Lena Savoie
Alcohol support groups are a safe space for individuals to discuss their alcohol use disorder and any challenges they face. These groups can help people form coping skills and strategies that may prevent them from relapsing. Here are three support groups that address the problems of alcoholics:
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Name | Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) |
| Description | A peer support group for alcohol addiction, also known as a mutual self-help group or recovery support group. |
| Benefits | Provides hope, strength, and encouragement on the road to sobriety. Offers a safe space for individuals to be open and honest about their alcohol use disorder and any challenges they face. |
| Format | Scheduled gatherings of people who want to overcome their alcohol abuse issues and develop healthier habits. Meetings might be online or in-person, and a group facilitator often guides participants through discussions or activities. |
| Effectiveness | Research shows a correlation between participation in AA and reduced drinking and cravings. AA has helped more than two million alcoholics stop drinking. |
| Name | SMART Recovery |
| Description | A scientific approach to overcoming addiction, broken down into four phases: Motivating yourself, coping with urges and cravings, managing thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, and living a balanced life. |
| Benefits | Offers science-based methods to help people abstain from alcohol use. Provides a flexible four-step plan with different options to suit different circumstances. |
| Format | In-person and online meetings. |
| Effectiveness | Research suggests that support groups can lead to complete abstinence from alcohol use and provide benefits similar to other interventions. |
| Name | Women for Sobriety |
| Description | A program for people who identify as women and are experiencing alcohol use disorder. |
| Benefits | Teaches recovery tools focusing on self-esteem and spiritual and emotional growth. Encourages lifelong development through its 13 Acceptance Statements. |
| Format | Not specified. |
| Effectiveness | Not specified. |
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What You'll Learn
Alcoholics Anonymous (AA)
AA meetings might be online or in person, and a group facilitator often guides participants through discussions or activities. AA is a nonclinical approach to alcohol abuse and addiction, but it can have many benefits. Research shows a correlation between participation in AA and reduced drinking and cravings. However, because peer support is often combined with other interventions, such as psychotherapy, it can be challenging to assess how much AA contributes to a person's recovery. The effectiveness of AA may depend on factors such as attendance and engagement.
AA's philosophy is outlined in its foundational text, "Alcoholics Anonymous," which was published in 1939. The text also introduced the Twelve Steps and included the case histories of 30 individuals who had achieved recovery. The Twelve Steps were influenced by the Oxford Group's six steps and various readings, including William James's "The Varieties of Religious Experience."
AA has faced some criticism over the years. Concerns have been raised about its overall success rate, the religious nature of its approach, and allegations of cult-like elements, including "thirteenth-stepping," where senior members engage romantically with newer members. However, AA has helped many individuals achieve sobriety and continues to be a popular support group for those struggling with alcoholism.
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Dual Recovery Anonymous
The programme helps individuals recover from both chemical dependency and emotional or psychiatric illness by focusing on relapse prevention and actively improving the quality of their lives. DRA members are encouraged to build a strong personal support network, which may include support from chemical dependency or mental health treatment facilities, medical or social service professionals, and spiritual or religious assistance in addition to other 12-step or self-help groups.
The DRA approach to dual recovery is based on a set of suggestions for recovery rather than a set of rules. They encourage individuals to find their own personal recovery, the one that is most meaningful to them. The programme is worked on a day-by-day basis, with members committing to being free of alcohol and other intoxicating drugs, following a healthy plan to manage their emotional or psychiatric illness, and practising the Twelve Steps to the best of their ability.
The primary purpose of DRA is to help one another achieve dual recovery, prevent relapse, and carry the message of recovery to others who experience dual disorders. DRA has similarities to Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) in that it is a 12-step programme, but it focuses specifically on individuals with a dual diagnosis of chemical dependency and emotional or psychiatric illness.
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SMART Recovery
The SMART Recovery program is based on a 4-Point Program that helps individuals develop a safe, sober, and healthy lifestyle after rehab. The four points are:
- Motivation: After rehab, it is important to focus on ways to motivate yourself to maintain sobriety.
