What recovery systems (AA/NA, SMART, Residential, OP, IOP, etc.) have you used and found to be helpful? Which ones weren’t?
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I’ve tried all of the above. What really clicked was accepting the fact that I cannot successfully drink. No bang or flash of light moment. I was truly sick and tired of feeling like shit and waking up every morning to do it again. Ugh! EDIT: unfortunately this took me a long time to understand. I was constantly trying to figure out a way to drink like a regular person. (Whatever that is.) My last detox almost 3 years ago was rough and in a state run program.
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I think it’s important to realize different people will find different things to be useful, and just because someone claims “this doesn’t work.” Doesnt mean that it wont work for you, just that it didnt work for them. 
Recovery Coach
I swear, this one has probably been the most helpful. I may mess up from time to time, but she’s always helped me get my mind right again, and that has helped prevent me from totally wrecking my life. 
Support Groups
I have not been to an NA meeting yet. However I attend a group for mothers struggling with addiction weekly. I feel like a more “niche” group is helpful as I find the group members so much more relatable. 
People/Places/Things
Removing myself from anyone outside of my recovery/mental health team for this beginning part of my journey has made not using or thinking about using much easier. 
It fully allows me to go through my emotions, deal with the ugly stuff, focus on healing, positivity, and self love. I feel like adhering to this bit of cliche advice is one of the best things someone struggling with addiction can do for themselves. 
Carefully Working The Steps
I purchased some NA literature to keep handy on my phone. “The NA Step Working Guides” has been my new best friend. I am in no hurry to blast through the steps. I am still just chilling on step one - grasping the fact that my life truly has become unmanageable and I need help.
Those are just a few things that I’m currently doing. I am about to implement some outpatient stuff via Zoom, and actually start attending meetings. 
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I haven’t tried any. 
But maybe I should? 
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What helped
Mental health treatment,
Leaving a toxic environment
Finding friends and colleagues that support me
Finding joys in the things I love and appreciate and remembering that it’s easier to do when your sober
AA was an experience as was NA and similar, but it didn’t give me fulfillment,
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NA is my fav. Honestly though CA was not for me (even tho crack cocaine was my DOC). In my area, there was rarely any long term sobriety in CA. I love AA too. Strong recovery there I found. That’s where I did my steps and did Big Book studies. But honestly, any of those that u listed will only really work if you’re willing to go to ANY lengths to get clean and sober. If you aren’t willing to do what it takes, the journey may be long and painful, like it was for me and I’m sure many others too.
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After 12 years of 12-step groups, looking back, I see that I was acting insanely by doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results.
I would never bash the 12 steps. I’ve seen it help so many. It’s just that God had a different plan in mind for me.
One thing that helped was exposing the root of toxic shame in me that was manifesting itself in the form of Nice Guy Syndrome.
Another major foundation of my path is Allen Carr’s Easy Way.
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I found that re-framing my associations helped the most. Not immediately, since it took time to develop it enough to use reliably. Admittedly, I relapsed a few times before it took hold. But now I can experience a craving, and be able to deliberately allow it to pass without acting on it. I’m almost a week sober, and it finally feels like I’ve done something productive for myself. Like I finally took a step in the right direction.
I highly recommend the book " The Marshmallow Test" by Walter Michel. It’s a book about delayed gratification, and absolutely applies to addiction. The audiobook is pretty good, and is narrated by Alan Alda
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I am an alcoholic so I can really relate to the stories and suggestions in the book of Alcoholics Anonymous. I try to utilize every program. But I mostly relate to AA… some of the suggestions might seem ridiculous or like too much, but I just got to a point where I don’t care anymore and I’m willing to listen to the older person who has more sobriety and has been through exactly what I’m going through. The first two or three months I went to like three meetings a day. Early on I just made it a routine to put my Recovery first And to have routines and schedules, now those things are becoming second nature. But I really relate to one of the first comments about how everything starts working when you finally just had enough. I’m 33 years old I wasted 12 years going back to the fifth of vodka because I didn’t want to get real about everything. It really is about acceptance that drug or drink is never going to do what you think it’s going to do. Every time I think about drinking it’s like a Heineken commercial, but in reality it’s the episode of intervention. This thing really is out to get me but as long as I keep my guard up, and just do a few simple things every day I can keep easily living without alcohol. I believe there is not one answer to sobriety. I will say this website has been a huge help as well, I’ve really been struggling with Healing a lot of the physical damage, and the anxiety from just damage… Trying to practice gratitude. I’m alive there’s consequences for my actions over the years. And dealing with relationships and jobs, but the one constant thing I’m learning is to tell on myself when I’m doing bad or feeling bad, just to be involved in the community of sobriety. If you want to stay sober you’re going to stay sober
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Local AA and The Luckiest Club online sobriety meetings, IOP in the beginning months. I also quit my job to focus on sobriety and took a less stressful job. I’m on TS every day. I have one year freedom from alcohol today.
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never tried anything else only AA was available then still go to meetings still sober loads of sober friends very content life what more can i ask for keep on trucking
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