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Alternatives to 12 step, advice anyone?

TwistedSarkism

Greenlighter
Joined
Jun 11, 2012
Messages
6
I am a heroin IV addict, even though I have tried most that is under the sun. Last October was my first rehab experience I went 5 days in detox and 21 days at a place called Sundown M Ranch. Three days out of there I relapsed, was out for 2 months than entered a sober living/IOP program. You live at a house with a bunch of other guys, they take you to AA meetings and you have two hours of group every week day. I did that for the 90 day period trying to get into the whole 12 step thing and it just wouldnt click. I relapsed 5 days after graduating. I am now searching for alternative means of recovery and I was hoping that anyone would have any information they would share with me on the subject.. Maybe I just had a bad experience but after 3 months of mainly AA and some NA I won't go back to the 12 steps until I have exhausted all other ways. So please some helpful friendly advice much needed on possible next step or experiences with other routes of sobriety and where.
 
Thanks for the tip never. I have heard about smart and I will definitely look into it. I was hoping I would hear of others experiences outside of the 12 steps. Even though they pretty much say it all the time I REFUSE to believe their's is the only way of recovery.... I at least seiously hope they are wrong.
 
There are many aspects to the fellowships that turn people off.. one of them is the absolutism that they have. One of the things that addicts tend to do is we think in black and white.. Things are either the best or the worst.. we belive it all or not a word.. It really good to learn to recognize this type of thinking. I remember when i had my own big struggle with the fellowships and I came to the conclusion that no way was this for me.. so I said the hell with the fellowships there has to be another way.. this actually was a type of black and white thinking.. I was looking at the situation in black and white terms. So once I rejected the fellowships in my mind they had nothing good at all and nothing I needed..

This time around I take everything positive for my recovery from everywhere including strong techniques from the fellowships.. I would encourage you to consider trying something similar.. cause even if there are things we feel wont help us and things we feal are things we just aren't able to buy into and things that are utter bullshit, there are things that can have a strong positive effect on our recoveries.

One of the ones I use and have found to be really strong for me is the simple idea of not using today.. the old not for today... cause for most addicts it scary as shit to say we will never use again, so we can fool our addictions by just putting it off.. yeah I will use sometime, just not today.. or I can make it through today, just not going to use today.. and then I just keep string the days together.. so just because I have problems with some of their stuff I have realized the error of rejecting it all.

So what finally worked for me was to research and figure out what addiction was, what its weapons are and how it uses them. Then developed a plan to try and combat it drawing from every resource I could find. I didn't let myself get hung up in the the drama that goes down between different approaches.. The old we have the only answer and you are wrong.. I had no prejudice.. I stole mercilessly and without remorse... I hijacked anything that was powerful and beneficial to me from wherever I found it;)
 
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