Category Archives: Alcoholics Anonymous

My Recovery | Carla: Transgender and Alcoholic

Posted on by

Before she became Carla, she was Carl. Being transgender was private and not something she ever felt comfortable opening up about at meetings, but her sponsors always told her: “It’s no big deal.  In AA we don’t judge. You are one of us.” Says Carla,“They were right. AA became my best support system. Not only for my recovery. For my gender change, too.”

I had my first drink at 12 and at 14 was drinking most weekends. I goofed around in high school, took minimum credits the first half of college and spent the rest of my time partying. Halfway through college, as my girlfriend was breaking up with me she declared, “You’re going nowhere!” Resentment worked. I’d show her and I did.

For the next two college years, I only drank on weekends, and in law school limited myself to one weekend a month and graduated with honors. I … Read more...

Recovery Zone ReCheck – New in The Recovery Book

Posted on by

The Recovery Zone ReCheck is a simple relapse prevention plan.

In every Recovery Zone, at all times, you will be at some risk of relapse, often when you least expect it. The Recovery Zone ReCheck helps you avoid relapses by regularly taking stock of your life.

Once a month or so, use the three Recovery Zone ReCheck questions to assess your life. They will help you see when changes are coming up—relationships, work, health, medication and so on—that could trigger a relapse. These changes can be almost anything: dental procedure, divorce, getting a raise, having a baby, moving to a new town.

When you spot such road blocks, you move back a Zone or two, brush up on the guidelines of that Zone, re-commit to sobriety, and re-focus on recovery. See pages 18-21 in The Recovery Book for all the details.

The Recovery Book

Recovery Resources Lists Now Online

Posted on by

For the past two years, as we’ve been updating The Recovery Book, we’ve been collecting online resources related to addiction and recovery. Many of them will be listed in the book, but we had far too many to include. So we are posting them here as well, in Resources.

We have links to all kinds of resources: treatment directories, health effects of addiction, sober living directories, drug testing, legal and employment issues, drug courts, sober social networks, online meetings, medication safety and disposal, recovery activism, campus recovery associations, mutual help fellowships, resources for teens, resources for family and friends, help to quit smoking, and much more.

We also have links to recovery support groups for many diverse communities: bikers, pilots, nurses, Buddhists, Jews, Native Americans, doctors, lawyers, and more.

Please explore our lists. Share them with others. And please let us know if you have anything to add. … Read more...