sober
12 Step Program

How Gentle is a 12 Step Program?

Being gentle and being kind, especially to oneself, are in many ways at the heart of recovery from alcoholism but often get overlooked by a more macho do-or-die culture. Early Recovery It is probably fair […]

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12 Step Program

When Alcohol Stops Working ………..

One of the benefits of going to meetings while getting sober is that people hear stories that help them understand their own alcoholism, even if they don’t fully understand it at the time. One of […]

sober
12 Step Program

Al-Anon

Al-Anon is perhaps the 12 step fellowship most closely associated with Alcoholics Anonymous. In the early days of AA virtually all members were men, and their wives would go with them to meetings and normally […]

sober
12 Step Program

Rehabs and Treatment Centers

Many people who get sober do so in a rehab or treatment center. Many people are familiar with the idea of a rehab, but perhaps less clear about what happens there. Most rehabs are residential, […]

sober
12 Step Program

What is an Inner Voice?

When people talk about an inner voice in the context of spirituality, they are normally referring to an inner intuitive sense of direction in their life. This sense of there being an inner world, and […]

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12 Step Program

Acceptance and Surrender

It has become almost something of a cliche in society nowadays to use the adage that you cannot cope with a problem unless you first admit it. Not that this is a new or novel […]

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12 Step Program

The Need to Question Gratitude

Quite often in an AA meeting or similar, you will hear someone announce themselves as my name is so-and-so and I’m a grateful alcoholic/ addict, or I’m a grateful recovering alcoholic/addict. Equally, you are quite […]

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12 Step Program

The Myth of Tough Love

Tough love is one of those expressions that has crept into the vocabulary of mental health and 12-step recovery in recent years. It sort of implies that an action or directive is being given or […]

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12 Step Program

Why People Struggle with Being Vulnerable

People quite often like to categorise emotions as being good or bad, with emotions such as anger and self-pity being thought of as bad or weak. Emotions such as gratitude and a positive outlook are […]

sober
12 Step Program

What Does it Mean to Respect Boundaries?

Quite a simple question in many ways, but one that many people struggle with, both in terms of trying to set boundaries of their own, and dealing with other people who don’t respect, or don’t […]