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Welcome to Alcoholics Anonymous! Meetings are held in a conference room at one of Lincliff's popular hotels. Meetings coordinated by Sarah Grey. Feel free to bring your own non-alcoholic refreshments and snacks, but coffee and donuts are provided. Meeting Times:AA: Tuesdays at 6:00 AM AA: Fridays at 7:00 PM AA Family Group: TBD Alcoholics Anonymous PreambleAlcoholics Anonymous is a fellowship of people who share their experience, strength, and hope with eachother that they may solve their common problem and help others to recover from alcoholism. The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop drinking. There are no dues or fees for AA membership; we are self-supporting through our own contributions. AA is not allies with any sect, denomination, politics, organization, or institution; does not with to engage in any controversy, neither endorses nor opposes any causes. Our primary purpose is to stay sober and help other alcoholics to achieve sobriety.
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Helpful Resources
12 Traditions
12 Traditions
1. The common welfare comes first.
2. No member is alone; they each have a support system, be it through faith, family, or other group members.
3. The desire to stop drinking is the only membership requirement.
4. Each AA group is autonomous, except in matters affecting all groups.
5. Each group’s primary purpose is to carry the message to those still struggling with alcohol.
6. AA does not give money, endorsement, or prestige to organizations outside the group’s mission.
7. Each group must self-support and decline outside contributions.
8. The core of the group meetings is nonprofessional, peer support.
9. There is no central organizing body.
10. AA remains apolitical, with no opinion on outside issues.
11. Personal anonymity of members is deeply important.
12. Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of the traditions, placing principles above personalities.
12 Steps
12 Steps
1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol – that our lives had become unmanageable.
2. Came to accept and to understand that we needed strengths beyond our awareness and resources to restore us to sanity.
3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of the AA program.
4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
5. Admitted to ourselves without reservation, and to another human being, the exact nature of our wrongs.
6. Were ready to accept help in letting go of all our defects of character.
7. Humbly sought to have our shortcomings removed.
8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all.
9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
10. Continued to take personal inventory, and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
11. Sought through mindful inquiry and meditation to improve our spiritual awareness, seeking only for knowledge of our rightful path in life and the power to carry that out.
12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics and to practice these principles in all our affairs.
Self-Management and Recovery Training (SMART) Points
SMART Points
• Building and maintaining motivation. Having the proper willingness to stay sober is an important part of reaching long-lasting recovery. Participants may make a list of priorities and weigh the costs and benefits of using versus being sober.
• Coping with urges. The second point examines what triggers a craving. Participants learn how to suppress cravings through methods such as distraction techniques. They also identify and overcome irrational beliefs about urges to use.
• Managing thoughts, feelings and behaviors. Point three teaches how to prevent relapse by examining thoughts, feelings and behaviors that lead to drug use. Participants learn self-acceptance and how to manage difficult feelings like depression.
• Living a balanced life. Deciding to be sober is a drastic lifestyle change. Learning how to live a sober life is important for a successful recovery. In point four, participants take an inventory of what’s important to them. They are also taught realistic goal setting and planning for the future.
Sponsor Program
The process of sponsorship is this: An alcoholic who has made some progress in the recovery program shares that experience on a continuous, individual basis with another alcoholic who is attempting to attain or maintain sobriety through A.A.
Expectations for Sponsors
Expectations for Sponsors
Do's
• Does everything possible, within the limits of personal experience and knowledge, to help the newcomer get sober and stay sober through the AA program.
• Shows by present example and drinking history what AA has meant in the sponsor's life.
• Suggests keeping an open mind about AA if the newcomer isn't sure at first whether they are an alcoholic.
• Introduces the newcomer to other members.
• Is available to the newcomer when the latter has special problems.
• Sees that the newcomer is aware of different approaches to recovery.
• Urges the newcomer to join in group activities as soon as possible.
• Explains the program to relatives of the alcoholic, if this appears to be useful, and tells them about AA Family Groups.
• Quickly admits, "I don't know" when that is the case and helps the newcomer find a good source of information.
Do Not's
• Never tries to impose personal views on the newcomer.
• Does not pretend to know all the answers and does not keep up a pretense of being right all the time.
• Does not offer professional services such as those provided by counselors, legal, medical, or social work communities, but may help the newcomer to access professional help if it is requested.
Sponsorship FAQs
Sponsorship FAQs
| How does sponsorship help the newcomer?
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It assures the newcomer that there is at least one person who understands the situation fully and cares — one person to turn to without embarrassment when doubts, questions or problems linked to alcoholism arise. Sponsorship gives the newcomer an understanding, sympathetic friend when one is needed most.
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| How should a sponsor be chosen?
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Often, the new person simply approaches a more experienced member who seems compatible, and asks that member to be a sponsor. An old AA saying suggests, “Stick with the winners.” It’s only reasonable to seek a sharing of experience with a member who seems to be using the AA program successfully in everyday life. There are no specific rules, but a good sponsor probably should be a year or more away from the last drink — and should seem to be enjoying sobriety.
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| Must the newcomer agree with everything the sponsor says?
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No. If the sponsor’s ideas sound strange or unclear, the newcomer had better speak up and ask questions. Theirs is supposed to be an easy, open relationship, in which both parties talk freely and honestly with each other.
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| What if the sponsor is unavailable when needed?
