We have a responsibility to do whatever we can — even if that means pointing someone to an alternative (non-12-step) pathway of recovery. I’ve lost count of the number of conversations I’ve had with people who are frightened to leave 12-step fellowships. They contact me because they heard that I left Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics… Continue reading 5 Myths About Leaving 12-Step Fellowships
Tag: AA alternatives
My Experience in a 12-Step Cult
As part of my therapy I had to cut contact with my family and tell my professors I was recovering from sexual abuse. It was excruciating, but I wanted to do the “hard work” of recovery. “If you leave here, you will be on the street.” From her red upholstered chair, my psychotherapist Marlene launched… Continue reading My Experience in a 12-Step Cult
Is There Life After AA?
I was fed up with the fear-based conditioning of being told that if I left, I wouldn’t stay sober, and I was tired of the constant message that my future was up to some mystic higher power. When I walked into my first AA meeting, I felt like I was broken into a million pieces.… Continue reading Is There Life After AA?
More Than One Way to Recover: A Guide of Pathways
Regardless of how we achieved recovery, it is our responsibility as members of the recovery community to better inform ourselves (and others) of the other options out there rather than suggesting that our way is the only way. We live in a country where 45 million American families are affected by addiction. The statistics are… Continue reading More Than One Way to Recover: A Guide of Pathways
