12 Step Programs???

[EasternPriest]

Just curious - how many in the community are involved in a 12 step program?

Myself, I'm an Al-Anon.
If you wish to remain anonymous, just vote in the poll:)

[stormyray]

I belong to narcotics anonymous and am pleased to say I have been clean and sober for 5 years and 6 month and 20 days.

:sunny: :sunny: :sunny: :sunny: :sunny: :sunny: :sunny: :sunny: :sunny: :sunny: :sunny:

[rantnraven]

What about the 12 step for people who talk too much. I think it is called: On and On Anon :D

The Rant

[Merrie]

My dad's in NA, my mom's in al-anon and I was briefly in Alateen. The only ones spared in my family are my sister and the dog, And I'm starting to think that the pup might need to get some help in OA...bottomless pit lol

[Swanspirit]

Start the group !!! LOL
HUGS
Swannie

[Swanspirit]

14 years ...... Al Anon... Acoa for Grandchildren of Alcoholics.... and Codependents Anonymous ......and as my sponsor said early on because there werent very many AlAnon meetings in this area.... if you need a meeting GO to a meeting ....ANY meeting .... recovery is recovery is recovery .....
AND IT KEEPS GETTING BETTER all the time
Congrats to ALL the winners :> how does anyone feel about putting up some of the stuff from these groups it is great stuff.... you know like the Al Anon or Co-Dependent quiz?

Love and HUGS if you want one
Swannie

[gunner]

and continuing success to all those recovering, i was one of the lucky ones, i had what could be called a "drinking problem" as a kid fresh from home out in the bigger world of the marine corps until it cost me my pfc stripe, that was my wake up and i took my own steps to end the problem, i was successful and have been able to be a real social drinker since, limiting my drinking to suitable occasions and stopping before getting drunk. that does not work for everyone, do not take me as an example. as above i was lucky, the various "12 step" programmes do have their place and have helped many people.

[SpikesPet5150]

I went to Al-anon with my sisters when I was a kid, because my dad used to drink alot... I should be old enough to remember that time, but I don't.. think it was one of those repressed memories? He was never abusive, or mean or anything, but my mom was worried we'd all have drinking problems when we got older if we didn't seek help, so we did... but I don't remember it. Thats my story... never said it had a point.
~Bree
:elf:

[Socharis]

12 steps? pls explain?

[SimplyStrange]

Originally posted by rantnraven
What about the 12 step for people who talk too much. I think it is called: On and On Anon :D

The Rant

LOL, rant. Do you know where I could get involved in this one? I also have this problem :D

[EasternPriest]

Originally posted by Socharis
12 steps? pls explain?

There are a large number of recovery programs, dealing with almost any addictive issue that you can imagine, that have started as a result of the success of AA (alcoholics anonymous) in dealing with alcoholism. Just about any addictive/compulsion substance or behavior has one of these programs established.

They are called 12 step programs, from the original "12 steps to recovery" offered by AA, and each of these organizations utilize their own version of the 12 steps. Here are the original, from the AA website http://www.aa.org :


The Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous



he relative success of the A.A. program seems to be due to the fact that an alcoholic who no longer drinks has an exceptional faculty for "reaching" and helping an uncontrolled drinker.

In simplest form, the A.A. program operates when a recovered alcoholic passes along the story of his or her own problem drinking, describes the sobriety he or she has found in A.A., and invites the newcomer to join the informal Fellowship.

The heart of the suggested program of personal recovery is contained in Twelve Steps describing the experience of the earliest members of the Society:

1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol - that our lives had become unmanageable.

2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.

3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.

4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.

5. Admitted to God, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.

6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.

7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.

8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.

9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.

10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.

11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.

12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

Newcomers are not asked to accept or follow these Twelve Steps in their entirety if they feel unwilling or unable to do so.

They will usually be asked to keep an open mind, to attend meetings at which recovered alcoholics describe their personal experiences in achieving sobriety, and to read A.A. literature describing and interpreting the A.A. program.

A.A. members will usually emphasize to newcomers that only problem drinkers themselves, individually, can determine whether or not they are in fact alcoholics.

At the same time, it will be pointed out that all available medical testimony indicates that alcoholism is a progressive illness, that it cannot be cured in the ordinary sense of the term, but that it can be arrested through total abstinence from alcohol in any form.

[Swanspirit]

because they include a spiritual component.
As a Mental Health Professional I highly and OFTEN recommend them for this reason.....
also because the most a mental health professional can offer you in the way of non-judgement is unconditional positive regard..... which in my estimation falls far short of the all embracing love that one finds in the rooms of these programs ........not to mention the experience strength and hope and HONESTY .....
Love and Light

[Illuminatus]

Originally posted by Swanspirit
because they include a spiritual component.
As a Mental Health Professional I highly and OFTEN recommend them for this reason.....
also because the most a mental health professional can offer you in the way of non-judgement is unconditional positive regard..... which in my estimation falls far short of the all embracing love that one finds in the rooms of these programs ........not to mention the experience strength and hope and HONESTY .....
Love and Light

It worked for Tyler Durden.

