12 Step meetings are available in many varieties, offering the spiritual program of recovery to anyone in need of a psychic change in their lives. Some treatment centers are able to schedule a wide range of meetings for clients to attend to, based on their personal need. Most often, there are two to four primary kinds of meetings: Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous, Codependents Anonymous, And Al-Anon. Cocaine Anonymous and Heroin Anonymous are also popular.
Those who are in treatment for primary mental health disorders don’t have the same kind of access to 12 step support. There are meetings like Emotions Anonymous and Depression Anonymous but are small and hard to come by. Workbooks and study guides for a universal approach to the 12 steps are also available. Still, it can be hard at the end of a long day of treatment to watch other clients and peers in recovery be shuttled off to meetings for fellowship, support, and inspiration while having to stay on treatment ground. Some treatment centers allow all clients to attend 12 step meetings under the philosophy that at meetings, everyone can take what they want and leave what they don’t.
Don’t Focus On The Alcoholism
Remember, that alcohol is just a symptom of deeper issues. Most often, alcoholics have co-occurring mental health issues similar to what you are going through. The detail are unimportant. At AA meetings you can hear inspiring stories of defeat, strength, and victory in recovery. People share their successes and their challenges. Whether up or down, people in meetings come to share a common goal: working for their recovery.
Read The Big Book
Alcoholics Anonymous, often called “The Big Book” is full of spiritual principles which are mostly universal. You can learn from themes of unmanageability, insanity, ego, pride, resentment, humility, and growth. The Big Book is regarded as a “manual for living”. Like any other “self-help” book you might pick up off the shelf, reading the literature of AA will give you information you want to use and information you won’t want to use.
Recovery is open to everyone seeking to transform and heal their lives in mind, body, and spirit. Avalon By The Sea provides primary treatment for both mental health and substance use disorders. For a confidential assessment and more information on our programs, call us today at 1 888-958-7511.
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