AA alternatives

Anyone have any suggestions of other in person meeting groups that aren’t AA? Looking for something non religious.

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SMART (Self-Management and Recovery Therapy) is a big one. Refuge Recovery is another. There's quite a few more I'm forgetting...I'll think of em later I'm sure
Good luck!

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Emily, I am an atheist and here in Cleveland as well as many cities there are secular AA meetings. No god/religion etc. They have been great for me.

There is also The Satanic Temple Sober Faction. They do online meetings. They are a really great organization. Nothing to do with Satan, and they also are battling a lot of conservative groups on women's reproductive rights, as well as religious programs in schools. Worth looking into.

There is also The Sober She Devils, a women's AA group, also non religious.

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SMART Recovery. I’m a facilitator, let me know if you have questions. Go to smartrecovery dot org.

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I did EMDR which is an intense therapy that deals with prior trauma. It is intense, but not that many sessions and worked better than any meetings or steps ever could. Please do your own research and consult professionals. These are just suggestions

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Great info! Thanks so much :heart:

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Appreciate it!!

Thanks Brad!

In larger cities there are non God as you understand God meetings. I hope no matter what --you find meetings where you can sit, listen and invest you entire being. For me it was any meetings, at any time of day or night. I didn't have the luxury of fitting the meeting to me.
Emily I hope you find your seat. Keep sharing and looking...

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Hi! You know it doesn’t have to be a religious thing. GOD can mean Good Orderly Direction, or Group Of Drunks. The only absolute is that you have a desire to stop drinking. If you DON’T DRINK AND GO TO MEETINGS you’ll have success. Listen to the Group of Drunks., stay out of your head!

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Refuge recovery. Don’t know much about it but hear it’s good

Smart Recovery, Recovery Dharma (Buddhist based, meditation, mindfulness), Co-Dependents Anonymous (I believe all addicts can benefit from this). It can be really hard to find in-person alternatives. It all depends where you live. When I lived in So-Cal there were tons, but here in Central MA it's pretty much only classic AA/ NA

Lifering

There are a couple secular AA groups on the Cape and in Salem there is the sober faction of the satanic temple which is pretty cool.

So I know for myself personally, when I was first getting sober I looked at all the differences. My first AA meeting was awful!!! They were all old men, smoking like a chimney, talking about God and how they were REAL ALCOHOLICS :joy: and how everything that happened to them would happen to me if I didn’t keep coming back. My 29 year old self thought they were crazy!!!! At that time in my life I just wanted someone to teach me how to act right when I drank and I wanted custody of my children and I WAS PISSED OFF AT GOD!!! Now I am 55 years old and after sitting and listening in all kinds of meeting and allowing people to help me, I realized it wasn’t the cult I thought it was. Higher Power???? What is that??? Every single group I go too they wanted me to use a power greater than myself. If it were A tree, a door knob, the people in the room, Satan, Mother Nature, God. A higher power…a power other than myself. That is what AA has and every other 12 step program taught me through out my journey and I feel really blessed that I finally came to the realization that this is what they were talking about. Not that I had to choose theirs.

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Repeating what others already mentioned - look for Agnostic or Secular AA meetings. Agnostic AA NYC has a list of online meetings as well as a link to a worldwide list of secular meetings.

In my experience, being in the rooms and hearing from others is an effective way to stay sober. You can do this :heart::purple_heart::yellow_heart:

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Everything you do program wise is going to have some sort of spirituality aspect to it. I do go to in person AA meetings and I am new to being a believer but that works for me (I say that because lots of people will argue about that with me). This is your sobriety don’t forget that. With that being said I do tunes of  alternate meetings through a program called Lionrock Recovery and I love the community program the offer there, I would look into it between AA and the community at Lionrock it’s saved my life, but once again that’s my perspective.

Emily, it has been my 19 plus year experience that those who seek alternative methods to AA fail and wind up dead or in prison….85 years and counting …thats the age of AA. The big book is the second most published book in the history of mankind….right behind the Bible…make friends get out of yourself and you will become amazing!

Have you tried Narcotics Anonymous?
"NA is a simple spiritual, not religious, program of recovery."

The Phoenix app. You meet up do activities like volleyball, rock climbing ect.