doorknob

If you are fortunate enough to have any of these groups available to you, and have attended their meetings, please share your experience!

LosingmyMisery

I don't have any exerience with the above mentioned, but I just wanted to stop by and say it is good to see you fighting and not giving up. I have followed you here on SR for many years and one thing for certain, you are a fighter and a survivor. Good luck with your new endeavors.

TryingSoHard

Thank you for reminding me about WFS. I have not researched their availability in my area yet.

I got my info from SOS in the mail and I emailed one (of the two!) people in my area who were on the list. No response. Guess I'll try the second one and see if I have any better luck.

I might start doing SMART meetings online since there are none near me.

doorknob

Thank you! *trying to choke down a compliment*

doorknob

I just found out by word of mouth that there is an SOS group that meets 4 times a week in Spokane at a coffee shop. It would be nice if someone would update the online meeting list!

CarolD

When time SMART came on line...10 or so years ago?

I did use their site and behavior modification suggestions
to work on an issue not related to my alcoholism.

It did work to my benefit...however I never went to a meeting.

Does that count?

SelfSeeking

This thread brought back a memory... Women For Sobriety was the first organization I made contact with. First I connected to the AA website and looked at the Big Book online and was so horrified at the god-stuff I went agoogling for an alternative. I emailed WFS and they sent me the first names and numbers of 2 local members (I was in NOLA at the time, this was last August). There was also a newsletter included in the mailing. I called one of the women and she came to my house the next day with reading materials and basically did a WFS version of a 12-step call It was amazingly, incredibly helpful, such a lifeline. The meetings in my area were monthly and unfortunately I was only living there for another couple of weeks- about to move up here.
I did use the WFS "Program Booklet" for the first maybe 3 weeks of my sobriety. Basically it's 13 daily affirmations. You meditate on one affirmation daily every week and during that week you put that affirmation into practice. The only one that reminded me of AA is the first, "I have a life-threatening problem that once had me". However it emphasizes that now the drinker is in control again.

There's no talk of character flaws or anything, they're daily affirmations so it's all about taking on a new identity as a strong, intelligent, happy, responsible woman. It was exactly what I wanted to hear at the time, and it got me through the first few days, but to be honest, I couldn't make myself believe these things. I had no idea how to put the ideas into practice and didn't see how it was possible anyway. Basically I guess it was too theoretical for me, even though I thought that's what I wanted; I know now my fuses were blown and I needed a KISS approach

Where I live now doesn't have any nearby meetings so I went to AA instead, in desperate need for f2f support. Luckily I love this AA community and have settled into AA's program. I'm still a Happy Heathen, but long story short it has worked out for me. Oh yeah WFS does have a website and have online meetings. I visited. I didn't go back because believe it or not it was way more dramatic than SR! I was intimidated by the all-female atmosphere. At the time I did not trust most other women as far as I could throw them, which I guess is a big barrier to belonging to Women For Sobriety