Veritas1

The AA program is in the book, Alcoholics Anonymous. If you have fear over public meetings...don't let this stop you from reading the book.

The 12 step forum has many people that can help when questions come up for people that for whatever reason feel like they would be willing to work the program of recovery outlined in the book but can't do public meetings.

This idea that AA is meetings, and if there is fear over public meetings, that AA is out as an option, comes up alot here on SR.

I think people don't realize that AA is not just meetings, and that you CAN work the program of AA even if you can't get to meetings.

BillyPilgrim

You need as much support as you can get when you are stopping drinking. I didnt want to go to AA , because "I wasnt an alcoholic, I wasnt like them", (Yeah get real AR) I went in the end not because people nagged me, but because I wanted to go. When I went I realised I was both of those things, but more importantly the people in AA were just like the people on the street, only they had a problem with drink. I now think the people in AA are nicer than those outside, because they are honest, and confront their problems.
The thing about a small town, I must say I dont agree with katrinka (but I understand your view) what is somebody going to do if they see you in an AA meet (they are there for the same reason after all)
At the end of the day it is your choice, I like AA, I like SR, both of those help greatly. I am lucky not to have had to go into medical treatment for my drinking, although I suspect I wasnt far off that. Getting better is the most important thing

fuzzy1

Seriously, who WANTS to go to AA? I for sure didn't. It wasn't until I ran out of plans that I went. Beside that AA isn't for people with an alcohol problem. It offers a solution for alcoholics. If you can stay abstinent and content then there will be no need to do anything else. If you find yourself not being able to do so you might reconsider your opinion about labels and look if you fit in.

MemphisBlues

Exactly. Who wants to go to AA? I have yet to see a newcomer come into the rooms of AA when live is peachy, everything is just dandy, but they thought they might see what this AA crap is all about.

Nope...Most, like me, crawl in on their hands and knees with no other place to turn.

michelle01

I would like to add, when I decided to stop going to AA meetings and try my local health support, I worried a great deal in the early days about ending up as a 'dry drunk' because I wasn't doing AA. I don't feel that way now, I feel okay about my recovery. My local health care support is mainly CBT, but I'm a spiritual person as well and all that is fairly strong in my local community.

I'd never discourage anyone from trying AA for themselves though, because you never know how you may respond to a meeting until you attend one for yourself, and I just don't think some people do all that well on their own with recovery, with limited support. If I had more local meetings, I may still be attending - the meetings I went to did have value for me. I learned I wasn't the only one with these crazy thoughts in my head, and heard a lot of things I could relate to, also the meetings gave me hope that I could get through this, because I could see real, human examples of people who had made it for themselves.

wpainterw

Don't be too critical of your therapist on this issue. My own experience over 30 years was that one to one counseling didn't result in a long term change, just periodic episodes of sobriety and then lots of relapses, some with very unpleasant results. Finally I went to AA and, although I had some problems with it, found a group which helped me very much and I have not had a drink for nearly 24 years. It happened to be an agnostics group. I'm not an agnostic nor atheist but I needed the group support and being honest with other folks as well as myself. If AA isn't for you, perhaps there are other groups which could give you support. And if you try AA, it's wise not to get hung up on not being able to do all of the steps perfectly. Do what you can. It's true that some folks have attained sobriety on their own but all I know is that I couldn't do that and I sure tried hard. Maybe you'd like to explore the secular recovery site on this SR website. Good luck

W.

jocata

I've realized after being a member of SR for 2.5 months that AA is not for everyone. I guess I knew that before I knew this site and smart, avrt, etc. existed, but I didn't know the extent of people using other methods. AA was the only recovery method I knew of other than just quitting. I had tried just quitting before and I was just miserable and eventually started drinking again. AA not only helped me to stop drinking, it gave me an outline for living life and enjoying it. I haven't tried the other methods that are out there, so I can't comment on them. But after reading many posts here, they apparently work for many people.

I guess in a nutshell, just find something that helps keep you sober, and helps you enjoy life.

Good luck and God bless.