Deuce85

Hello everyone. I been sober for two years. I could not get into AA. I went for two months. I was just wondering do they have Christians that do alternative methods or is it just Atheists?

Nonsensical

I'm not an atheist.

Dee74

I moved your thread from Secular Connections. 12 step programmes are off topic there.

Is it a Christian programme you want Ttal? I've heard of Celebrate Recovery.
Home

and setting captives free
Freedom from habitual sin: Overeating, Pornography, Smoking, Drinking

I have no personal experience of either tho.

D

Deuce85

No problem. SOrry for the mix up. No I do not want a Christian program. Just sometimes I feel guilty because I beleive in God, and I still do not like to go to AA.

matt4x4

There are a million programs out there that could probably help you, maybe, who knows. All you got to do is figure out which one has the best odds of success, then work it to the best of your ability. I had to push aside predujice and contempt prior to investigation and stop procrastinating and actually do something that will make my life better. I had to stop doing what I was doing, which was looking for that right course, or looking for that right program, or looking for the right god out there, or waiting for the right time, or just wait until the universe and the stars lined up. I had to search deep down within my own soul, ask myself some cold-hard questions about what I wanted out of life. What I had tried before, didnt work. I had to try something new, that perhaps would work. But I saw that it definately worked in other people. They were happy and sober at the same time. They were laughing and giggling, cracking jokes, they were joyful and sincere. That group of people were A and A'ers as my good AA buddy called them. I felt at home, they were my kind of breed. I heard my story in their story. I wanted to be sober, I needed to be sober, but its all about what I put into it that determines what I get out of it. People can look for a lifetime, under every rock on earth, for the right whatever. Its all about progression, try to get better no matter what. Go to church check it out, go to different churches, different denomintions, try SMART program or this Addictive Voice fellowship I read about only around these parts. You have to try every flavor of the buffet to find the one that suits your taste buds, or that you can atleast swallow and know that its healthy for you, and not some greased layers sugar coated death nugget. The best odds on the block is AA. But you can be predujice all you want, that is apart of the problem. Your sick mind, cannot heal itself. Help must come from a power greater then yourself. If its Yoga and standing on your head, so be it. But try it so you can connect your heart to your head, the longest journey indeed.

Deuce85

I did try AA. Was not for me. Success rates are actually pretty bad in that program. Thank you for your kind words though. Glad to hear it has worked for you, but it is not for me. SMART and RR I did not care for either. I have been sober for two years and plan to continue to be sober. Being happy that is another question. I have OCD and one of the things my OCD uses is telling me I have this incurable disease and I will never be cured without AA even though I cannot go to AA. How do you know that a power greater than yourself has to cure your addiction? I was never comfortable with talking to my higher power about my addiction. Call me weird or whatever. Im not trying to come off as rude. I am really not, but what has worked for you does not work for everyone. Why cannot yourself overcome your addiction without a higher power? Seems to me like people do it everyday. We just do not hear from them. Also please do not call me prejudice against AA. It just is not for me for my own reasons. I do not have any hate towards it. Tried it, and did not care for it. Its like going to a different church you do not care for. Are you prejudice towards that church? I hope not.

Dime

Working the 12 steps of AA only requires a belief in a higher power. I was confused in the beginning about everything and I started out using physics as my higher power.

AA was wonderful because I found tons of friends and meetings everywhere. I needed that badly. Other than AA I found the support here to be wonderful and extremely helpful. Just take action.

Good Luck!

Deuce85

Thanks everyone for your responses.

deeker

never mind misunderstood question.

freshstart57

I have a perfectly good (ha!) higher power, I call Him God. AA was not a good fit for me either.

You said that RR and SMART are not a good fit for you either, and you also say that your OCD tells you things that are not true. If it's your OCD, and not you, then maybe your way forward is to understand the separation that exists, or that may come to exist, between you and OCD.

You are correct in that people recover from their addictions without higher powers every day. I did it, so you are hearing from me now.

