How I Finally Stopped Drinking -- Without Rehab or AA

Recovering from Addiction Online

I didn’t know that I was looking to recover online.

I had four small children and worked full time, so the idea of giving another couple of hours of my life to AA, every day, seemed impossible.

I had just downloaded the local AA meeting list and was trying to Google AA alternatives, and there was SMART Recovery online. I had never heard of them before.

At the time, I wasn’t against AA on a religious basis or any other, really. I’d found it moderately helpful years back, but I had never committed myself to “working” the program’s 12 steps or to getting a sponsor.

On the first, I really didn’t understand the whole surrender concept. I tried, but whatever I was doing, it didn’t work well for me. On the second, I was so shy!

An Alternative Model of Addiction

When I started to read how sound, practical ideas can be applied to drinking and other addictions, at SMART Recovery, that was like a beam of light illuminating everything!

I first wandered into SMART Recovery online and saw this message board where it seemed like I could hear real people’s voices. As I read, the psychology and the kindness both grabbed me.