Can You Stay Sober Without AA?

It doesn’t mean they’ll never maintain long term sobriety, that they’ll never successfully stop drinking. They’re told they’ll stay stuck in the drinking cycle if they don’t go to AA meetings. The twelve steps is the only way to get sober and stay sober. They’ll continue drinking if they don’t do sobriety “right”. The article discusses the importance of self-help approaches in achieving sobriety without AA.

• Honesty promotes trust among peers, aids in building strong bond, promotes healthy coping mechanisms, and enables us to take accountability for our feelings, thoughts, and actions.
• Seeing a mental health professional can be a great asset, especially if you are diagnosed with a mental illness (or suspect that you might be).
• The social aspect of groups like Alcoholics Anonymous can add a pleasant camaraderie that highlights that you are far from the only person struggling with alcoholism.
• Meetings are closed by joining hands and reciting the WFS motto of competency, strength, and group support.
• Scroll through our blog so you can access the latest advice.

It can be as simple as your existing friend group who checks in on each other through text, or commiserating with online strangers on a sobriety memes account on social media. All that matters is that it’s a group of individuals you feel comfortable enough sharing your struggles with and can relate to. The best way forward for your recovery from alcohol or substance use is to incorporate a wide variety of strategies that will help foster success.

Anyone Can Learn How to Stay Sober Without AA

Are you seeking a path to sobriety without attending Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meetings? These empowering approaches will guide you https://ecosoberhouse.com/ towards a healthier, alcohol-free life. AA has more than 2 million members worldwide in over 100,000 locally supported groups.

Levine proposes that Buddhism is ideally suited to target addiction, since transcending suffering and “nonattachment” are at its core. Levine published the book Refuge Recovery in 2014, and since then groups and meetings have been popping up all over the U.S. as well as in Canada, Denmark, Finland, and the UK. There are also online and phone-in meetings for those who can’t make it to any of the physical locations. Understanding the risks of alcohol and the signs of alcoholism can be a powerful motivator to stay sober. Educate yourself about the long-term physical and psychological effects of alcohol abuse. For many people with a substance use disorder, it’s simply a matter of never having learned the appropriate way to manage anger.

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Anger is a normal and natural emotion, but how you deal with it will make a difference in maintaining your recovery. Having a chaotic or disorganized lifestyle can also hinder your recovery. It’s important to develop a structured daily and weekly schedule and stick to it. Hosted by therapist Amy Morin, LCSW, this episode of The Verywell Mind Podcast shares how to avoid repeating mistakes and build better habits. If PAWS is severe or if you’re experiencing prolonged symptoms, a medical professional can help you work through them and remain in recovery without relapse. However, research suggests that while 12-step groups are effective, people often don’t continue their involvement at beneficial levels over the long term.

• After all, you can’t hang around your drug dealer or old drinking buddies and expect to remain sober for very long.
• They provide practical tools that foster resilience against relapses while promoting overall well-being beyond just abstinence from alcohol consumption.
• Stability is something that both support groups and formal drug treatment strongly encourage their members to establish by creating a routine.
• A mental health professional can help you cope with some of the challenges you’ll face on your path to sobriety.

Similarly, if you’d like to be sober but aren’t sure if you can do it 100%, you are already on the right path. Yes, we can share in their joy and be proud of their path, but remember that there is no only way to do this. Every single path to recovery, even those that require the assistance of others, is deeply personal. Write your blog posts, eat your cake, and put yourself on the pedestal for a while. The people who cannot understand your moments of pride in sobriety aren’t the ones you need around you anyways.

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SOS-supported groups are nonprofessional and offer a healthy network of individuals with the similar goal of sobriety. SMART Recovery programs offer both local in-person meetings and online support through a 24/7 chat board and daily online meetings. SMART Recovery programs avoid labels, such as “alcoholic,” and shy away from the disease model of addiction. They focus on methods that use both Motivational Enhancement Therapy and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy components to engender change of self-destructive behaviors. The SMART in SMART Recovery stands for Self Management and Recovery Training. It’s a worldwide support network and arguably the leading alternative to AA.

• These empowering approaches will guide you towards a healthier, alcohol-free life.
• Instead, MM focuses on helping people to manage problematic drinking and behaviors that are destructive, aiding in encouraging positive lifestyle changes.
• You may also need to change your route to work or home in order to avoid any triggers, or people, places, or things that make you want to use drugs or drink again.
• Their expertise and support will equip you with the skills to cope with cravings, triggers, and emotional struggles.
• These online meetings are based on Buddhist principles and provide a supportive community for individuals in recovery.
• SOS provides individuals with alternatives to spirituality-based recovery programs.

It targets neurotransmitters involved in alcohol dependence, such as glutamate and GABA, providing support for a successful recovery journey. Group therapy is a powerful therapeutic tool that offers a unique opportunity for individuals to come together and support each other while discussing their issues. It typically involves a group of 6 to 12 clients who meet regularly with one or two group therapists and is especially effective in treating substance abuse.

Find Rehabs Near You With Alternatives to AA

The method’s simple but smart ideology has you taking joy in the pain of quitting as evidence of the death of your Beast. Thailand’s Thamkrabok Monastery has been called “the toughest drug rehabilitation regime in the world.” It doesn’t accept re-entry—one strike and you’re out. Alcoholics Anonymous meetings have been beneficial to many people who are affected by alcohol. However, these meetings may not fulfil the needs of everyone. Below are ways you can quit drinking without this mutual fellowship. In the absence of alcohol, developing healthy coping mechanisms is essential for effectively managing stress and emotions.

Research shows that if you maintain these types of toxic relationships, your chances of relapsing are greater. To avoid relapse and remain sober, it’s important to develop healthy relationships. It is estimated that up to 80% of those who find long-term sobriety had at least one relapse along the way.

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If these emotions become excessive, they can hold you back from recovery. If you are trying to maintain a  sober lifestyle, those feelings can become toxic and contribute to relapse if you don’t deal with them properly. People in recovery from a substance use disorder frequently have problems meeting work-related responsibilities, maintaining employment, and managing money. If you were active in your addiction for a period of time, you may have developed financial problems. Now that you are sober, you may have discovered that some of your past relationships were not only unhealthy but downright toxic. It’s not just your drinking buddies and drug dealers who can get you into trouble—sometimes those who are closest to you can contribute to a relapse.

I don’t even think it’s possible to love and believe in yourself 100% of the time. Regardless of the difference in our needs, the most important thing is that we just don’t drink. Your sobriety is your own, and how you do it is entirely up to you. In AA specifically, meeting people who have lived through relapse and recovery cycles is common.