Anyway, I think it should be CDO, alphabetical order and all.

fini

Ttal,
I'm a long term member of lifering, a secular recovery peer group with meetings as well as a variety of online venues and literature.
My best buddy there for years was a Christian who wanted to go the secular route of recovery.
And he wasn't nor is the only Christian there who couldn't fit himself into AA or see himself or his alcoholism in the AA paradigm.
You can check it out at The LifeRing Home Page | Sobriety, Secularity, Self-Help

matt4x4

The success rate is more then 75% if you follow it out of the book.
If you want to change it up, mix n match, then ya 3 to 5% are the numbers.

OK so AA didnt work for you, you followed the steps out of the Big Book with a sponsor. So be it. Try something else. SMART had a little success with me, its more a scientific approach. Church and Bible Studies had its moments with me, only around Christmas and New Years.

dSober

I've been to a lot of AA meetings over the years, initially not by choice but by mandate of various authorities. I met a lot of very nice, helpful people there and learned a great deal from AA. I still go to meetings occasionally to keep in touch and fresh. I think I summed up where/how AA helped me get in http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...where-god.html.

dSober

P. S. I did buy into the idea that I needed a Higher Power. I found the Big Book's logic to be irrefutable. I couldn't do it myself therefore I needed a power greater than myself. I just had a lot of trouble finding Him. For those who have already found their God, I highly recommend being open and honest with Him and asking Him for help. I believe He wants to and will.

matt4x4

Christians Who Do Not GO to NA/AA?


..........dont they go to a Christian church?

allforcnm

My husband is Christian, and he didn't go the route of AA/NA. He went to a non 12 step rehab that focused on the use of evidence based treatments like Cognitive therapy, getting to the root cause.. Two years later, he see's his psych doctor once a month, lives an overall healthy life, and is active in our church. I should say our family is active in church...what is there to feel guilty about? Ive never read anything in the bible about AA/NA... ours just says to trust in God.

cleaninLI

Ttal yeah, I understand what you mean. AA/NA wasn't for me either. The higher power concept was NOT the problem either. I have a very strong belief in God I just didn't care for that particular program. Like Allfor said why do you feel it's against your religion to not go to AA/NA? These are not from God. He never said," though shalt not seek any other recovery program besides AA/NA!"
Try different programs and see what works for you. If you've been clean and sober for 2 years then you must be doing something right! Carry on with whatever you are doing....it's working for you.

dSober

Whatever works. My problem with AA was Step 3. Tried as I did, I couldn't find God. It took me years of suffering (mine and those around me) before I can now honestly say I feel Him.

Others "get hung up" on other steps. Step 9 for instance; making amends. I didn't do them in order. But I realized just a couple nights ago, after I did find my Higher Power, that I've been picking through all 12 steps all along. He showed me that.

There are some rigid recovering addicts in AA. They know what worked for them and just want to share the wealth, per step 12. Others, like myself, are not so rigid. I know what's working for me and that's what I'm sharing, as flexibly as I can.

luvmyserenity

Personally I enjoy both AA/NA meetings and Celebrate Recovery. However, it took me a while to understand the fact that any one of the three can vary greatly in how they are run. There can be fairly significant variations of procedures depending on times of meetings , locations, and the type of religious denomination involved (Celebrate Recovery).I am a fairly liberal Christian and try to avoid theocracy in any form. Maybe that is why I found that varying my meetings made my recovery much more enjoyable. Also was fortunate to have had excellent sponsors.

dSober

I went to church this morning. Thanks to my next door neighbor, I believe I've found a church I like very much. I now consider myself to now be a very liberal, non-denominational Christina and NJ Church - Christian contemporary non-denominational church in New Jersey is right up my alley.

I also just got back from an AA meeting at a Catholic church in my neighborhood. I've been going there, and many other AAQ mtgs., off and on, for years.

AA has done me a ton of good. It took me a long understand the 12 steps AND to fully buy into step 3; finding God:
http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...where-god.html

I intend to continue with both and with SR. I want to maintain and enhance all the spirituality I can get and deepen my understanding of the problems and solutions of addiction to substances and any other obsession. I believe that addiction is rooted in a spiritual malady (A.A. Recovery - The Missing Piece: The Spiritual Malady) and the best way to address it, permanently, is to fix that malady.