It would be a product of false pride to claim that A.A. is a cure-all, even for alcoholism. AS BILL SEES IT, p. 285
In my early years of sobriety I was full of pride, thinking that A.A. was the only source of treatment for a good and happy life. It certainly was the basic ingredient for my sobriety and even today, with over twelve years in the program, I am very involved in meetings, sponsorship and service. During the first four years of my recovery, I found it necessary to seek professional help, since my emotional health was extremely poor. There are those folks too, who have found sobriety and happiness in other organizations. A.A. taught me that I had a choice: to go to any lengths to enhance my sobriety. A.A. may not be a cure-all for everything, but it is the center of my sober living.
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Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass... It's about learning to dance in the rain.
I should say, that I have indeed met quite a number of people who have used only AA in their lives, and that has been enough. But for some of us, namely ME.... therapy has been a terrific partner-tool to the program.
So glad that our precious program allows for us to get any help we need.
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~~"It's hard to be hateful when you're grateful."~~
A rare topic, but a good one. Sobriety must be at the base of our recovery and AA supports that as good or better (best that I know of) than any other, but it wasn't enough for this alcoholic/addict/codependent/acoa. I really had a lot problems (still do just not as many ) when I came into these rooms. I couldn't get sober, for 2 years, while I was in a dysfunctional marriage and I was having trouble staying sober after the marriage was over. Most of my relapses began with doing drugs, so I started attending NA meetings to confront my denial about being an addict. I still introduce myself in either AA or NA as "Dean, an alcoholic, and a drug addict" to remind myself that my disease has many heads.
I did see a therapist for 6 months at that time, and I was fortunate to have attended a codependents annon meeting by accident (though I was actually planning to check one out my HP got me there a bit sooner) and realized that I had a lot of Coda issues that were interfering with my sobriety. I believe today that I might not have gotten sober without the relief from these issues, and I might have gotten (would) into another sick relationship and drank over it.
For the first 3 years of my sobriety, I was renting a house from my father, the same house that I had lived in during my marriage. Of course, with my father being an alcoholic, I was having issues with him as well that were almost on a daily basis. I kept hearing people in the Coda meetings speaking about ACOA issues, checked them out and I had just as many issues there. These issues were the at the core of my shame and low self esteem. I've gotten a tremendous amount of help from that program as well and it led me to read many related books and attend a few seminars... All of that is highly integrated within my sobriety because I attended those meetings simulatneously within the first 3 years of my sobriety. It is recommended that we get a go handle on your sobriety first before tackling these other issues.
The founders of our AA program knew that AA was not the end of our recovery road but just the beginning. They really were on the cutting edge of all that was available, constantly seeking to be the best that they could be and wanting the same for us. The biggest trap we can get ourselves into is believing, after a year or two of sobriety that "If you didn't take a drink today, you're a winner". We must strive to continue to improve our health mentally, physically, and spiritually with all the resources that are available to use. As with an old house there is lots of work to do, room by room.
) when I came into these rooms. I couldn't get sober, for 2 years, while I was in a dysfunctional marriage and I was having trouble staying sober after the marriage was over. Most of my relapses began with doing drugs, so I started attending NA meetings to confront my denial about being an addict. I still introduce myself in either AA or NA as "Dean, an alcoholic, and a drug addict" to remind myself that my disease has many heads.