Support Groups

What are support groups?

Whether a person is new to recovery or he or she has been recovering from alcohol or chemical dependence for years, a support group is crucial. The types of support groups can vary from professionally led therapeutic groups, 12 Step groups or religious support groups.

People with long term sobriety generally use a combination of support groups to maintain and deepen their recovery. They will attend a 12 Step program such as Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), Narcotics Anonymous (NA), etc., group therapy, and/or a religious-based group. Sometimes all three are utilized while other times only one may be used, such as regular attendance at a 12 Step meeting.

Recovering addicts and alcoholics use these support groups to deal with daily life issues as well as to learn from other recovering people. Many times healthy, long-term friendships will develop among members of a support group. This fellowship helps support group members maintain their recovery.

The Need for Support Groups

The rationale for utilizing support groups is simple. Every addict or alcoholic in recovery understands that staying sober and/or clean requires the help and feedback of other like minded people. Life as an active addict was centered around getting high, messed up, or drunk. Using was the sole purpose for living. Nothing else could penetrate that reality.

Once the drugs and alcohol are stopped, the reality of life can be overwhelming. Daily life circumstances present everyone with a range of experiences and emotions. The danger of an alcoholic or addict trying to negotiate the rapidly changing moments of life alone leaves him or her vulnerable to picking up. Thus, a support group helps the alcohol and addict stay focused on sobriety while learning how to apply healthy coping skills in any life situation.

Life can seem both exhilarating and overwhelming. Strength, courage, and hope are derived from the support of others.

The Value of 12 Step Programs

In 12 Step Programs, attendees hear how a person can live through cravings without picking up a drink or a drug, live through the loss of a job, the joy of birth, the trauma of a divorce or the death of a loved one and still maintain sobriety. Attendees can hear about those who relapse and manage to return to recovery absorbing what happened, why it happened, and what it was like during the relapse. But, they can also hear about those who relapsed and did not return to recovery or those who relapsed and died. Powerful lessons abound in the 12 Step rooms.

According to the authors of “The Theory of 12 Step-Oriented Treatment”, the sense of community one gets from support groups such as AA or NA is invaluable. These non-clinical communities provide addicts and alcoholics with:

Emotional support
A sense of belonging
A way to deal with loneliness, alienation, isolation
Shared problem-solving
Clean and sober role models
Motivation to avoid drugs and alcohol
(source: Treating Substance Abuse, Theory and Technique, second ed., Ch. 1, p. 18)

12 Steps of groups such as AA or NA foster a way of life that is a well- worn path travelled by many. The 12 Steps allow recovering addicts and alcoholics a chance to release shame and guilt, find a personally defined spiritual path, and to develop a habit of self-reflection and personal responsibility. This is the healthy alternative to self-destructive behaviors.

The 12 Steps provide a guide to self-reflection and personal accountability. AA or NA’s process of “working the steps” can ease a person’s fears about confronting the past or living in the present. Working the steps can lead a recovering alcoholic or addict to the awareness that outside professional help is needed to confront a problem.

The process of maintaining recovery is based upon an individual’s ability to be honest. Support systems help make that possible.

“We can do together what we cannot do alone”

12 Step Programs can also provide the recovering addict or alcoholic with a path to a spiritual belief. That path is always personal. Often, people walk into recovery isolated, alone and terrified. A spiritual practice (however a person defines that practice) can provide the recovering addict with the belief that he or she is not alone in the world. “We can do together what we cannot do alone”, is an expression often used at the close of 12 Step meetings. A sense of belonging can cut through the addict or alcoholic’s sense of isolation.

For some, organized religious groups define their spiritual beliefs whether that be Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism etc. Organized religious groups can also provide recovering addicts and alcoholics with a community of like believers while providing guidance about living a sober life. The 12 Step Programs are compatible with any religious faith or practice.

Support in recovery is necessary

Abstinence can be challenging whether the challenge is celebrating a success or handling a serious crisis. We need to know that we do not walk through our lives alone. Thoughts and feelings are not our realities. Picking up a drink or a drug is never an appropriate option for a recovering addict or alcoholic. That is why support is necessary.