[Emerald Sky]

Thanks for the poll, EP. It's good to know there are other recovering people here. If I hadn't gotten sober and attended AA, I wouldn't have found Paganism. AA (besides helping me get sober and healthy) opened my mind enough to start questioning my old beliefs and seeking new ones. I ended up here and love it! :D I have 1657 days sober! ;) - or 4 1/2 years. Yay for all of us!

[GoddessofWisdom]

Originally posted by stormyray
I belong to narcotics anonymous and am pleased to say I have been clean and sober for 5 years and 6 month and 20 days.

:sunny: :sunny: :sunny: :sunny: :sunny: :sunny: :sunny: :sunny: :sunny: :sunny: :sunny:


Congrats dear...
What an accomplishment!

[GoddessofWisdom]

I have gone to both AA and NA 12 step programs and they never helped.

What did help me was holding my boyfriend in my arms as he OD'd on coke, then having to carry his convulsing body 7 blocks to the hospital. (BTW he is still alive, clean and Married with two children)

That was about 6 years ago.

I still drank and smoked pot til about3 years ago.

Then I realized that I didn't smoke pot that often and it just wasn't worth loosing my daughter.

I can honestly say that now I can pick up a drink or two and that's it.

I only drink VERY occasionally.

:)

[aquinnah]

I'm a member of Narcotics Anonymous - and for anyone interested, check out the Pagans in Recovery Thread in the Healthy pagan forum;)

[GoddessofWisdom]

Originally posted by EasternPriest
Just curious - how many in the community are involved in a 12 step program?

Myself, I'm an Al-Anon.
If you wish to remain anonymous, just vote in the poll:)

Hey can we start a 12 step program for MysticWicks........................:twitch: cause I'm addicted to this place as are many others and we could really us some help :p;)

[Yvonne Belisle]

Hey I like being a Mystic Wicks Addict!!!!!!! :D :D :D :D :D

[aquinnah]

I like being a "Wickhead", too, but it is causing some unmanageability in my life because I'd rather be in here than working!!!:D :D ;) :D Hey - at least you guys can help me be restored to sanity, and my H.P. is never far away here, either:p .

[GoddessofWisdom]

yeah but I think I might have to throw away my dishes and get rid of the clothes in the laundry :\

[GoddessofWisdom]

woo hoo did the dishes washed the laundry




NOW I CAN STAY FOR ANOTHER STRAIGHT WEEK !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Lavender]

*stands up* Hello, my name is Wildchild and I'm a Wickhead.

[Aengus McTeague]

My name is Richard, and I'm an Alcoholic. With just over a year sober. I already posted a bit of my story in another thread, so I'll just say it is very good to have found this place.

Merry meet, people!

[stormyray]

Originally posted by Aengus McTeague
My name is Richard, and I'm an Alcoholic. With just over a year sober. I already posted a bit of my story in another thread, so I'll just say it is very good to have found this place.

Merry meet, people!

merry meet and welcome glad to have you here clean and sober.

[Swanspirit]

again .........:sunny: :sunny: and congratulations .........welcome to the land of the living .........and the people with sparkles in their eyes........
Love and Light
Swannie

I went out to the hazel wood,
Because a fire was in my head,
And cut and peeled a hazel wand,
And hooked a berry to a thread;
And when white moths were on the wing,
And moth-like stars were flickering out,
I dropped the berry in a stream
And caught a little silver trout.

When I had laid it on the floor
I went to blow the fire aflame,
But something rustled on the floor,
And some one called me by my name;
It had become a glimmering girl
With apple blossom in her hair
Who called me by my name and ran
And faded through the brightening air.

Though I am old with wandering
Through hollow lands and hilly lands,
I will find out where she has gone,
And kiss her lips and take her hands;
And walk among long dappled grass,
And pluck till time and times are done
The silver apples of the moon,
The golden apples of the sun.

Song of the Wandering Aengus ..... Yeats.....

[EasternPriest]

Blessings and welcome Richard.:)

[GoddessofWisdom]

Congratulations Richard and here's to another year free and sober!!!!!

:heartthro:heartthro:heartthro:heartthro:heartthro

[Semele]

Kudos to you all. I was a member of Alateen for a brief time. My dad is a recovering Alcoholic...life is very hard when dealing with that demon on top of everything else!

