to start going now, two years sober and a little less vulnerable. But I understand. For me, one of the pinnacles of hope that helped me was that I still had my job and my professional integrity when I finally got sober. Compromising that would have been devastating. Fortunately my workaround worked. Because I worked it. And that is the difference between an excuse and a tool.