First day here. Yet another attempt to stop drinking. Late 40s professional working mom with a 10 year old daughter. Wine mom culture, consumption is out of control, can’t seem to get a single solitary AF day under my belt. Progressively worse for years exacerbated by life situations, but of course any excuse to drink will do. Feeling hopeless, embarrassed, and exhausted. I have many friends who swear by AA, but that’s not clicked with me at ALL and really not wanting to go that route (totally respect thst 12 steps works for some folks). Wondering about other ways to go about this.
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Hey nice to meet you 
There are a lot of alternatives to AA, just that they’re less well-known. A few examples:
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SMART recovery.
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Recovery Dharma
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Rational Recovery
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Women for Sobriety
Women for sobriety is a nice one. Their website is a bit fiddly to navigate but I’ve joined their Zoom meetings before and found it to be very supportive.
Also there are a lot of useful books about sobriety now. I haven’t read any but lots of people here have and can point the way 
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I just finished Quit Like A Woman by Holly Whitaker which was a great female centered perspective on sobriety. She wrote a lot about Mommy wine culture and also about how AA didn’t feel right to her.
Set your day counter here and read memes all night when you would normally be drinking. That is what I did the first few weeks. Really anything you want to do is acceptable as long as you aren’t picking up a bottle or can. Reach out here if you need. This community has been a staple in my sobriety. Get after it. 
We’re here if you need us. Welcome!
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Reading “this naked mind” and “The alcohol experiment” from Annie Grace was a total game changer for me. Almost 7 months sober.
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Check out the Alcohol Experiment its free and appealed to my logical self. Its a 30 day challenge to start with
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Totally hear you and welcome!! Sounds similar to me when I started on this path a decade ago. Lots and lots of starts and stops and little interest in AA…just never resonated for me…I support people finding what works for them, including AA…and checking out other options!
Being on here and reading threads helped me immensely. It was a solid place to turn for advice, to educate myself and to build support and community.
I also read quit lit like mad…highly recommend Quit Like A Woman and This Naked Mind.
I utilized mindfulness, guided meditations, yin yoga, running and working out and sleeping as much as humanly possible in my early days. I also indulged my sweet tooth. I focused on the day at hand or the hour or the minute. Just get thru that.
Coming on here was vital for me and knowing that anything could be a trigger…good day, bad day, sunshine, rain, exhausted, celebratory, day ends in Y.
Another thing that helped me was writing out the bad stuff from drinking…and what I gained by not drinking…which is a shit ton or self esteem, self confidence and self love…after decades of shame and guilt…it is hard not to crave those good feelings.
Below is a post I put together years ago…lots of reading and suggestions in it…maybe some you will find helpful…
Today is a great day to be sober!!! 
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A book called The Unexpected joy of being sober really helped me
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Honestly, a big thing has been correcting my mental state and putting myself in a better place to overcome my challenges with alcohol.
This process doesn’t happen overnight, at least it didn’t for me, but I started with baby steps to help ease the pressure of cutting cold turkey.
-I stopped buying it and having it at home.
-I stopped hanging out with friends and people in my life that regularly consumed and couldn’t respect my sobriety boundaries (this one was tough, but influences influence)
-I started meditating, listening to binaural music, and reading again. They key for me was realizing there’s absolutely nothing good coming out of this and refocusing on my mental health was the true base for moving forward.
At this point I feel like I’m rambling but I sincerely hope you find healing 
Thanks for sharing and I’m here if you need someone to talk to 
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Welcome! I quit drinking at 42. Coming here saved my life. Be active, lots to read…lots of advice, lots of friends to be made.
I was like you…wasnt going to go the AA route. I eventually did, because I got desperate enough. It helped me too. However!..
There are more groups than AA out there, Recovery Dharma (which I do now), SMART…ect.
Reach out often if you need help.
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I just started Quit Like a Woman on your recommendation and can’t stop reading it, thank you!
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It was a quick read for me too. It really resonated when she talked about us being marketed products that are meant to harm us. It makes me feel subversive for choosing sobriety. 
I love quit lit because I learn something from every book. Happy reading!
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