Made a HUGE mistake...
 

I am a couple days on this site. So I'm a new guy. I made the mistake of posting on a different area of the site about my discontentment with AA and its extreme religious overtones and other reasons. I am sincerely trying to find people with like minds who do not find the AA way attractive to discuss sobriety as a part of life and not life as a part of sobriety. I IN NO WAY am trying to start a debate or argument between what works and what doesn't... just looking for people who I can relate to.
Thank you

I don't think it was HUGE mistake John.

Just reiterating what I said before tho - the rules of this forum are pretty straightforward...vis...

Alternatives to 12 Step Recovery
LifeRing-Smart-SOS, CBT, Problem Solving, Self Management, Self-Empowerment, Rational Thinking, Positive Lifestyle Changes, Self Assessment, Commitment and Follow-Through, Self-Acceptance, Motives and Goals, Peer Support.

12 Step Programs are off topic for this forum and posts discussing 12 Step Programs will be removed. Please use the Secular 12 Step Forum for positive topics on Secular 12 Step Recovery.

so let's move on from the other topic :)

D

gotcha

Great start...except in the secular non 12 step area we aren't allowed to mention AA or other 12 step programs either per the rules. Check through some of the threads here and see if anything interest you. There is alot of info on alternative methods here in this area.

This area does tend to get slow unless a good topic is hit on. What exactly are you looking for? My recovery consists of working out, thinking about sobriety and planning out situations before I go into them, and learning as much of the science and biology of my issue as far as what is happeneing in my brain, and I like to find out how other programs really work and why they do. I am 42 been a heavy beer and vodka drinker for the last 3 years, and been a heavy binge drinker since I was 15. What say you?

Just saw Dee's note, there is a place below called User created groups, with a thread called "secular free speech", if you feel the need to talk about other programs.

Nice... I won't say the "A" word again.
Supercrew You sound a lot like me. I'm 31 and was a binge drinker since 21 (I started late I know). The reason why I started so late was that I was a fitness freak. I actually have a degree in exercise physiology, I've been certified in basic nutrition, and after all that I went back to school for nursing. So science and biology in general I am completely fascinated by. I've said it before, but with my education it is very ironic that I am here, but I am grateful I tapped out when I did. My education and scientific way of thinking makes me rely on proof and the laws of nature. I consider my drinking very immature. I don't mean that I didn't do it long enough, because I did it plenty and severly enough to be here... I mean I am immature when it comes to drinking. I regress the instant alcohol touches my lips. All my knowledge of health and wellness immediately is replaced by the stupidity that comes with consuming alcohol. I do have a couple years sobriety and a while back found that I needed something that suited my personality more... or if I could not find that option that I would be safer doing it alone compared to what I was doing before. But that is just me...

Well since I found recovery I found that alot of my drinking stemmed from my immaturity. I didn't want to grow up, and drinking made me feel like I was 17 again. Tack on an alcoholic gene, where I can not normally control my drinking once I start, and the fact that I never ever really looked forward to anything in my life besides drinking. Every event every occassion was just a reason for me to drink, so I became mentally obsessed with it for about 27 years. But now I realize that it wasn't just a willpower issue it was truly a physical and mental issue. Keep reading and posting, I have learned alot since June, and I look forward to being sober and learning more. Welcome!

Hi Jackedjohn

Welcome to SR.

I haven't read through your other post yet but it seems like you might have got under the skin of a few of the "A" people (completely unfounded IMO since your initial post explicitly said you were looking to avoid that).

So we secular folk get punted down here -- kinda weird though considerig that 80% of people recover without any formal program and especially considering the apalling success rate of the "A" program (this information is freely available on the internet for all to discover but, for some reason, threads get closed down on SR when we start to refer to other documented statistical evidence!). So I asked one of the SR moderators the other day whether there was some kind of predispostion towards AA on SR (considering that the "A" people often end up hijacking threads like your previous one) but I didn't get anything like a straight answer so here we are!!

The thread that Supercrew was refering to is http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...ee-speech.html. It can be a tad slow as its so far off the beaten track but definitely worth reading through as it highlights who might be like-minded people AND it seems there is slightly less control by the thought police about any level of free thinking.

Hopefully we will hear more from you, Jackedjohn. There is an opportunity to mix with non "A" people here on SR - just so long as we are vaguely prudent about where stuff gets said (not entirely sure why the same thing doesn't apply to the "A" people since they also have distinct areas on SR but never seem to get punted off the generic discussions! C'est la vie.

NAT

Welcome to the secular side Jackedjohn

I can do that :D. Addiction treatment for me is just one skill of many that I'm learning to live a heather life. Some of the skills I'm learning and practicing are found in the SMART Recovery Tools and with CBT coping strategies. These skills can be applied to a wide variety of life's situations not just addiction.

I have meet people in recovery that revolve their life around recovery 24/7. its all they talk about and do. It may work for them but I need to develop other aspects of my life like education, hobbies, social interaction and stuff like that. I feel what I'm doing is a holistic betterment exercise.

I have worked the program that "can not be named" here Secular Connections just to see if a non-theist like myself could do and found I could. But I understanding where your coming from. So that's the end of that. I would recommended that you read through http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...rch-links.html. Lots of good information about addiction.

Anywho glad you found us here at Secular, keep posting and make SR a part of your treatment plan.

Hey Zencat

Many thanks for the pointer to "AVRT in a nutshell" the other day.

(RR seems to be another thing which cannot be linked to from SR although I have yet to hear a reason why)

RR is a commercial link. You can't link to advertising links here at SR.

I'm locking this thread for obvious reasons.