A support group is very valuable for many of us. I've heard of alcoholics who quit entirely on their own, but I know a group helped me, and I'm not sure if I could have made it over the first hump without it. Contact with others who have gone through it provides information about alcoholism, of which I had relatively little, tips on how to identify problems we all face, and tips on how to deal with them. The biggest thing for me in the group was to be with people who were celebrating sobriety. Friday nights were especially fun. While my old friends were out getting drunk, we were celebrating the exact opposite, and in our group, the New Years Eve bashes were the best New Years Eve parties, I ever attended. It was one of our biggest turnouts, with turkey, ham, and all the trimmings, and in the middle of it all, we would settle down for an hour long meeting where we discussed sobriety. And after that, it was back to the bash with fireworks, more food, and revelry. Gosh, I miss those parties, now that I'm 3000 miles away from that group. There's so much fun you can have sober.