- Coping with urges: Temptations to drink are a part of the recovery process, and it is up to the individual to determine how they will handle certain situations and overcome impulses.
- Managing thoughts, feelings, and behaviours: SMART Recovery programs use an exercise called the ABCs to help individuals recognise and overcome various triggers. This exercise helps people analyse situations that may arise and learn how to modify their thinking and behavioural patterns.
- Lifestyle: SMART Recovery emphasizes psychoeducation and the development of self-management tools. The handbooks are full of tools, exercises, and practical information that can be applied immediately.
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Women for Sobriety
The WFS New Life Program is based largely on the writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson, particularly his essay "Self-Reliance", and the Unity Movement of New Thought, in addition to Kirkpatrick's personal experience, knowledge of sociology, and experience in AA. The program is built on 13 affirmations that encourage members to change their self-image and worldview. These affirmations include statements such as "I have a life-threatening problem that once had me. I now take charge of my life and disease. I accept the responsibility." Members are encouraged to avoid labelling themselves as alcoholics or addicts and instead refer to themselves as competent women.
The fundamental problem that the program aims to address is low self-esteem, which is culturally reinforced in women more than in men, necessitating a different treatment approach for women. The program focuses on responsibility rather than powerlessness, self-esteem rather than humility, and thinking rather than surrender. While WFS, like AA, encourages meditation and spirituality, sobriety is not viewed as dependent on a Higher Power.
WFS meetings are run by moderators with at least one year of continuous sobriety who are familiar with the program and certified by WFS headquarters in Quakertown, Pennsylvania. According to a survey conducted in 1991, the average WFS member is 46 years old, white, has been sober for 4.5 years, and is married with 1.8 children. About one-third of members are Protestant, another third are Catholic, and about one-fifth have no religious affiliation. Two-thirds have attended college, more than half are employed, and half have been sober for less than two years.
WFS can be used alone or combined with other treatment methods. It provides tools and support for women to heal from their addiction and thrive in their recovery. It empowers women to shift from feeling at the mercy of their negative thoughts to using positive thinking to create a fulfilling life. The program is flexible and grows with the members as they progress in their recovery. In addition to local meetings, WFS offers online message boards and chats for those who cannot attend in-person gatherings.
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Secular Organizations for Sobriety (SOS)
SOS was founded by James Christopher, who had struggled with alcoholism since his teenage years. He originally sought help from AA but was uncomfortable with its emphasis on God and spirituality. In 1985, he wrote an article titled "Sobriety Without Superstition" for Free Inquiry, in which he detailed his frustrations with AA and shared his own developing program for recovery. The article received hundreds of responses, and Christopher organized the first SOS meeting in November 1986 in North Hollywood, California. Meetings continue to be held at the Center for Inquiry in Los Angeles and other locations. Christopher has maintained his sobriety since 1978.
SOS recognizes that both genetic and environmental factors contribute to addiction but allows each member to decide whether they consider alcoholism a disease. The organization holds that alcoholics can recover from addictive behaviors, but relapse is always possible. The program is based on the Suggested Guidelines for Sobriety, which emphasize rational decision-making and are not religious or spiritual in nature. SOS members are encouraged to make abstinence their top priority and to follow a daily, three-part Cycle of Sobriety: acknowledging their addiction, accepting their addiction, and prioritizing sobriety.
A survey of SOS members conducted in 1996 found that the organization attracted predominantly secular members, with 70% having no current religious affiliation and 70% identifying as atheists or agnostics. The majority of respondents were employed, white, male, and over the age of 40. Abstinence was the reported goal of 86% of members, with 70% currently abstinent and 16% "mostly abstinent." SOS members may also attend AA meetings, but SOS does not view spirituality or surrendering to a higher power as necessary for maintaining abstinence. SOS respects recovery in all forms and is often used in conjunction with other forms of recovery support.
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