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It is the whole AA program — not the individual’s sponsor — that maintains the newcomer’s sobriety. Sponsorship is just the best way we know of introducing a newcomer to the program and helping them continue in AA So we have many recourses when we are unable to contact our sponsors. We can telephone other members; go to an AA meeting; or phone or visit the nearest AA office or clubroom for sober alcoholics.
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| May a newcomer have more than one sponsor?
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It is best for a newcomer to have only one sponsor. Choosing one sponsor helps to avoid the precarious practice of a newcomer going from sponsor to sponsor seeking the advice they want to hear.
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| May a newcomer change sponsors?
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We are always free to select another sponsor with whom we feel more comfortable, particularly if we believe this member will be more helpful to our growth in AA
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| Is it ever too late to get a sponsor?
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No.
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| How does sponsorship help the sponsor?
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Sponsorship strengthens the older member’s sobriety. The act of sharing sobriety makes it easier for a member to live without alcohol. By helping others, alcoholics find that they help themselves.
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| Can any member be a sponsor?
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There is no superior class or caste of sponsors in AA. Any member can help the newcomer learn to cope with life without resorting to alcohol in any form.
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| When is a member ready for sponsorship responsibility?
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Our primary purpose is to carry the message of AA to the alcoholic who still suffers. The member who has been sober for months or years is usually — but not always — able to work more effectively with newcomers than the members whose experience is limited to only a few weeks or days. Thus, length of sobriety is a factor, but not the only factor, in successful sponsorship. Just as importantly, the sponsor should have capacity for understanding, patience, and the willingness to devote time and effort to new members.
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| Is there any one best way of sponsoring a newcomer?
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No. All members are free to approach sponsorship as their own individual experiences and personalities may suggest. Some sponsors adopt a more or less brusque, “Take it
or leave it” approach in dealing with newcomers. Others exhibit extreme patience and great personal interest in the people they sponsor. Still others are somewhat casual, content to let the new person take the initiative in asking questions or seeking help in special situations. Each approach is sometimes successful and sometimes fails. The sponsor has to decide which to try in a particular case. The experienced sponsor recognizes the importance of flexibility in working with newcomers, does not rely on a single approach, and may try a number of different
approaches with the same person.
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| Can a sponsor be overprotective?
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In their enthusiasm to help a newcomer achieve sobriety, some sponsors may tend to be overprotective. They worry unduly about the persons they sponsor and tend to smother them with attention. In doing so, they may run the risk of having a newcomer depend on an individual member, rather than on the AA program. The most effective sponsors recognize that alcoholics who join AA must eventually stand on their own feet and make their own decisions — and that there is a difference between helping people to their feet and insisting on holding them up thereafter. Another danger of overprotectiveness is that it may annoy the newcomer to the point of resenting the attempts to help — and expressing that resentment by turning away from AA.
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| How can a sponsor work with a newcomer who rejects help?
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In such cases, there is little a sponsor can do except assure the newcomer of willingness to help, when and if needed. Occasionally, it may be wise to introduce the newcomer to an AA member who shares more of the newcomer’s background and interests. Sponsorship is a flexible venture, and good sponsors are themselves flexible in working with new people. It is just as much a mistake to thrust unwanted help upon a newcomer as it is to refuse help when a newcomer asks for it.
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| How should a sponsor deal with slips?
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It can be most discouraging to work with a newcomer who gets sober for a period, then has a relapse, or slip, and starts drinking again. This can be a delicate, difficult time for both the sponsor and the newcomer. The sponsor may be tempted to consider the newcomer ungrateful or even to give up. Here, we sponsors need to look carefully into our own attitudes, to steer a middle course between harsh criticism that would only build up the newcomer’s remorse, and maudlin sympathizing that would add to self-pity.
The newcomer, of course, may be even more discouraged and bewildered, and may find it extremely difficult to return to the sponsor and the group for a fresh start. (For this reason, many sponsors believe it important to take the initiative and call the newcomer.) In order to make the return truly a new beginning, it may be wise at this point to avoid postmortems on the reasons for the slip. Instead, the sponsor can help guide the newcomer back to the simplicity of the First Step and the prime importance of staying away from the first drink just for the day at hand.
Later, the newcomer may want to check the kind of thinking that possibly led to the slip, in order to guard against its recurrence. Here, the sponsor’s role depends completely on the two
people involved. If the sponsor was aware of the danger signals beforehand, one newcomer may say, “If only you had told me!” but another may rebel at the idea of having been “watched.”
Most good sponsors emphasize that people who have slipped continue to be welcome in AA. Successful sponsorship activity depends to a large degree on the understanding and love that the individual and group offer to a newcomer who may have one or more slips despite sincere efforts to achieve sobriety.
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| Can a member sponsor more than one newcomer simultaneously?
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AA members differ in their enthusiasm for sponsorship work, in their ability to handle it effectively, and in the time they can give. Members who are willing and able to sponsor several newcomers simultaneously should certainly not be discouraged. At the same time, it should be kept in mind that sponsorship is, in a sense, a privilege to be shared by as many members as possible and an activity that helps all members to strengthen their sobriety. Further, members who do too much sponsorship work may get exaggerated ideas about their abilities, may even risk their own sobriety. As in so many phases of AA, common sense is the best guide.
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Sponsorship Sign-ups
Sponsorship Sign-ups
To sign-up, go here.
Available Sponsors
Signing up to be a sponsor? Please include how long you've been sober!
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Seeking Sponsorship
Looking for a sponsor? Please include how long you've been sober and anything special you're looking for in a sponsor!
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Matched Pairs
Once you've found a sponsor, list your names here!
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