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The 12 Step Program Doesn’t Work For Everyone (But There Are Alternatives) Are you looking for alternative options to a 12 step program?

The 12 Step Program Doesn’t Work For Everyone (But There Are Alternatives) Are you looking for alternative options to a 12 step program?
 This post was originally published on the Partnership for Drug-Free Kids’ Parent Blog.
Are you looking for alternative options to a 12 step program?
Do you see the value of knowing all possibilities when it comes to making a positive change?
It’s so important for people to know and understand there are options to fit their needs. One kind of recovery plan doesn’t fit everyone.
While the 12-Step program has helped many, there is no one (or right) way to “do” treatment or long-term recovery. It is important that people don’t avoid treatment because they believe a 12 step program is the only way. Often, it can be a combination of several options that provide the best results.
 
Let’s inform people about all recovery support programs!
 
A person’s successful recovery happens because the program fits their needs. It is not what works best for the treatment facility.
 
I spoke to a mother recently, who mentioned her son was failing because he could not embrace AA. This is an example of how people can feel funneled into a program that doesn’t work for them. Many people are not given options that make sense for their particular situation.
 
There are many alternative treatment support programs for people seeking recovery. While the 12 step program works for many,  it is not the only way.
 
Some people are not comfortable with the spiritual aspect of 12 step programs. The lifetime abstinence prescription may not be a not good fit for everyone. Some people may not want to label themselves as an alcoholic.
 
People have different reasons for not being willing to follow a 12 step plan. The important thing is to find what works for you.
 
For some, harm reduction may prove to be the answer. Everyone’s situation is different.
 
There are many options available for treatment and ongoing support. Alternative groups are available that can help you stay in long-term recovery.
 
What does it matter that we take different roads, so long as we reach the same goal? ~ Gandhi
 
Here are some alternative options that offer support for those seeking recovery.

Community Reinforcement and Family Training (CRAFT)

CRAFT is an evidence-based, proven approach to helping family members of substance abusers.
The approach has three goals:
  • to teach you skills to take care of yourself;
  • to teach you skills you can use to help your loved one change;
  • to reduce substance use, period, whether your loved one gets formal treatment or not.
CRAFT helps parents motivate their sons or daughters to change. The approach focuses on collaboration and kindness rather than confrontation and conflict.

Learn more about CRAFT at The Center for Motivation and Change, and by reading:

  • The Parents 20 Minute Guide
  • Beyond Addiction: How Science and Kindness Help People Change
  • Get Your Loved One Sober: Alternatives to Nagging, Pleading, and Threatening

SMART Recovery® – Discover the Power of Choice!

SMART Recovery offers local meetings, daily online meetings as well as message boards and a 24/7 chat room. They offer publications for those wanting more information about the program.

The SMART Recovery 4-Point Program offers tools and techniques for each program point:

  • Building and Maintaining Motivation
  • Coping with Urges
  • Managing Thoughts, Feelings and Behaviors
  • Living a Balanced Life
  Local meetings, daily online meetings as well as message boards and a 24/7 chat room are offered, with publications available for those wanting more information about the program and want to receive addiction recovery support.

SMART Recovery’s Toll-Free Number is 866-951-5357.

Online Family & Friends Meetings are Monday at 9:00 PM ET, and Thursday at 1:30 PM ET.  Local meetings are held in various cities throughout the country and Canada.

Women For Sobriety 

Women For Sobriety, Inc. is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping women overcome alcoholism and other addictions. It is the first national self-help program for women alcoholics.

Dr. Jean Kirkpatrick founded Women For Sobriety, Inc. in 1975. What amazed Dr. Kirkpatrick is not that she was an alcoholic, but that in all the years of her drinking, not once was she diagnosed as an alcoholic.

From the beginning, she felt that women struggling with alcohol had the same problems she did. They had little or no self-esteem, depression, loneliness and excessive feelings of guilt. She knew that she had found a way to overcome these feelings and felt she could help other women.

Women For Sobriety, Inc. has received over thousands of letters from women and their families. Women do have special problems in recovery. In order for them to have lasting sobriety, programs must address these needs.

From the beginning, she felt that women struggling with alcohol had the same problems she did. They had little or no self-esteem, depression, loneliness and excessive feelings of guilt. She knew that she had found a way to overcome these feelings and felt she could help other women.

WFS has been providing services to women alcoholics since July 1976. They have self-help groups all across this country and abroad.

Use the Contact Form for WFS to learn more.

Assisted Recovery Centers of America

Assisted Recovery Centers of America’s website states that the program combines:

  • The use of safe, effective medications that stop the craving and obsession with alcohol, and opiate drugs to support the repair of brain chemistry which has been gradually impaired by alcohol and or opiate abuse.
  • Treatment and talk therapy which includes extensive one-on-one counseling and therapy grounded group meetings. Treatment focuses on the whole person and emphasizes learning how to deal effectively with the underlying issues that lead to, and perpetuate addictive behaviors.
 Assisted Recovery Centers of Arizona was born in response to the need for an evidence-based treatment option.

Assisted Recovery states that they are not Anti-AA, but they believe in anything that works and that individuals should have a variety of choices from which to choose.

Contact Assisted Recovery in the Phoenix area at (602) 264-7897 or Toll-Free: (800) 527-5344

Life Ring – Empower Your Sober Self

Life Ring is a network of positive support groups for living free of alcohol and other “drugs.”

“Imagine that inside of each person who is struggling with drug and/or alcohol issues, there is a conflict between a voice that wants to keep drinking/using, and another voice that wants to be free of the drug and lead a better life. We abbreviate these voices as the “A” (the addict self) and the “S” (the sober self).

After each meeting, the “S” in each person is stronger than before. At some point, the person experiences a transformation. The “S” grows stronger than the “A” and rises to the top.

This “S-to-S” connection is the engine of the LifeRing recovery process that they practice in their meetings, both in person and online. They call it “Empowering Your Sober Self.”

The LifeRing process is strength-based; it works by positive reinforcement of qualities that you already have. You can find a meeting, books, brochures and other information by visiting their website.

Contact Life Ring in the California area at 510-763-0779 or Toll-Free: 1-800-811-4142

Moderation Management

Moderation Management (MM) is a behavioral change program and national support group network for people concerned about their drinking and who desire to make positive lifestyle changes. MM empowers individuals to accept personal responsibility for choosing and maintaining their own path, whether moderation or abstinence. MM promotes early self-recognition of risky drinking behavior when moderate drinking is a more easily achievable goal.

The program agrees that no one solution is best for all people with drinking problems. There are many possible solutions available to each individual. MM suggests that each person finds the solution that is best for him or her.

MM is a good place to begin to address a drinking problem. If MM proves to be an ineffective solution, the individual is encouraged to progress to a more radical solution.

Contact MM to find out more.

What is important is that there are many paths to recovery. Find the one that works for you.

 

 

Robin Star2018-02-09T22:05:41+00:00

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