[Swanspirit]

to your DAD but BIGGER KUDOS to you..........
My kids have an alcoholic abusive father .......
who was "sober" for years mostly white knuckling it .. and has now begun drinking again........ and my heart has broken for them so many times I cannot tell you .........
Love and HUGS
Swannie

[aquinnah]

Hi all - I'm really grateful to have heard from all you folks lately - when I first signed on here I started a similar thread but there weren't too many of us here then. I did get a lot of support, though, even from members of MW who aren't in a fellowship of some sort. Call it intuition, but I kind of suspected I'd see some of you in here after reading some of your posts. I have an aunt with 20+ years in Al-anon (this disease has ravaged my family) but even after a couple of years clean I never understood how she could handle crisis so well, how she remained non-judgmental and loving and supportive of me during the "jails and institutions phase" of my active addiction. Then I saw the Al-anon literature in her bathroom. ;) I guess it takes one to know one...(said without the singsongy teasing voice of childhood);)

[Swanspirit]

Serenity is contagious!!!!!!!!!! :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:
And fun too ........
HUGS ( con su permiso)
Swannie

[Ravenz]

My father has been 12 stepping for 22 years now, Thank The God/dess, and I have followed his footsteps now for 8 years! I wouldn't have my father if it wasen't for the 12 step program, or myself for that matter :)

May you walk in the LOVE and LIGHT of God/dess and the 12 Step Program :boing:

[Shadowolff]

I went to Al-anon for a time, and it helped me very much. Unlike some I know who make it a forever part of their life, I was able to take the tools I found there and incorporate them into my own growth and healing (a process, to be sure) and after a time leave the meetings.

(I'm not putting down anyone who finds it helpful to go to meetings indefinitely, don't misunderstand; it just wasn't a necessary part of my path to continue.)

[LadyOak]

AA here. I had 13 years and just had to try again. I now have 4 years

[Dryad's Wyrd]

I've been thinking about going to the program for families of individuals with alcohol/drug problems...but I am really scared...don't ask why...part of my doesn't want to admit to my parents that my husband really has a problem but I have started to talk to them a little bit about it. I don't want my family to hate him...I don't think that we will ever get back together but we will definitly remain friends...I just need some help dealing with the issues surrounding his addiction.
Anyone else feel similar or deal with a similar situation? I'd love to hear (if you are comfortable enough) how you dealt with it.
Love & Light
D

[Morr]

no 12 step program... though i probably should be on one..
for my eating disorder & SI..

[FroggieThePunk]

so, what are all of those groups? I reckognize a few, but most I don't, any help?

[Tzhebee]

I was original AA...but I seemed to have this really big issue with step 2....They don't have an NA around here, so AA covered them both for me.

I've been clean since Jan 23 1999 and dry since about the same time. If you understand the difference between Dry and Sober...then you'd understand me.

[Sylvan]

I was in Alateen for about a year when my dad first got sober 13 years ago. I don't know that much good came of it, but it was good to meet other kids my age who were affected by an alcoholic parent in similar ways. I've contemplated finding an ACOA group recently, but just never got around to it... *shrug*

[Shadowolff]

I've been thinking about going to the program for families of individuals with alcohol/drug problems...but I am really scared...don't ask why...part of my doesn't want to admit to my parents that my husband really has a problem but I have started to talk to them a little bit about it. I don't want my family to hate him...I don't think that we will ever get back together but we will definitly remain friends...I just need some help dealing with the issues surrounding his addiction.
Anyone else feel similar or deal with a similar situation? I'd love to hear (if you are comfortable enough) how you dealt with it.
Love & Light
DBeen there, understand that :hugz: -- do go to an Al-Anon meeting; it's okay to just sit and listen if you don't feel like opening up right off the bat...I found it VERY VERY helpful when my life was in chaos and emotional shambles, a wonderful source of comfort, solace, and life-affirming tools... Please let us know how things are going for you -- PM me if you want to. Wishing you and your husband, too, all the best ~

[SADragonfly]

Merry Met!

I just started AA, been sober 1 week. I've found a great deal of strength in the pagan/wiccan community as well as the goddess of compassion Kuan Yin.

Dragonfly

[gunner]

Merry Met!

I just started AA, been sober 1 week. I've found a great deal of strength in the pagan/wiccan community as well as the goddess of compassion Kuan Yin.

Dragonfly

very best luck gragonfly!

[WitchJezebel]

Nope, not a member of any 12 step programs

[fahawk]

Yes! Al-anon..and it was the best thing I could have done for myself and family to get the courage up to go to my 1st meeting about 3 years ago :)

[Ashara^]

Just curious - how many in the community are involved in a 12 step program?

Myself, I'm an Al-Anon.
If you wish to remain anonymous, just vote in the poll:)
i kinda do what Ed Norton did at the beginning of Fight Club. i go w/ a person i know to meetings of stuff because its odd being around such *generally* inspired and uplifting-type ppl. just for a change sometimes.

[Doodlebug]

Nope, not a member of any of them and never have been. I think they are good programs except for their requirement for a belief in the divine. They also tend to be Christian oriented.