4 Ways I Stay Sober Without AA

Whether you’re trying to quit drinking or you’re already sober, Tempest combines a personalized approach to recovery with membership and one-on-one support to help you make a lasting change. Most addiction treatment centers recommend at least 90 days of sober living before returning home.

• Studies show that certain brain chemicals play a role in addiction.
• Of all the things that support my sobriety, one of the most critical is knowing that there are sober people are all around me, inside and outside formal programs like AA.
• Even if you choose not to do AA, that doesn’t mean you have to fight your addiction alone.
• Our website is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
• The most impactful and beneficial aspect of Alcoholics Anonymous or a drug program is the community.
• Relapse of any chronic diseases, like asthma and diabetes, can and do occur throughout a person’s lifetime.

The yucky way alcohol makes me feel is reason enough not to drink. I avoid refined sugar and processed foods because of how crummy my body feels after eating them — why should alcohol be any different?

Partial Hospitalization Programs (PHPs)

Additionally, according to Scott Lilienfeld and Hal Arkowitz writing for The Scientific American, 40% of AA attendees drop out. There is a big difference between Alcoholics Anonymous and rehab programs, and it’s important to find a program that fits your needs and meets your expectations. Here are a few other things you can look into, if you are finding that AA is not fulfilling your needs. Some AA meetings focus on the Twelve Steps and encourage members to discuss how they have applied each step to their lives.

The community reinforces that it’s okay to fail so long as you get back up again, which makes it feel non-judgmental and supportive. Forever35 is a podcast between two best friends that has sprouted many Facebook groups—but none quite as moving as the Forever35 Sober group. The community of mostly women is for supporting each other through the sobriety journey, wherever you are in the process. One of the nicest parts of this community is it focuses on recovery writ large. So, if you need sobriety support from harder drugs or other issues, then you might just feel at home here.

Using the Internet to Stay Sober Without AA

A main reason 12-step works is it sets you up with a new social scene, full of folks just like yourself. If you choose to quit drinking without AA, it’s important to consider your current social scene and whether or not you’d like to change that. If you need sober friends and don’t do support groups, Meetuphas great local activities that will allow you to get out of the bars and meet people in positive environments. During inpatient addiction treatment, you might have gone through detox and learned about co-occurring mental health issues related to alcohol and substance use disorders. After treatment, getting back into the real world can be scary.

Other people hang powerful quotations around their homes. This may give them the courage to make it through their days without drinking.

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It is estimated that up to 80% of those who find long-term sobriety had at least one relapse along the stay sober without aa way. John C. Umhau, MD, MPH, CPE is board-certified in addiction medicine and preventative medicine.

• Many courts will require documented attendance at a recovery meeting to meet pre-sentencing or pre-trial requirements.
• When we aren’t posting here, we build programs to help people quit drinking.
• AA does not, nor has it ever claimed to be the one-and-only cure-all for alcoholism.
• This kind of soul searching can be scary at times—but it’s also thrilling.

The basic premise of this model is that those in recovery can help one another achieve and maintain sobriety, but that inner healing cannot be achieved unless they surrender to a higher power. As Workit Health’s VP of Marketing, Kali Luxleans in to the culture gap between addiction, recovery, and medicine. She’s interested in finding solutions that work for substance users better than drinking or drugging does, and believes Workit is one of them. She’s written extensively on her own experience through addiction into long-term recovery. My own company, Workit Health, has created our own recovery meeting format, called Workit Together. These meetings focus on personally defined self-care goals.

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Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy. Learn that you have choices and that you can maintain control. If any area of your life is out of control, it will not help you maintain lasting sobriety.